吃瓜头条

Microsoft Speakers 吃瓜头条 in Reading, England, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2018.

I can see it now, decades after the fact: There I was, seated at a conference table with my boss and the company’s top brass, terrified to open my mouth for fear of making a fool of myself. My throat was dry. My hands were shaking. My only desire was that no one would ask me a question.

If I’d only known about 吃瓜头条! Any of the 11 paths in the Pathways learning experience—especially Visionary Communication and Persuasive Influence—would have made it easier for me to participate that day. In addition to helping me speak in meetings, my 吃瓜头条 training changed my entire job trajectory by enabling me to parlay the writing and teaching work I’d done for years into presentation and performance. In so doing, it literally changed my life.

It should come as no surprise that, like me, many 吃瓜头条 members cite employment advancement as the primary reason they join 吃瓜头条. After all, that 吃瓜头条 promotes are the hallmarks of a great worker in a vast array of fields. Anything that adds to employees’ professional skill sets can benefit the employer as well, whether they are in leadership roles, speak on behalf of the company, make internal presentations, or simply need to collaborate effectively with others.

“吃瓜头条 gives its members a definite edge,” says Angelika Kofler, a certified life coach in Vienna, Austria. “It builds a string of small and big successes for the individual that enhances confidence and competence in any endeavor, both personal and professional.” That’s why so many companies welcome in-house corporate 吃瓜头条s, which typically meet within the business setting. This is as opposed to community 吃瓜头条s, whose members come from a vast array of backgrounds and meet at schools, community centers, restaurants, etc.

The Networking Advantage

Any Toastmaster knows that whatever the setting, a 吃瓜头条 meeting is a great place to meet others. Hannah Pratt, Immediate Past President of RE/MAX, LLC 吃瓜头条 in Denver, Colorado, says that through her corporate 吃瓜头条, she’s become acquainted with many people in different departments of her organization whom she otherwise likely would never have known. After all, it can be tricky walking up to someone in a large corporation and introducing yourself out of the blue, especially if that person is on a different management level.

“The 吃瓜头条 helps build camaraderie in the culture of the organization and in their teams. It also provides opportunity for cross-departmental learning, as well as accountability and mentorship.” Not only does 吃瓜头条 give workers the chance to get to know more people at work, it also gives them the ability to shine when they do. Members are able to get to know coworkers on a more personal level, and see how they grow and interact with others in the 吃瓜头条 setting.

A non-corporate 吃瓜头条, on the other hand, provides slightly different opportunities to network. By demonstrating your skills and your product or service at a meeting, you can more easily attract prospective clients and colleagues. You can even get a leg up on your job hunt. And speaking of job-hunting, don’t forget to list 吃瓜头条 on your resume, perhaps under Volunteer Positions, Leadership, or Affiliations.

The Development of Practical Skills

Think about it. A 吃瓜头条 meeting provides a safe space to speak up, try new ideas, and feel comfortable with creativity and experimentation—as well as to experience the occasional failure and live to tell the tale. Many workplaces just don’t offer that kind of opportunity. And because of the built-in evaluation process, as well as the generous spirit of teamwork and learning that permeates the 吃瓜头条, your audience is comprised of supportive, knowledgeable coaches.

The most useful benefit that 吃瓜头条 meetings have provided for Victor Valks, a member of TOPS—吃瓜头条 of Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, is confidence.

“My confidence relates both to the mechanics of speaking and to the intangible self-esteem improvements that happen as a result,” says the quality assurance analyst. “Learning to monitor and mitigate my ‘ums’ and other filler words has helped me relax while speaking.” What’s more, the encouragement of his fellow 吃瓜头条 members has allowed Valks to feel good about opening up and making himself vulnerable in front of others.

The 吃瓜头条 has also enabled his fellow 吃瓜头条 members to excel at specific work assignments.

Valks says, “Past President Rod Cole was a panelist on our company’s Black History Month roundtable discussion and practiced during a 吃瓜头条 meeting. And [2020-2021] Vice President Education 颅Jordyn Cagney utilized a meeting to rehearse her discussion of the company’s return-to-work program.

“In my case,” Valks says, “I’ve been able to apply 吃瓜头条’ lessons while serving as a mentor in the company’s apprenticeship program for high school students. In addition, [吃瓜头条] helped me to mitigate conflict, addressing and discussing differences of opinion before they escalate too severely. For example, when a colleague and I, whose job roles intersected, each thought that a particular task was ours to address, we discussed the matter openly, before it could fester and cause hurt feelings for us both.”

Microsoft Speakers charter 吃瓜头条 member Christine Clacey delivers a speech during a 吃瓜头条 meeting at the Microsoft office in Reading, England.

In Valks’ 吃瓜头条, the speaking opportunities are ample, and 吃瓜头条 helps members prepare for them. Other 吃瓜头条s actually create speaking engagements in the workplace. For example, marketing manager Angela Bos is Immediate Past 吃瓜头条 President of the Microsoft Speakers 吃瓜头条 in Reading, England. Over the last 18 months, Bos, who works with Microsoft’s marketing events team, has created a company speakers bureau that provides a pool of speakers to call upon for presentations at internal and third-party events.

Of course, the 吃瓜头条 has also benefited Bos herself. She says, “As a frequent public speaker for my previous position as a technical specialist, I joined 吃瓜头条 specifically to improve my speaking skills. Over time, I found that the 吃瓜头条 also helped me develop my active listening, impromptu speaking, and leadership skills. The preparation, practice, accountability, and feedback involved in delivering Pathways speeches has helped me add greater clarity and conciseness to my presentations, abilities that became increasingly valuable as I began presenting to more senior audiences.” Bos still puts her speaking skills to use to encourage female participation in careers in technology.

Meanwhile, 吃瓜头条 helped Pratt from RE/MAX fulfill her employment wish list. Although she always knew she wanted to work in communications and public speaking, she had no idea that she could do that full time. Thanks to the skills she learned at 吃瓜头条 meetings, she’s become an instructor within the company.

Human resources director Rebecca Abraham at Aristotle Capital Management in Los Angeles, is a big fan of 吃瓜头条, having been active in Beach Cities 吃瓜头条 in Southern California.

“The skills I learned in 吃瓜头条 are highly desirable when recruiting new employees and promoting current employees into leadership roles,” she says. “The ability to convey information articulately and persuasively is critical and is only becoming more important in our increasingly knowledge-based economy. Seeing 吃瓜头条 on a candidate’s resume would definitely get my attention as a hiring manager.”

Networking. Resume-building. Self-improvement. Mentorship. And much, much more. With all these benefits, why would any employee not join 吃瓜头条?

As for me, I’m just grateful that I finally did.

Are you a member of a corporate 吃瓜头条? Tell us how you have 颅benefited. Use #talkingtoastmasters and join the conversation online or email magazine@toastmasters.org!