Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to host a virtual toast. Often people
Speaker 1: would like to celebrate with you, but they probably won't
Speaker 1: be able to travel far, commit multiple hours, or get
Speaker 1: a babysitter. A virtual toast can solve these problems and
Speaker 1: still make the person of honor feel celebrated. My most
Speaker 1: recent book, Tranquility by Tuesday, when on sale a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago. I don't live in the same place as
Speaker 1: my editors or publicists, or, for that matter, many of
Speaker 1: the people who work with me. I am a member
Speaker 1: of a few professional strategy groups where the people live
Speaker 1: all over the place. I have some loyal readers and
Speaker 1: supporters who are also far flung. In my ideal world,
Speaker 1: we would all gather in a venue somewhere for a party.
Speaker 1: But I know that people have busy lives and they
Speaker 1: can't all travel to the Philadelphia area for the day.
Speaker 1: So I decided to hold a small virtual toast on
Speaker 1: Zoom right before the launch. People gathered for a few minutes.
Speaker 1: We talked about the book. I thanked folks, We raised
Speaker 1: a glass. It was great It left me feeling glowing
Speaker 1: and like I was really part of something big. We
Speaker 1: all need that in our lives. Let's say you just
Speaker 1: got a promotion at work. Your best friends are the
Speaker 1: five people you lived within college, and they live all
Speaker 1: over the country or possibly all over the world. They
Speaker 1: would come for your funeral, but in the meantime they
Speaker 1: can get on Zoom for a few minutes to talk
Speaker 1: about how great you are and to say that you
Speaker 1: deserve the promotion and that they knew this would happen
Speaker 1: all along. You can also do short virtual celebrations in
Speaker 1: advance of bigger ones. If you just got engaged, why
Speaker 1: not invite far flowing friends and relations to gather online
Speaker 1: to raise a glass. Sure many will come for the
Speaker 1: wedding itself, but that might be a year from now.
Speaker 1: It can be fun to celebrate in the meantime. There
Speaker 1: is no particular cost to a virtual event, and it
Speaker 1: can be quick. You get a lot of the good
Speaker 1: feelings without the catering bill. That sounds like a win
Speaker 1: to me. We gathered by Zoom and other video programs
Speaker 1: by necessity during COVID. Now that many people are doing
Speaker 1: things in person again, I suspect that folks may shy
Speaker 1: away from virtual celebrations. After all, we want to see
Speaker 1: our friends and family in person, and we should. People
Speaker 1: may also be a tiny bit tired of zoom, but
Speaker 1: this doesn't have to be an either or thing. Virtual
Speaker 1: toasts can augment in person celebrations and can make celebrations
Speaker 1: possible in situations where the alternative might be to not celebrate,
Speaker 1: or to have a celebration with far fewer people, have
Speaker 1: a virtual toast for distant folks and host a local party.
Speaker 1: This doesn't have to be a choice. So the next
Speaker 1: time you are considering celebrating something but thinking it might
Speaker 1: be a bother to bring people together, or that the
Speaker 1: people who should come aren't nearby or might be busy,
Speaker 1: consider hosting a virtual toast. You will see each other's
Speaker 1: faces and enjoy a happy moment. It. It might not
Speaker 1: be quite as good as being in person, but if
Speaker 1: the alternative is not gathering at all, you know which
Speaker 1: is the better choice. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the moves of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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