I stumbled upon a video on public speaking on YouTube and I am a sucker for business and self-improvement lectures, book, etc. The video is titled “How to Speak by Patric Winston”. It is a fascinating lecture by this professor at MIT, but the part that struck me the most was when he went into one of the reasons for wanting to be an effective speaker: to be famous. Before he discussed this, I dismissed it as something I’m not interested in and only wanted to hear about the other reasons.

When he came to the topic of being famous, he provided an anecdote about him sitting at a table with Julia Child and having many people approach her and wanting to meet her. He turned to her and asked her, “do you like being famous?” To which she replied, “you get used to it.” Professor Winston then told his audience, “you get used to being famous, but you never get used to being ignored.”

I have never thought of fame from this perspective and to my ears it was a profound statement. I would still never in a million years wish to be a celebrity, but I think most of us would like to have a certain level of fame that will elevate the platform and influence of our words and ideas. I would most certainly love to improve my position to maximize my influence and make a significant contribution to this world. You want to be in a position to deliver ideas and make them memorable.

If you have the time, I would recommend watching the below lecture.