What Maria Malik has said about Public speaking

Malik argues that expertise is being good at something while authority is how others perceive you.

“the difference is that expertise is you being great at something and authority is how people perceive you”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 4:50

Malik rejects the framing of communication as a soft skill and says it should be taught in school.

“that's why when people call communication a soft skill, I'm like, are you serious? How is that a soft skill?”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 7:10

Malik views nervousness as a positive sign that a speaker takes the task seriously.

“I think nerves are good. They're not really bad. I think we've given such a negative connotation to nerves”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 12:05

Malik recommends explaining a presentation to a friend rather than memorizing it, saying it embeds the content better.

“when you explain things to people, it gets embedded in your head much better. So then now when you actually get up, you'll remember what you have to say”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 21:09

Malik says speakers should prioritize connection with the audience over performance.

“engage with your audience, focus on connection a lot more than performance. I think that's the most important thing when it comes to public speaking”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 24:14

Malik blames TikTok for shortening audience attention spans, making pauses more important.

“audiences, they have such short attention spans. I blame TikTok, honestly, I blame TikTok because people just want the next thing”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 34:14

Malik argues that repetition alone does not improve speaking unless it is reviewed or followed by feedback.

“you could keep doing the same thing over and over again and be doing it wrong. So yes, reps help if you're going to go back and watch it”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 36:00

Malik recommends the PRI structure (point, reason, impact) for answering questions concisely.

“P stands for point. Get to the point. Start with the point. Tell people what the point is. R is the reason”

Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha: Entrepreneurship and Self-Improvement Podcast: Maria Malik: Public Speaking Habits That Help Introverted Entrepreneurs Command Any Room | Human Behavior | E423 (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 54:22