"Teach a Class," They said."It'll be Fun," They said.
Marketing.
Branding.
Trying not to pass out in saying those words.
Your best friend says, "Give a speech." Or, "Get a podcast interview, or ask to be on a radio show. Go out and teach a class on writing. Or handling rejection letters. Or navigating a contract."
Etcetera.
I don't know about you, but if that isn't the best way to break out in a sweat, I don't know what is.
Yeah.
Okay, so years ago. "Years Ago." I was getting ready to give a speech. At the time, I had fifteen, maybe twenty minutes of information, max.
And I knew I was the one who had the most information to share.
ERG.
So it went ... "Go on the road. Give a short speech. It'll grown hair on your chest."
"Grow hair on your chest" wasn't in my friend's cajoling.
But still.
Since it was down to me, I asked, "How can I become confident speaking? Online classes only."
My friend:
After some searching and Googling—it shouldn’t have taken me that long—I happened upon Toastmasters.
I sat and listened to the rules, the how-to's and several speeches.
But could I do it? I stayed. I learned. The "crowd" at first was teeny.
Then the regulars came back and the crowd was suddenly HUGE.
I was ecstatic. Sounds sarcastic, but it's not. I'd grown from knees knocking in front of two people to speaking in front of ten, then fifteen, then a packed room.
I highly recommend learning from the best, and that would Toastmasters.
And that speech?
A fifteen minute speech in a town I didn't know turned into an hour of speaking and fielding questions.
Good thing I had thirty pages of research downloaded in my brain.
Toastmasters prepared me.
If you want pointers on speaking, handling book signings, and answering questions, spend a number of weeks with Toastmasters.
Now ... where is that class on climbing out of the introvert's shell?
And Jason Karpf is doing a Zoom podcast. Podcast? Zoomcast? on August 28th at 1 p.m. Central time on marketing.
The class is entitled "I Hate Marketing," which is me in a nutshell. Please join me in talking with Jason Karpf.
RIGHT HERE:
And on Amazon for $2.99
And stop by One Candle Press!
Comments