Who Knew? That here in our membership at Glen Abbey Toastmasters (GATM) is a budding Author with not one, but two books published to date.
That’s right, Paul Dubal, Author of “Crimes against Humanity” and most recently “The Dictator of Britain”, resident of Oakville, and a member of GATM. Paul was recently featured in an article in the Oakville Beaver.
Paul has been a member of GATM since October 2012 and is our current VP of Membership. We interviewed him recently to ask how Toastmasters has helped him as an Author both professionally and personally.
Toastmasters has helped me in so many ways. One of the biggest challenges for an author is to seek an audience for their work and this means a degree of self-promotion. Today this is often carried out in the social media sphere but more often than not means being able to talk about the books.
Gave Me Confidence
I found that the skills I acquired at Toastmasters have been extraordinarily useful in a number of situations. For example when I was conducting a book signing at Chapters, I needed to have the confidence to approach people and ask them if they would like to buy my book. I fully understand that for a customer, buying a book for $20 from a first time author is a risk. I was able to put my ideas together and provide an eloquent and articulate ‘sales pitch’ about the book. I was also able to explain why they would enjoy reading it, which convinced many people to decide to buy.
Put My Ideas In Order
I think it has also helped in social situations when people have asked me what my books are about. I could spend several hours telling them everything about my books but I suspect they would have fallen asleep or made their excuses and left. The discipline acquired from Toastmasters is that I can put my ideas in order on the spot and provide a summary and key highlights of the book that is short and punchy. It also gives enough information to generate enough interest for the person to check out the book. That skill is surprisingly difficult to attain, and Toastmasters has been invaluable in that regard.
Enjoy Speaking
Finally, I hope to promote my books further in a number of ways – to do more online / newspaper (and hopefully radio) interviews. The recent interview I did for the Oakville Beaver received a lot of attention so that will be a good model to follow. I would also like to present at book clubs and other places to promote my work. Toastmasters has given me the confidence to get up in front of any type of audience and speak fluently and confidently and above all, enjoy the experience!!
Paul’s books are available to order in hardback, paperback and in all e-book formats through his website www.paulmichaeldubal.com and at most online bookstores.
Paul we wish you great success in your growing career as an author.