The Fallacy of the Natural-Born Speaker

The popular belief is that public speaking is a skill we are born or blessed with, not one that we acquire. Sure, there are people who might be better than others, but none is born successful in this skill.

Like everything else in the world, hard work and discipline is needed to develop this skill. I sometimes equate public speaking to competitive sports; with practice and discipline any sport will produce incremental improvement and eventual success. As a swimmer, I can tell you that hours of training is the only way to get better. Like in swimming, we need to warm up, stretch, and train our way to success by overcoming the usual roadblocks. Not every performance leads to better time or even a medal but rest assured that there is improvement. The same happens with public speaking.

Natural or Nurtured?

Today the scientific consensus is less of a nature vs. nurture situation. The scientific community frames it as nature and nurture working together to produce a result. That said, it is more scientifically accurate to explain the presence of speaking and leadership skills as a function of genes and training together. What produces a Steve Jobs or a Barack Obama is a mixture of genes, training and experience.

We Can Learn the Skill

We can learn, develop and evolve. We do this everyday whether we are conscious of it or not. We can choose to master new skills by dedicated, consistent effort. Public speaking success is a skill we foster, not one we are born with. Our effort in public speaking training can and do wonders to improve the outcome of our presentations. Just like a muscle, when it is exercised, it grows — when not, it weakens. When we focus on learning and develop as a presenter, a variety of positive outcomes appear— but only with our investment of time and effort.

What disciplined path do you plan to take to improve you speaking skills? When will you start?