Kao: Public speaking is a terrible mental model for workplace communication
Wes Kao · How Wes Kao coaches founders to influence, lead, and get what they want | (Co-founder of Maven) · May 22, 2025 · at 1:16:44
Wes Kao, co-founder of Maven, critiques conventional communication advice that overemphasizes theatrical public speaking delivery over collaborative, bi-directional workplace communication.
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“There was so much of communication that operators and founders do on a day to day basis where public speaking is actually a terrible mental model. If you think about it with public speaking, it's one directional. You're sage on stage. You have one speech which you perfect, your TEDx talk, where like every hand gesture and word is so perfectly mapped out. No one's interrupting you midway to ask you questions. This is not how presentations or meetings or conversations go in a company. You're constantly getting interrupted. It's not always bad. Like people are sharing information or wanting to redirect. You're talking about different things every time. You're not repeating the same speech and perfecting it. It's much more bi-directional. It's much more of a Guided conversation than a true, you know, speech or presentation.”
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