One company that is really great about giving tips and guidance in the business world is Toastmasters. It’s known for its localized education of public speaking and leadership skills, which provides a great opportunity to improve your communication skills and also to network with other business men and women in the community. Toastmasters also has a magazine and a website that provides a wealth of information in a way that makes it interesting and fun to read.
We have the magazine delivered to us at work and I always flip through it when I few extra minutes. This past month has quite a few insightful articles. One is about different apps you can download on your smart phone or ipad that will help you view and/or create presentations on the go - which is really handy in today’s technological world. Another is about how to deal with an interrupter in your work group called, “How to Muzzle the Yakker.” There always seems to be relevant articles which you can learn from and make you laugh at the same time. It's always an enjoyable read.
Here’s a link to the Toastmasters website: http://www.toastmasters.org/
Hi Kellie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the article "How to Muzzle the Yakker." It can be incredibly frustrating when one person constantly interrupts you. The techniques the article suggests are quite interesting. The most common responses are clearly just learning to listen, and being "decisive and confident," and saying something like "'Excuse me Debbie. I didn't get to finish. I'd like to add that..." These are likely the two ways I would most likely handle the situation.
On the other hand, I was amazed by the suggestion to get up and walk out of the meeting. Obviously, the author did recognize this as a last resort, but even as a last resort I find it as extreme and think it holds the potential of creating further communication problems, or damaging management's image of oneself.
To save some of you some time from searching for the articles on the web site, the following is a link directly to the article "How to Muzzle the Yakker":
http://magazines.toastmasters.org/display_article.php?id=726209
I was somewhat surprised as well regarding the suggestion that you just get up and walk out of a meeting. Clearly this would have worked against me in the companies that I haved worked for.
ReplyDeleteInterupting people before they finish speaking is a problem I have recognized in myself. I have tried to break that cycle. I noticed my family does it all the time and it drives me nuts!
I think this is an interesting club. When doing a search for local clubs it was somewhat interesting that only a few were wide open to members while others had some membership eligibility requirements. Do you belong to any of these groups? Have you been to the meetings? What is the typical meeting consist of?
ReplyDeleteSteve, I haven't been able to make any meetings. I usually just check out the magazines and the website. I do know that are a few around the Springfield area though.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the suggestion of getting up and walking out of a meeting is a little drastic. I think a lot of incidents and issues would have to precede somebody walking out due to built up resentment and frustration. I have actually been in a meeting once at my old job where someone walked out because she was frustrated with our manager. It didn't go over well as you can imagine and really brought down her reputation throughout the company. I think you need to communicate your feelings towards the person who is really bothering you so that it doesn't build up and lead to a drastic move that could damage your career.
Kellie, nice "shout out" for Toastmasters. It is a great organization and very helpful in its tips for public speaking and for the regular practice opportunities its local meetings provide.
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