Even though it’s been several years since I was an active member, I get asked all the time about Toastmasters. Is it worth it? Which club should I join? Should I just take a class instead? Well these are all valid questions and I’ve written about these and many other Toastmasters-related topics in the past, so I figured now might be a good time to round up some of my more popular posts and tips about Toastmasters into a convenient place.
So here are some of the Toastmasters tips that I think are most helpful. As always, if you have a question that you can’t find answered or if you have a Toastmasters tip you’d like to share, please feel free to leave me a note via my contact form. Also, all Toastmasters tips and articles can be found under the topic Toastmasters here on the blog.
Being A Difficult Person Has Its… Disadvantages
I once heard a story about a traveler harassing a ticket agent at the gate of an airport terminal. The traveler didn’t want to wait to get on the plane so he went into a tirade. “Do you know who I am!” he shouted repeatedly at the poor woman handling the tickets. But the ticket agent handled him beautifully – she simply picked up the intercom and announced over the loudspeaker that this man needed help because he didn’t know who he was. Everyone at the gate laughed – especially those who witnessed his bad behavior.
How to Really Mess Up a Sales Letter
I was recently cleaning out some old emails and found a couple of emails from a vendor that got me thinking. Before we get to the actual email, let me tell you the situation. A few years ago, I had downloaded a trial version of a piece of software. Many companies require you to provide some information prior to allowing you to download, so I had provided whatever info they had requested. It’s not uncommon for companies to have someone in their sales group follow up. In this particular case, this vendor was in the same city as me (I’ll refrain from sharing the name of the company or sales person) so a salesman emailed me requesting a meeting.
Here is the email I recieved, with the subject being “[his company name] visit – [my company name]:”
It’s Okay if People Don’t Like You
I was driving the other day and an experience with a rude driver got me thinking about how you not only can’t please everyone, but you shouldn’t want to please everyone or even try to get everyone to like you. The bottom line is that while there are a lot of great people out there, there are also a lot of not so great people out there. In fact, there are quite a few people out there who are, to be blunt, just plain jerks.