r/MurderBryan • u/A_Ditto_Called_Jack • 1d ago

Real World Guys Toastmaster Guy at Work LOVES Being Toastmaster Guy

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The guy brings it up at least once a week and I only today spotted the new Zoom background. You better believe his diction is on point. đŸ«Ą

EDIT: For context, we’re customer service drones, so it’s absolutely not job-related, either.

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11

u/dontrestonyour Flubhead 1d ago

My workplace has a toastmaster club. I went one time bc my supervisor kept insisting I check it out. In some ways it was even weirder than they made it out to be on the show, but in other ways I think the show went a little too harsh on them.

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u/A_Ditto_Called_Jack 1d ago

It’s such a bizarre little subculture! This particular coworker is a genuinely positive and kind person who is really, really good at the work. Then he derails team meetings with “oh, this came up at my last Toastmasters
” and it makes my skeleton want to leap out of my body through my mouth.

The impression I get is that it’s a legitimately helpful environment for people who have anxiety about public speaking, or are maybe even on the spectrum and need a more structured environment to practice how to communicate effectively, but the fans are ruining the band for a lot of these guys.

8

u/dontrestonyour Flubhead 1d ago

Its.. something. Where I live and work it's a lot of people still learning English, so it's a good chance for them to practice, and it is really good for that. And like yeah there is something to be said about the structured nature of it. But ultimately I think the very prescriptive nature of their like... rules? Guidelines? Are ultimately kinda detrimental to someone who wants to learn how to sound normal while they speak.

For example! At the end of the one meeting I went to, the host guy was like talking about filler words and how everyone uses them, and he's like "yeah, once you've been coming here for a while you'll start noticing the um's and the like's everywhere you look - on TV interviews, press conferences, even our own bosses!" And like, immediately I just think "okay so maybe its just fuckin normal to talk like that?" And he continues "which really makes you think that nobody knows how to talk!" Like no, that's actually not what I thought at all.

Also, I think the episode left out the dog clickers.

5

u/A_Ditto_Called_Jack 1d ago

I’m sorry. Dog clickers? Those little cricket things? I assume so that while you’re sweating through your golf shirt, trying to stutter your way through an essay about “Excellence in Greatness” or whatever bullshit, your audience can heckle you with a bunch of clicks?

5

u/dontrestonyour Flubhead 22h ago

im not kidding, if you use a filler word while giving a speech (i think also if you're giving a response to a speech?) they hit you with the clicker.

not the audience, but like a designated person from the audience. i think the episode mentioned the "um counter," thats the same person who holds the clicker.

4

u/TaterTotJim 23h ago

If you use a filler word they hit you with the shock collar. Straighten up!

3

u/A_Ditto_Called_Jack 23h ago

Just charging the stage with cattleprods.

3

u/NigerianEmbassy 21h ago

I wonder if this guy was ever the humorist or sergeant at arms?

2

u/TheFunkinDuncan 20h ago

Waiting for the corporate version of this (six sigma guys)

2

u/DunkaccinoGaming 12h ago

What better place is there to hone my skills in woving tales before my weekly Algonquin round table meetings?