A Toast to Your Home Business

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

Toastmasters - Friend of Your Home Business

There's a terrific organization, found in just about any area of the country, and the world, that can help you get to know your business neighbors as well as promote your home business and hone your public speaking skills. It's called Toastmasters.

Founded in 1924, Toastmasters now has over 3 million members and continues to grow. Its purpose? To help home business owners, executives, managers and others whose job tasks require speaking in front of others, to achieve a comfort level in their public speaking, become effective speakers, think quickly on their feet and learn to chair effective meetings.

Does it Work for Your Home Business?

Does it work! Each one hour meeting (typically every week or every other week) includes extemporaneous speaking opportunities, planned speech tasks, a chance to be grammarian, timer, toastmaster, and evaluator (of others' speeches.) You can even choose to tell the joke for the week, or be the Ah counter (the person who takes note of others "ums" and "ahs" and "You knows" and reports on these). Your first speech, the "Ice Breaker" is all about you.

The easiest speech - who doesn't know about themselves, and what to share that info? - it gives you a relatively non-threatening introduction to speaking in front of others. From there each speech gets progressively a little more challenging. While, of course, your comfort grows.

The advantage for you and your home business, besides giving you training on presenting yourself publicly, is that you are always the speech topic decision maker. You can use each speech, extemporaneous or planned, to talk about your home business. You can let them know how it started, what you sell or service, why your home business products or services are terrific and unique, and whatever else you want to say to promote yourself and your home business.

The folks who are there are usually professionals, and quite likely to be good client candidates as well.

What's Good for You is Good for Your Home Business

The final advantage to Toastmasters, and actually to anything productive that gets you out of the house for awhile, is that you take a break from your at-home alone status - an all-too-often home business problem. Instead of sitting at your home office keyboard in your shorts or sweats, you actually have to stand up, change into something nice, head outside to the bright sunshine and fresh air, and join some nice folks for a great lunch.

All too often home business owners don't give themselves their much needed break. They run the danger of burning out. Toastmasters is the best of both worlds - a chance to network for you home business growth and the opportunity to meet and greet.

So, how do you join? Go to www.toastmasters.org - the international site of Toastmasters. From their you can choose "Find a Club." You'll be amazed at how many local clubs their are. In good sized cities or areas there are likely to be several clubs - some in the evening, some at lunch time, some scheduled early morning hours before folks head off to work.

To grow your home business , hone your public speaking skills, make friends and meet business neighbors, you can't do better than Toastmasters.