I once watched TED Talk of Susan Cain titled ‘The Power of Introverts’. As the introvert herself, she does public speaking talking about the introversion as she also published a book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. And here are my favorite lines from her talk:
“Introverts, you being you, you probably have the impulse to guard very carefully what’s inside your own suitcase. And that’s okay. But occasionally, I hope you will open up your suitcases for other people to see, because the world need you and it needs the things you carry. So, I wish you the best of all the possible journeys and the courage to speak softly.” – Susan Cain
As she speaks, she uses ‘suitcase’ as the connecting line of her talk. Starting from how she tells us that she brings a suitcase full of books on summer camp when she was a child as she planned to spend her summer camp by reading all of them and end up to read none because the outdoor activities during the camp. She also tells us on her suitcase she brings books which belongs to her grandfather whom she got the introversion self from, and in the end of the talks she likens the suitcase as people’s mind. Therefore, on the quoted lines, she hopes everyone to open up their suitcases for other people to see in which means everyone including the introverts should speak up their minds and their ideas.
So, how the quiet can be a good public speaker?
First thing first, get out of the comfort zone. Not all of us is a fan for being in a spotlight, but in a business world we need to speak our ideas, input, or questions in purpose to make the project run smoothly. We don’t need to take step on the spotlight all the time, but occasionally as needed. Scared and uncomfortable it is, but once we go out, we will go up the ladder the version of ourselves.
Next is, to be ourselves and focus on the ideas. The best speaker doesn’t mean to be always funny or hilarious, simply to be interesting by communicate valuable information for the audience. When speaking about the ideas, we need to stay focus on the importance of the message to the audience. This will keep us connected to our ideas and also to the audience.
Third, stepping on the spotlight may challenge our nerves that what we have organized in mind can suddenly be fall apart. To overcome this, before we talk we can try to calm our mind by calming our body first. When we relax our body, our head will follow suit.
Last but not least, practice makes perfect. Being the good one will not happen overnight, we need to practice. For some, it may even take years to be comfort on the nature. Keep remind that every single progress of ourselves is should be appreciated to keep facing the challenge.
Remember that we all have valuable things to say and the world need to hear it!