I have a dream.

That people will compliment before they complain. That citizens will support before they sneer. That all will appreciate before they deprecate. That E-Newsletters will describe before they "dis."


And to realize that dream, I wish that every person all over the world would attend a Toastmasters meeting and that every man, woman, and child, would ultimately become a member of an illustrious club.

That's a big dream! How could a club, just one club, make my dream come true? Toastmasters' mission is to improve communication in a fun and supportive environment. It's founded on a very important principle - people learn and develop through positive reinforcement. While most of the world makes a regular habit of "dissing" people to make their point or get a laugh, Toastmasters are not allowed to do that. They do have a place for pointing out people's shortcomings, but they are not allowed to be mean. They have a great rule that helps them to do this. And here's the deal: Toastmasters can tell someone what they did wrong if and only if they wrap the "bad" news in good news. The deal is that they must first tell a person what he or she did that was good and effective. Then and only then can they deliver constructive criticism to help him or her to be even better in the future. Then to wrap up, they must deliver another compliment. They fondly call this "the sandwich."

Recipe for a Toastmasters Sandwich:

1. Add the bread : at least one sincere home-baked compliment
2. Add the filling: a suggestion to make it even better
3. Add more bread: a final compliment(s) is the conclusion

Chef's Note: the bread is doubly important!
Serve daily.
The giver and the receiver will both enjoy!

I love that recipe!

Imagine if every time my husband wanted to tell me that he didn't like what I wrote about him in the Enews Jewels Newsletter that he had to first compliment me by saying something such as "I really enjoyed your last newsletter." Then and only then he can tell me his suggestions for how I might improve it. Then, if he's following the recipe, he must conclude with at least one more compliment - such as, "I'm looking forward to reading part two!" Or better still after he reads it, he might say, "I am definitely going to do that and I'm going to tell everybody at work about it too."

Wouldn't it be great if every communication was like that? Wouldn't it be awesome if it was against the law to start an email with:

"I saw a copy of your brochure. You spelled three words wrong and the date of the seminar is listed as Thursday, July 6th - but July 6th is a FRIDAY!!!"

Or, after you've worked for ten hours putting together a 5-page proposal, a client could not say to you, "This won't do. 1) The price is too high. 2) We don't need xxx. 3) This is not what we asked for!"

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could say, "That's a 911 call, buddy, because you just broke the positive feedback law!"

Instead, if the world was more like my husband and my fellow Toastmasters, proposal reviewers would cook up their comments and serve them in style. They would first tell you what was good about it and what they liked about it. And then they would add what they suggest to make it even better. And, of course, they would conclude with another reason why they appreciate your work on the proposal.

Toastmasters insist on sandwiches. For me - I would love to have these sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, every week. Your E-Newsletters can bring it on and deliver a hero sandwich in style too. Serve it up. We're hungry!