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2019 Toastasters International Convention Golden Gavel

AUGUST 21–24, 2019 / DENVER, COLORADO


Typography Reading Inspired By Golden Moments

2019 Golden Gavel Recipient

Jia Jiang

Toastmasters' most prestigious award, the Golden Gavel, has been presented annually since 1959 to an individual distinguished in the fields of communication and leadership.

Toastmasters International has named Jia Jiang its 2019 Golden Gavel recipient for his leadership in the field of rejection therapy. The award recognizes Jiang's extensive influence in encouraging individuals and organizations to become fearless. Jiang will accept the award in August at the 88th Annual Toastmasters International Convention in Denver, Colorado, United States.

Jia Jiang is the owner of Rejection Therapy, a website that provides inspiration, knowledge and products for people to overcome their fear of rejection. He is also the CEO of Wuju Learning, a company that teaches people and trains organizations to become fearless through rejection training. In 2015, he authored the Amazon bestselling book, Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection. In 2017, he was one of the most-viewed TED Talks.

Several years after Jiang began his career in the corporate world, he took a life-altering risk and stepped into the unknown world of entrepreneurship. His result was everyone’s biggest fear: rejection. This was the catalyst that set Jiang on the path to his true calling.

To conquer the fear of rejection, Jiang embarked on a personal quest and started a blog, 100 Days of Rejection Therapy. His journey revealed a world that was hidden in plain sight—a world where people are much kinder than we imagine. He discovered that rejection can be much less painful than we believe, and that the fear of rejection is much more destructive than we know.

Jiang grew up in Beijing, China and migrated to the United States at age 16. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.




2019 Golden Gavel Recipient Jia Jiang


Jia Jiang

Owner of Rejection Therapy,
CEO of Wuju Learning






Presentation Information

What You Can Learn From 100 Days of Rejection

Friday, August 23, 11:30 a.m.—2 p.m.

The fear of rejection can hold you back. Our natural tendency is to avoid it at all costs, which can be detrimental to our businesses, careers, and lives. In 2012, to overcome his own fear of rejection, entrepreneur Jia Jiang started an experiment to be rejected every day for 100 days. The result became the basis of the third most-viewed TED Talk of 2017 and a bestselling book: Rejection Proof. In this engaging presentation, Jiang shares stories from his rejection experiment to teach you the importance of becoming rejection-proof, the basic principles of turning a no into yes, and how to get more yeses.






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