“Epic Fail” – This is what Seth Godin calls his first speech in front of an audience 40 years ago. Coming from someone who is hailed as a masterful public speaker, this gave me a mild surprise. I am saying mild, because Seth is not the first one to have started off as a poor speaker. Winston Churchill had an even worse problem, a lisp, and he would rehearse his speech several times before delivering it.

The bigger point is that such initial failures are inevitable. Let Seth have the last word

“It (the first speech) was an epic fail. Friends and relatives agreed that I wasn’t engaged or engaging, certainly a performance not to be repeated.

I ignored the part about not repeating it, but I definitely learned some valuable lessons about confidence and engagement.

Just about anything worth doing is worth doing better, which means, of course, that (at least at first) there will be failure. That’s not a problem (in the long run), it’s merely a step along the way.

If you’re not willing to get your ‘worst one ever’ out of the way, how will you possibly do better than that?”

PS : Want to know why Seth is considered a great public speaker? Click on the video below.