What's your biggest fear?

Author

Caleb Laird
April 24, 2024 • Read Time: 2 minutes

Spiders? Heights? Death?

They might be in your top 5, but most people’s #1 is public speaking.

Funny enough, public speaking is one of the most powerful skills you can learn, especially for your startup.

Pandora founder, Tim Westergren calls it “the most universally useful skill.”

He goes on to explain that “whether you're pitching a group of investors, rallying your employees, selling a customer, recruiting talent, addressing consumers, or doing a press tour, the ability to deliver a great talk is absolutely invaluable.”

Pretty universally useful right?

Unfortunately it’s a lot easier said than done.

It’s taken me 14 years of practice and I still get anxious before presenting sometimes.

You have to play the long game on this one.

Probably not what you wanted to hear I know.

But throw yourself at every opportunity to speak in front of a group, no matter how small or large (bigger is better here though).

Public speaking is the ultimate “trust the process” scenario. I promise it gets easier.

Spiders on the other hand, I’ll never get over those.

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