Why Spend Dollars For "Common Sense"?
Last night at the dinner table, my wife and I got to discussing the motivational speaking industry.
The "superstars" of this industry include (but are not limited to) Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, and Anthony Robbins.
While I do like some of the stuff that many motivational speakers talk about and publish, let's face fact's, y'all... 99.9% of it is pure old-fashioned "common sense".
For example, Stephen Covey's "7 habits" and Anthony Robbins's books, tapes, and CDs on "living your dreams" (or something like that) all boil down to these:
- Successful people have self-confidence.
- Successful people have goals and work toward them.
- People who have any degree of ambition are the ones most likely to succeed in life.
- People who succeed in life do not let setbacks get in their way.
I did not have to go buy books, tapes, or CDs to learn these things. Mosf of my learning on these subjects came from life itself.
Again, I do like some of the stuff they speak about (i.e. Willie Jolley's "A setback is a setup for a comeback"), and, for the most part, they can be very entertaining. However, I do not really find most of their stuff to be extraordinarily enlightening, since it's mostly rehashing "common sense" stuff.
If you do want to work on your self-esteem, communication, and leadership skills, then I highly recommend that you do what I did... join Toastmasters!!!
Since 1924, when Dr. Ralph Smedley started the first Toastmasters Club at the Santa Ana, California, YMCA, Toastmasters has provided a positive, constructive, and non-judgmental environment for people of all walks of life to build their self-esteem, their communication skills, and their leadership skills.
In a typical Toastmasters Club, you learn not only "public speaking" per-se, but you also learn how to "think on your feet" through an impromptu speaking exercise called "table topics", how to evaluate others postively and constructively by doing actual speech and meeting evaluations, and even how to run a meeting as the master of ceremonies (whom we call the "Toastmaster of the Meeting"). This is all "hands on" training that can be applied in both your professional and personal lives.
The typical Toastmasters Club charges around 60-to-80 dollars per year in membership dues, and for that, you get professional materials from Toastmasters and countless learning opportunities through helping each other. If you compare that to seminars which last mere days or weeks and cost several hundred (or even several thousand) dollars, Toastmasters gives you the same type of quality training for mere pennies a day, especially if you are a member for at least 2 years.
I have been a member for over 15 years, and as a result, I have learned how to deal with people better, plus I have learned better ways to respond in job interviews. Those skills alone have been worth every penny in dues and every day I've spent in Toastmasters. As a "fringe benefit", I even met my wife in Toastmasters and I'm happy to say that we've been happily married for a little over 2 years. :)
If you are going to spend your money on self-development, don't go out and buy a bunch of expensive materials that most likely will collect dust on your bookshelf after awhile. Find a local Toastmasters Club in or near either your workplace or community. They are on the web at www.toastmasters.org.
That's all for now. Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend, and hopefully, we'll see you in Toastmasters!!!
The "superstars" of this industry include (but are not limited to) Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, and Anthony Robbins.
While I do like some of the stuff that many motivational speakers talk about and publish, let's face fact's, y'all... 99.9% of it is pure old-fashioned "common sense".
For example, Stephen Covey's "7 habits" and Anthony Robbins's books, tapes, and CDs on "living your dreams" (or something like that) all boil down to these:
- Successful people have self-confidence.
- Successful people have goals and work toward them.
- People who have any degree of ambition are the ones most likely to succeed in life.
- People who succeed in life do not let setbacks get in their way.
I did not have to go buy books, tapes, or CDs to learn these things. Mosf of my learning on these subjects came from life itself.
Again, I do like some of the stuff they speak about (i.e. Willie Jolley's "A setback is a setup for a comeback"), and, for the most part, they can be very entertaining. However, I do not really find most of their stuff to be extraordinarily enlightening, since it's mostly rehashing "common sense" stuff.
If you do want to work on your self-esteem, communication, and leadership skills, then I highly recommend that you do what I did... join Toastmasters!!!
Since 1924, when Dr. Ralph Smedley started the first Toastmasters Club at the Santa Ana, California, YMCA, Toastmasters has provided a positive, constructive, and non-judgmental environment for people of all walks of life to build their self-esteem, their communication skills, and their leadership skills.
In a typical Toastmasters Club, you learn not only "public speaking" per-se, but you also learn how to "think on your feet" through an impromptu speaking exercise called "table topics", how to evaluate others postively and constructively by doing actual speech and meeting evaluations, and even how to run a meeting as the master of ceremonies (whom we call the "Toastmaster of the Meeting"). This is all "hands on" training that can be applied in both your professional and personal lives.
The typical Toastmasters Club charges around 60-to-80 dollars per year in membership dues, and for that, you get professional materials from Toastmasters and countless learning opportunities through helping each other. If you compare that to seminars which last mere days or weeks and cost several hundred (or even several thousand) dollars, Toastmasters gives you the same type of quality training for mere pennies a day, especially if you are a member for at least 2 years.
I have been a member for over 15 years, and as a result, I have learned how to deal with people better, plus I have learned better ways to respond in job interviews. Those skills alone have been worth every penny in dues and every day I've spent in Toastmasters. As a "fringe benefit", I even met my wife in Toastmasters and I'm happy to say that we've been happily married for a little over 2 years. :)
If you are going to spend your money on self-development, don't go out and buy a bunch of expensive materials that most likely will collect dust on your bookshelf after awhile. Find a local Toastmasters Club in or near either your workplace or community. They are on the web at www.toastmasters.org.
That's all for now. Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend, and hopefully, we'll see you in Toastmasters!!!
posted by Georgia Road Geek at
5:18 AM
