Shortly after joining Toastmasters I couldn’t imagine myself getting to a point in life where I wouldn’t be regularly attending meetings. There were so many things to do in Toastmasters such as go for my DTM, participate in speech contests
The Ah Counter Debate Part 2: More About Ums and Ahs
My recent post on whether Toastmasters should dump the Ah counter role has sparked an interesting discussion. A few folks have posted comments to this site, sent me email and messaged me on some of the online social networking services
Does Toastmasters Really Need the Ah Counter Role?
I’ll never forget my first Toastmasters meeting back in 2002. There were three fantastic speeches followed by my favorite part of the meeting — Table Topics. If you’re not familiar with Table Topics, it’s the part of the meeting where
How to be a Good Audience Member
As speakers, we work hard researching how to better communicate and connect with our audiences. We spend hours tweaking a twenty minute talk. We’ll try to figure out who might be in attendance. We spend hours practicing our speeches so
There’s More to Success than Money
You’ve probably heard the phrase “there’s more to life than money” hundreds of times, but that’s because there’s some truth to it. The same holds true with success — success isn’t all about money. Through the years I’ve had the
You Can Have My Lamborghini
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the movie “Cannonball Run 2” because it was the first time I fell in love. The movie opens with a white Lamborghini Countach having some fun with the police on a desert
Networking Success: 10 Ways to Strike Up a Conversation – Part 2
Yesterday, we talked about how to get someone prepped for a conversation so today we’ll get to the meat of it – what to say. This is where many people find the most difficulty so let’s jump right into it.