3 Key Skills that Could Determine Your Lot in Life

It took watching seven-hour-long lectures to confirm a surprising belief this past weekend. Much of the annual University of Texas Sport Performance Clinic was a conference-style learning environment. About 120 strength coaches, medical practitioners, and industry leaders were in attendance to listen to seven keynote speakers. My takeaway is simple:

It’s not what you know or what you say. Rather, it’s how you say it. 

While every speaker was both incredibly knowledgeable and credible, only some were able to effectively transfer some of their knowledge for a successful presentation. While at the event, Coach Chris “Tex” McQuilkin shared this lecture with me as his way of describing why some keynotes were better than others. 

In his notorious MIT lecture titled “How to Speak”, Patrick Winston has offered the same captivating advice for more than forty years. In the talk he can be heard declaring that:

“Your success in life will largely be determined by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas… in that order.” 

I’ve continued to observe this truth in the training world and beyond myself. If you communicate your ideas of critical importance, you’ll get further than your peers (even if their ideas are better). As much as speaking and writing can be easily loathed by many, I’d encourage you to nurture those skill sets with reckless abandon as soon as possible.