"Teach a Class," They said."It'll be Fun," They said.

You want me to WHAT?!

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:

Honest. I'm not laughing at you.

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:

https://substack.com/@jasonwilliamkarpf/note/c-312976173

And on Amazon for $2.99

And stop by One Candle Press!