The most common line when meeting a professional speaker | What’s yours?
When I lived in Japan I taught English as a second language.
One of my early on lessons with a LOT of students was to tell them “This is a pen!” is NOT a greeting.
When you wander the streets of Japan, little people (Japanese are smaller in stature anyway, so when they are young they are really little little people 😎 run up near me and say, “Hey gaijin = foreigner, this is a pen.”
It’s the first lesson in grammar and sentence structure.
Related: Diary of a Cruise Ship Speaker
Many, most?, professional speakers are not that far off when they greet someone new.
“Hi, I’m Joe Blow and I wrote ‘The Definitive Guide to Snow Blowing.’ It’s why I changed my name and now travel the world (see the 2 lies professional speakers always tell) talking about snow blowers.
“Do you go to countries near the equator, too?”
“Huh?”
Nobody cares what you know or did, especially writing a book, unless they know you care or did something for them.
The truth is a monkey can write a book. Maybe a poor book, but a book nonetheless.
It’s an accomplishment to write a book for sure. It takes discipline, persistence and knowledge.
But there is a bigger test. Next time someone says, “I am Pete Putty the Road Salesman and I wrote “Putty for Dummies.” Ask them, “How many books have you sold?”
Writing a book is easy. Getting it read is hard.
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