Public speaking course
A structured class in speaking to a room, taken to get past the fear of doing it
Weekly sessions over two or three months in which a small group practices giving talks and gets coached on nerves, structure and delivery. Dale Carnegie's program is the best-known brand and has run since 1912; Toastmasters clubs offer a cheaper, member-run version. Repetition in front of the same faces is what wears the fear down. Graduates often describe it as the class that did most for their careers, since the skill carries into selling, managing and simply being understood.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Warren BuffettDoes it
Investor · Berkshire Hathaway chairman
He was terrified of speaking in public until he was 20. So he signed up for a Dale Carnegie course, stopped payment on the check, then went back and paid $100 in cash so he would have to show up. The certificate hangs in his office. His college diplomas do not, and he calls it the degree that mattered most to his later success.
Source: CNBC Make It: This $100 college course gave me the most important degree I have
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