Why Introverts make good speakers

A half baked theory to encourage introverts

I am by nature an introvert. This might come as a surprise to some people who know me or have interacted with me.

On some days I wonder if I have made the right career choice or have I made a mistake of aspiring towards being a speaker and for having that aspiration in the first place.

I have a half-baked theory somewhere in my head that introverts make good speakers.

In my head is where I dwell most of the time and can be quite happy just immersing myself with thoughts, ideas and possibilities conjured up by my imagination.

The imaginative constructs can be quite vivid given that I am an INTP — that’s probably where the question came from; the question of whether it is just me sitting around in front of my computer in a room somewhere, thinking about issues that only I think about or about issues that only matter to me.

It’s a back and forth thing going on in my head and that’s why externalizing them and expressing them in words written or spoken helps to get a sense of whether what I care about strikes a chord with people and if there are people who feel the same way.

So back to the half-baked theory which stems from personal experience, Introverts make good speakers for the following reasons:

We are frugal with words, we don’t say more than what is necessary (Unless we are thinking out loud and excited about an idea)

I personally hate the idea of talking for the sake of talking. To me that is just irritating noise.

It makes much more sense to talk only when you have something to say, to speak up when you feel strongly about something.

To only say what needs to be said and to say it with the right words and the right amount of words to accurately convey what you truly mean to say.

Unless of course, when one gets excited about an idea and starts to ramble by talking out loud. That probably means that…

We are opening up and inviting you into our richer inner world and involving you in the process because we think you are interested

Introverts sometimes wonder if it is just them thinking about the things they think about and if they are the only ones with certain ideas.

So when an introvert speaks up and realizes that other people are equally moved or passionate about the subject, they get excited and they begin to open up and talk more freely. (looking more like crazed scientists than reclusive introverts)

They feel less like they are up on stage and more like they are conversing with new friends who are connecting with the ideas and emotions shared.

As the introvert because more comfortable, the sharing will naturally become more honest and authentic.

There is no guarantee that they have all the right answers,but if they know the right answer, they are quite likely to share it with you.

Because if you are a friend…

We care about what you take away from an interaction, we don’t like the idea that we are just indulging in ourselves at your expense.

Simply put, if we wish to indulge in ourselves, we are perfectly capable of doing that by immersing ourselves back into our own world — a world where we won’t be disturbed and a world where we won’t disturb others.

We can be quite comfortable there and be pleased with being able to work with ideas and to play around with them.

So if and when we find ourselves pushed out of that comfort zone to interact with people, or worst still, be thrust into the a position of responsibility where there are X pairs of eyes on us investing Y minutes of their life listening to us, we tend to take it quite seriously and we do our best to make sure that we are sharing something that is of value, is useful or helpful to the audience.

And when they feel that they have nothing more to give…

We are unlikely to overstay our welcome and hog the limelight.

When all is said and done, when an introvert feels like he / she has said what they have set out to say, that they have made the points they truly believe to be important and of value, they will most likely make a polite nondescript exit. No fuss, no muss, no hoo ha.

They are unlikely to keep yakking and hogging the air time or limelight just for its own sake.

Instead of shouting Woohoo! Look at me! I’m awesome! They might look around a little for confirmation that they have done justice to the airtime given to them. (a sincere word of thanks is usually more than enough, but anything more is always welcome)

When the time comes for an introvert who might have to ‘sell something at the end of their speech,’ some might even feel a little apologetic or ill at ease about doing so.

I’m aware that this is a flawed way of looking at things, because the apologetic unease stems from a misguided belief that we are ‘disturbing the peace’ as opposed to ‘offering value’. It is a flaw we have to correct if we wish to survive by selling books at the end of our sessions.(Reminder to self)

This leads us to the final point…

When an introvert shares on stage, they are sharing an invitation for others to see the world and their world of ideas.

It is an invitation for others to rally around the ideas to build, co-create or develop something bigger as a collective. It might sometimes be a call for support or a request for confirmation.

When ignored, most will find it hard to ‘keep on disturbing others’ because the silence is interpreted as a lack of interest or impact.

That’s not always a good thing because most of these weird, fancy, interesting and even useful ideas might take time to nurture and might well become forever lost to the rest of the world as an introvert retreats into their safer inner world believing that they are in isolation and irrelevant.

So if you pick up on a good idea or good ideas from introverts who happen to speak out or speak up, the only way to encourage them to keep speaking and to keep sharing, is to voice your support for their ideas, to re-broadcast them in your own voice and to help encourage more big ideas to come through into the real world.

So that’s my half-baked theory. I hope you picked up something interesting and of value in this sharing.

If you are an introvert and you feel this way, please share your experiences too!