Billionaire overcomes fear of public speaking

Warren Buffet, the well known American billionaire used to fear public speaking to the point that he got physically ill and  has spoken about it in an interview
http://www.levo.com/articles/office-hours-recaps/warren-buffett-levo-league-office-hours-recap

Like many people, Warren suffered anxiety about giving presentations in  high school and whilst at university. He chose his university classes so to avoid giving presentations and  divulged that he dropped out of a public speaking course before it even started; he paid by cheque and then cancelled it!

However, Warren Buffet did eventually end up tackling his fear of presentations and it has been written that one of the pieces of memorabilia in his office he is most proud of his certificate of completion of that training course.

After finishing the one week public speaking course, he took an  after hours teaching post at the University of Omaha as he  knew he had to maintain his exposure  or he would slip backwards.

Warren’s advice to those experiencing  anxiety is sound.

“Force yourself into situations where you have to develop those abilities.”

“If you can’t communicate and talk to other people… you’re giving up your potential,”

Buffett said, you have to confront your fears,  “you have to do it. And the sooner you do it, the better. It’s so much easier to learn the right habits when you’re young. If you have a fear of associating with people, you have to go out there and do it, and it’s painful… When I was young and completed the [public speaking] course, I was worried I would lapse back… so I started teaching a class at night and, you know, you’ve got to force yourself to do some things sometimes.

I was pleased to find this other quote by Warren Buffet,  “You are doing something very worthwhile if you are helping introverted people get outside of themselves”. I find it very rewarding to help people overcome their social phobias whether it be: public speaking, job interviews, meeting new people, dating, initiating and maintaining conversations, etc.

Please contact me  on 98193671 or 0429 88 3671 or email anxietyaustralia.com.au@gmail.com if you would like help to overcome your public speaking phobia.

If a course has changed your life, please write and tell us about it.

Comments are closed.