Overcoming Insecurities in Writing and Speaking

“The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise.” -Edward Gibbon

I used to think I was a better writer than a speaker. But then I thought, maybe I’m better at speaking than I am at writing. It was, and maybe in some ways still is, an insecurity. I used to care very much what people thought about my skills in both areas. Now I don’t care too much what anyone else thinks about my skills in either area. I care more about how they feel when they walk away. If they feel defeated and less human after they’ve been around me, my skills have failed me. But if they walk away thinking, “Wow, maybe I am capable,” then my skills have done their duty. That’s really all that matters to me in the end.