Can anyone really learn public speaking? I mean, come on TJ, isn't it just something you're either born with or you're not? It is amazing how often I get that question by people who are smart, insincere. And to me, it just seems like such a bizarre, bizarre question because no, no one's born being a natural speaker any more than anyone's born being a natural writer. Think of the best writer you've ever read. Now imagine if that person were just born in a jungle had no teachers, no instruction on how to write how good a writer would that person be?
Not very good. Any writer any great writer got formal instruction every day and first grade, second grade, and I realized Shakespeare didn't have a PhD but he did have some formal instruction. Any writer today you admire and respect got formal instruction on how to write Write every day for years. Now, just having instruction doesn't make someone a great writer. But if you want to be a great writer, you do need instruction. Same with speaking.
You need instruction, you need feedback. You need critiquing. Now, pretty much anyone can learn how to be a competent writer. As far as learning how to write one effective memo or email doesn't mean you're going to be a Nobel literature Prize winner. But with speaking, since so few people get any instruction, it's actually pretty easy to stand out as a great speaker much easier in my view than standing out as a great writer because everyone's had instruction on writing. So, yes, you can learn to be a great speaker.
No, there's no such thing as a natural born. Speaker. This idea that you either have it or you don't