[acb-hsp] Introverts and Public Speaking

[peter altschul]

Susan Cain Helped Introverts Find Their Voice; Now, She'll Teach 
Them To Embrace Public Speaking
  By Drake Baer January 29, 2013
  Susan Cain made a splash with "Quiet: The Power of Introverts 
in a World That Can't Stop Talking." Now, she plans to help 
introverts overcome their fear of public speaking.  Here are her 
tips for taking the stage successfully.
  "Now I'm speaking for a living," Susan Cain says, "which is so 
ironic for someone like me."
  Someone like her, in case you haven't heard, is an introvert: 
no, not a recluse, hermit, or antisocialite, but a person who 
prefers low stimulation to high, deep conversation to shallow, 
and solitude to groups--observations she presented in stQuiet: 
The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking The 
book, now in paperback, struck a major chord, landing her in the 
#4 spot on stThe New York Timesst bestseller list and a lauded 
spot on numerous best-of lists as well as making her a favorite 
on the speaking circuit
  So now the lawyer-turned-consultant-turned-author finds herself 
holding not only the intimate conversations she's always 
treasured but doing the public speaking she's always feared  But 
as she shares with stFast Companyst, the two have more in common 
than you think.  With this understanding, the speeches that used 
to rattle her--cut to swigging Bailey's in a bathroom to loosen 
up--she now handles with aplomb, as evidenced by her TED Talk, 
which has been viewed by 3 million people.
  One of Cain's next projects--in between starting a new book and 
continuing the present tour--is to put together an online public 
speaking and communication class for introverts.  Emphasizing 
authenticity over showmanship, she hopes that the course will 
help her readers share their minds with the world, incorporating 
some of the principles sketched out below.  (While the launch 
date is to be announced, you can sign up to learn more on her 
website.  The class, she says, will be an outgrowth of her life 
experience--that of a person who has been terrified of the stage 
of decades.  If you're terrified, too--like this reporter--then 
her insights as to why desensitization is a positive, showmanship 
is overrated, and even hackneyed advice can be crucial to 
success.
  It'll take some getting used to.
  Lifting from the playbook of psychologists, Cain likes 
desensitization as a way to get comfortable with the microphone.  
Just like a flu shot gives you a weak strain of a virus to help 
your body build resilience, you can inoculate yourself against 
knee-quakes by taking in small chunks of fear that are more 
readily handled.  To that end, Cain advises against beginning 
with, say, a TED Talk.  Start small, like with 
Toastmasters]Toastmasters the international public speaking 
organization that helped her ease into speechmaking.
  Cain notes that the fear doesn't come from having to 
communicate, but from context.  We've each had countless 
experiences practicing what it's like to communicate with 
somebody one-on-one--so it feels more or less OK--but getting up 
on stage feels so foreign.  Desensitization, then, is a process 
of familiarization.
  You can't change your stripes--so don't try.
  "As an introvert," Cain says, "I had the notion that to be an 
effective public speaker you have to be a super dynamic person." 
After studying the craft, she realized it wasn't true: you don't 
need to be a comedian, you can be soft spoken Public speakers, 
she realized, could be equally quiet and compelling.
  It's a matter, Cain says, of personal style--the way you 
connect one-one-one will be the same way you connect from the 
stage.  Are you funny or warm? What's happening when you hit it 
off with someone? Take note, because the way you relate to a 
friend in conversation will be the same way you relate to your 
audience.
  "Whoever you are in real life is going to be the stage you," 
Cain says.
  Think dialogue, not monologue.
  In the same way that part of being a good conversationalist is 
listening to your partner, attentive speakers listen to their 
audiences.
  "You can actually read audiences," Cain says, once you get 
enough experience.  A thoughtful speaker will feel the moods and 
reactions of the audience, making that monologue you set out to 
give much more of a dialogue.  And that defuses a lot of the 
stress.
  "It's not 'I'm really uncomfortable and I've got to go up there 
and do a dog and pony show1'" she says, "it's that I have 
something to say and I really want you to hear it and I really 
want to know what you think."
  The importance of passion.
  While she says it's "hackneyed" advice, a passionate connection 
with the topic will motivate you through your jitters and other 
barriers.  Cain uses herself as an example: she can speak so much 
about introversion because she cares so much about introversion.  
Because she really wants her audiences to gain a nuanced 
perception of the topic, she cares less about their perception of 
her.
  "When you're more focused in getting your message across than 
you are worrying about how people are viewing you," she says, 
"that's huge."
  To hear Cain tell it, quality speakers advance the relationship 
between their subject and their listeners.
  "Be in service of the idea, in service of the connection with 
your audience," she says.  "That's what you're there for."
  Drake Baer covers leadership for Fast Company.  You can follow 
him on Twitter.
  Copyright Ággc) 2013 Mansueto Ventures LLC.  All rights 
reserved.