Nine years after winning gold at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Nikki Stone spends her time inspiring corporate executives and athletes, and this Tuesday, she will speak at the Park City Toastmaster’s Member Drive meeting a group that dedicates itself to perfecting the art of elocution and rhetoric.

Stone can remember the first time she practiced public speaking. An aerialist, the United States Ski Team asked Stone to participate in mock interviews to prep for media. “I burst into tears,” she recalls. “That’s how uncomfortable I was.”

Years later, oddly enough, motivational speaking has become her profession. Like many athletes, she was asked to share the story of her success with the public. Stone has earned 35 World Cup podiums, 11 World Cup titles in addition to her gold medal in 1998, which earned her the superlative “first American ever to win a gold medal in inverted aerial skiing.” She has also overcome obstacles that have made her achievements even more remarkable: 18 months before winning gold, she sustained spinal cord injuries so severe doctors told her she would never ski again.

“After the Olympics, there were a lot of work opportunities for me in terms of speaking engagements, but it didn’t come naturally to me,” she confesses. “But I enjoyed that challenge I’m an adrenaline junky, and I didn’t think anything could come close to jumping 50 feet in the air. Public speaking comes close.”

Stone practiced by video taping herself 100 times at speeches she booked at Rotary Clubs in California.

Athletes are often asked to speak about their lives, because more than any other profession, they’re asked to take a look at how they’ve become successful, she explains. Stone’s latest project is a book that compiles interviews from several vocations doctors, professors, entertainers and athletes seem to be able to explain their achievements best.

Stone was invited to speak in Park City by seven-foot-four-inch former NBA star Mark Eaton, who, after speaking at the event last year, decided to join the Park City Toastmasters himself.

“I agreed to come to the club because I admire Mark — he’s an athlete who understands the amount of work and dedication it takes to be a motivational speaker,” Stone says.

Eaton, like Stone, has a unique story. He went from being an auto mechanic to becoming a basketball star. Also like Stone, motivational speaking has become Eaton’s profession. He had spoken several times before becoming the featured guest at his first Toastmaster’s meeting at colleges, for car salesmen, and in front of Internet companies. But until last year, however, he had never been evaluated.

“I spoke and all of the sudden, the club started evaluating me and telling me how many ahs and ums I said and whether I used the proper English or not,” he remembers, “and I thought, ‘wow, I need this.’ So I joined.”

Park City Toastmasters president Jon Henry chartered the club with Allan Stockbridge in 2000. The group is part of an international organization that focuses on communication and leadership skills and has attracted all walks of life including real estate professionals, financial professionals, personal coaches, teachers and pilots.

Eaton credits the club with not only improving his speaking skills, but giving him confidence.

“Toastmasters helps you to get over your fear of public speaking to get up in front of a crowd and feel comfortable up there and get over nervousness,” he says. “It’s given me the opportunity to really think about what I want to say, the end result of my speech, and what I want people to walk away with.”

According to Eaton, now a student of public speaking and motivational speakers, Stone is one of the better speakers in the country.

“As I’ve studied motivational speakers and I’m really impressed with the amount of time and effort [Stone’s] put into her speaking business,” he says. “She’s doing very well out there now and that, combined with her incredible athletic career, I thought would be a really good match for our club.”

Nikki Stone will speak at Park City Toastmasters at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 7 a.m. Toastmasters meets every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. at the Summit County Library located near Kimball Junction at 6505 N. Landmark Drive. For details, visit www.parkcitytoastmasters.org