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NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
assume you're intelligent and capable until you start
talking. And then, well, they might realize that you're
not as smart as they thought. Or maybe you'll surprise
them and say something really insightful. Either way,
speaking up changes everything.
Professor Thomas Harrell at the Stanford Business
School spent twenty years looking for “the success
factor” and concluded the number one identifiable
predictor of success, across all realms of life, is “social
extroversion”—the ability to speak up.
When was the last time you spoke to a stranger?
When was the last time you tried?
Even if you have to step out of your comfort zone
for a moment, the life you encounter when you step
back in again will be different from the life you were
living before you plucked up the courage to speak.
That said, we all know that feeling when you’
re
sitting next to a stranger on a bus or standing
awkwardly in an elevator and someone insists on
talking to you when you’re not in the mood. Most
unwanted conversations can be politely avoided with a
brief answer and a curt smile. If they still insist on
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