When John Bowe learned that his extremely reclusive cousin, who had lived for decades in his parents' basement, had moved out and gotten married at the age of fifty-nine, John was extremely surprised. What made him equally surprised was how his cousin had finally launched his life. It hadn't been meds or therapy. Instead, he had joined his local Toastmasters club.
Duly intrigued, John set off on his own Toastmasters journey, as he details in his book I Have Something to Say: Mastering the Art of Public Speaking in an Age of Disconnection. Today on the show, John shares how he discovered that the ethos of this nonprofit organization parallels the tradition of rhetoric espoused by the ancient Greeks, especially by Aristotle, and why the ability to speak, whether in the context of giving a formal speech or simply having a conversation, continues to be such an essential skill in the modern age. In my favorite part of the show, we discuss how our ideas of authentic speech can actually get in the way of expressing our authentic selves. We then turn to the techniques for better speaking that John learned from joining Toastmasters and how Toastmasters ultimately transformed his own life.
After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/toastmasters
Begin the New Year by Reflecting on These 3 Life-Changing Questions [Rebroadcast]
The Real (Decidedly-Less-Sentimental-Yet-Still-Wonderful) Story of WWI's Christmas Truce
C.S. Lewis on Building Men With Chests
Prototype Your Way to a Better Life
The Perils and Powers of Cowardice
Prepare Now to Have Your Best Year Ever
How Testosterone Makes Men, Men
Cormac McCarthy, The Road, and Carrying the Fire
To Drink or Not to Drink
The Quest for a Moral Life
The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather
How to Achieve Cognitive Dominance
How the Desire for Status Explains (Pretty Much) Everything
Why Do the Navy’s Frogmen Fight on Land?
A Surprising Theory on Why We Get Fat
Take Back the Weekend
The Metaphysical Club
The Rise of the Religious "Nones" (And What It Means for Society)
The Surprising Benefits of Forgetting
Let the Children Play!
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free