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Dear community members,

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. Roughly 75% of the world suffers from this social phobia to some extent. The exact cause of glossophobia is hard to pinpoint but both genetic factors and traumatic experiences of one’s past can play a role. There is, however, a silver lining. Deliberate practice can help overcome glossophobia over a period of time. 2020 plunged us in front of the video conferencing tools. We were learning, working and connecting online. There was no option but to get in front of the camera and start talking. While we spoke more, we communicated less. More importantly, communicated less effectively. Things are unlikely to go back to the way they were. In this new normal, it is time all of us adapt our communication styles. If there is one skill you should work on in 2022, it should be effective public speaking. If you are already good, try and get better. If you struggle, like roughly ~75% of the world’s population, it is time for deliberate practice.

Public speaking is not something you can get good at by downloading an app. Just like you can’t learn driving by reading instruction manuals, you can’t become a good public speaker with a hands-off approach. You need to immerse yourself.

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Warren Buffet and Public Speaking

In the HBO documentary “Becoming Warren”, billionaire investor Warren Buffet says that the chains of habit are too light to be felt and too heavy to be broken. He used to be a terrible public speaker and it was inhibiting his professional life. Buffet realized that if he didn’t change his habit of keeping to himself and fix his glossophobia, he would never be able to reach his true potential. After seeing Dale Carnegie’s public speaking course in the local newspaper, Buffet enrolled in his cohort-based immersion program. Though not comfortable, he stuck to Carnegie’s program.

Buffet says that learning public speaking was the best investment he ever made. It turned out to be an asset that continues to pay dividends even today - 90 years and counting. Had he not taken corrective measures, his discomfort with public speaking would have been a huge liability.

Should I learn to speak well because Warren Buffet said so?

You shouldn’t try and get better at public speaking because you want to prove a point to someone somewhere. FOMO-induced goal setting rarely works. To understand why, let’s explore the two components of motivation.

1. Extrinsic Motivation: Extrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by external rewards such as fame, grades, and praise.

2. Intrinsic Motivation: Intrinsic motivation is the act of doing something without any obvious external rewards. The pursuit is the pleasure and the reward.

At the end of the Fellowship, you will be ready to deliver a public talk (3-5 minutes). We will coach you, work on your drafts and help you put yourself out there. Remember you can’t get better hiding in a corner.

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✍🏼 Read our founder Utkarsh Amitabh’s Harvard Business Review articles here Building Your Category of One, Should You Choose Passion Over Paycheck, How to Make Envy Work for You?, and The Right Way to Make a Big Career Transition

💞 Read our founder Utkarsh Amitabh’s book Seductive Illusion of Hard Work. The foreword written by Klaus Schwab, the founder of World Economic Forum.