The American bestselling author Susan Cain promoted her book ‘Quiet’ at the 2012 TED conference. Her passionate speech made a case for the quiet and reflective. She criticized convincingly a society that undervalues the capabilities of introverted people.
Susan Cain, a self-described introvert, took the stage at the 2012 TED conference before an audience of 1,500 people to talk about a matter that is near to her heart. Her book ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can´t Stop Talking’ is about the bone and bane of being an introvert. The author says having she has ambivalent feelings about public speaking. On the one hand, she is not comfortable with public speaking at all, but on the other hand, it is something she also wants other introverts to do.
She says: “I hope all of you [introverts] will occasionally open up your valuable thoughts and ideas for other people to see, because the world needs introverts and it needs the things you carry.
The main motivation for her to write a book on this, in her opinion, very important topic were her own experiences with introversion. She received a great feedback from the audience as the speech could not have been more passionate and convincing. Cain´s TED Talks video is one of the most viewed TED videos of all time.
TED, short for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is known as a great platform for academics, creatives and entrepreneurs to share their ideas under the motto “Ideas Worth Spreading”. Cain says that a mere speech would not have done it there. She had to visibly emote her ideas without using notes. She did not only present facts and data, but animated them with drama and humour. She shows at the beginning of her speech that a quiet and introverted style is not wanted in our society by bringing colourful examples from her childhood.
Cain revealed us, how she prepared for her speech and how she succeeded to cope with the great pressure before it.
She says: “I actually spent one week before the conference working one-on-one with an acting coach and that process was incredibly helpful. Before TED I spent one year practicing public speaking.
Cain shattered successfully the myth that introverts are unable to do public speaking or that they are shy.