Toastmasters: Your Leadership MBA
by: Lukas Liebich, DTM
Toastmasters: Your Leadership MBA Part-1 – In 2003, Tim Ferriss wanted to learn about investing but found that MBA classes were too theoretical. Instead, he invested his $120k in a “Tim Ferriss Fund” and used it as “play money” for his learning investments. Ferriss believed that taking action is more effective than learning through theory.
Welcome to your Toastmasters Leadership MBA
Toastmasters educational program has many good things; one of its weaknesses is that it does not give you any deadlines. Not having deadlines may be good to include “slow learners” and “weekend warriors,” but what about the bright and ambitious who want to use Toastmasters as a springboard to new career opportunities – and who want to do it fast?
If you’re one of them – and you’re just starting in Toastmasters (or are, say, in the first year), this article is for you.
Your Investment
I bet you’ll appreciate that you won’t need $120,000. $90 (the annual membership cost) might be just enough, even though you might want to add some extra club-specific costs and possibly a book on public speaking or two.
The more critical commitment is in the matter of time. We’re not yet in the world of the Matrix when you can “upload” a skill into your brain without any effort. If you want to learn fast, get ready to invest ±10 hours every week for the duration of the program. If it sounds too much, let me tell you that you can achieve a comparable result by spreading your effort over five years and spending just 5 hours a week – but wouldn’t that be a waste of time?
Following is a guide on approaching your Toastmasters MBA year, broken down into four quarters. You don’t need to do them entirely in sequence – even though I ordered them in a way that makes the most sense.
Let’s get started!
Lukas Liebich DTM-Cafe4
