How public speaking skills can benefit introverts
In 1951, a shy, young introvert enrolled himself in a public-speaking course created by Dale Carnegie, author of the classic self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People. “You can’t believe what I was like if I had to give a talk,” the once shy investor remembers. “I would throw up.” That very same once shy, young introvert, Warren Buffet is now one the wealthiest investors in the world. His secret? Public-speaking skills. (Being a financial genius helps, too!)
But Warren Buffet has not only attributed his success in business to the public-speaking skills that he learned in Carnegie’s course; he has also credited his successfully long marriage to them as well. Whether it was the ability to display confidence to a group of investors or the ability to muster up the courage to propose to his wife, communication skills, and particularly public-speaking skills, have proved to be essential to Warren Buffet’s life.
Why are good presentation skills important?
One reason public-speaking skills are so vital for the business world is the frequency with which professionals are required to deliver presentations that have an impact on their careers. From that first job interview with the managing directors to that meeting with a group of venture capitalists, presentations are part of life for professionals.
But many professionals who otherwise thrive in their careers, often encounter obstacles when it comes to presentation skills or public speaking of any kind. In addition to Warren Buffet, Elon Musk has described the difficulty and fear he once had of public speaking: "it took a lot of practice and effort to go up on stage and not just stammer basically,” he once explained in an interview.
My journey to mastering public speaking skills
I remember my first time being introduced to some ideas of public speaking. It was during my time at university, and I took a course through the Drama Department called “Essentials of Public Speaking”. To be honest, I gave a perfunctory attempt at the course. Little did I know that years later I would be teaching students how to deliver presentations; and little did I understand just how important presentation skills are for teaching in addition to professions like the hospitality industry. As teaching was going to be my bread and butter, I quickly learned early in my career how vital it was for me to develop presentation skills.
In fact, I’ve been required to give presentations even beyond the classroom ever since the inception of my teaching career. My first job, for instance, involved giving a presentation to some members of the local community for the schools where I taught. It was in a small town in Japan, and my boss introduced me to the head of the local Rotary Club. I was to give a presentation, my boss instructed me, on my opinion of the Japanese educational system. Check. The presentation was to be around a half an hour. Check. “Oh,” said my Japanese boss in English, “and the presentation has to be in Japanese.” Speaking in a foreign language for half an hour to a group of native speakers was much more of a challenge than the 10-minute presentations I had to give at university in my native language. To say that I was nervous is an understatement. What if I make a grammar mistake? What if I say something embarrassing by mistake? What if I have stage fright? What if I forget what I want to say or how to say it? There are a million “what ifs”, and the only way that I was to survive the daunting task of delivering this presentation was by using the skills that I had learned in my public-speaking course at university.
Public speaking tips for introverts
Pretend that you are speaking with a group of friends rather than to a group of strangers.
It is much easier, even for shy or introverted people, to speak with a small group of people who are familiar to the speaker than to a large group of strangers. The distinction between the prepositions “with” and “to” are key. The preposition “with” encourages a feeling of support, which is vital for shy speakers. The preposition “to”, on the other hand, suggests a directness that can often require more confidence to execute than most shy speakers have. Furthermore, since the nature of shyness often involves the avoidance of other people, the idea of speaking with fewer rather than to more people is naturally more reassuring to shy speakers.
Accept that mistakes will happen and that it’s not as bad as you imagine.
One of the main reasons introverts agonize over public speaking is the possibility of losing face if they make a mistake. This way of thinking is understandable because while the thought of losing face is frightening for most of us, for introverts it is especially daunting. The key is to understand that it’s not “if” a mistake happens but “when” it will happen, because nobody is perfect and mistakes are a part of life. Even well-seasoned extroverted motivational speakers make mistakes. So rather than dwelling on something that will most likely happen anyhow, it more beneficial to introverts to accept that mistakes will happen, and that mistakes are usually not nearly as bad as many think.
Practice
One of the main reasons many introverts become anxious about public speaking is that they don’t feel well-enough prepared. Unlike extroverts who can thrive in delivering a presentation in front of others with little preparation, introverts lack that sort of self-confidence. This lack of faith can be understood through the etymology of the word “confident”. The word “confident” comes from the Latin roots “com”, which means “together with”, and “fidere”, which means “faith”. “Faith” is to believe without evidence. In other words, to their credit, many introverts have difficulty bequething credence to something without sufficient evidence to warrant that belief. Introverts need relatively more to experience success in a comparatively small endevour first before they embark on a larger one where the stakes for failure are higher. The solution: shy people should initially practice speaking to the mirror, then to one friend, then to a few other friends, then to one stranger, then to a few other strangers. With each successful step, introverts will not gain confidence - since that does not require evidence - but rather will acquire memories of those successful steps to draw on later when their self-doubt creeps in.
These three strategies will not necessarily make an introvert into a multi-millionaire, but all three of these stategies will almost certainly help with the delivery of a presentation. And since presentations are such a key part of business, they will help with one’s career. Moreover, if we can take Warren Buffet at his word, public speaking skills will not only be beneficial for a person’s career, but may also lead one to a happy marriage.