Twitter is a fantastic tool for staying up-to-date with people, and it’s particularly good for following thought leaders so that you can see what they’re thinking and learn the lessons that they have to offer.
We spend a ton of time on the site, as you’ll know if you read our recent post on the best public speaking tweets that we’ve come across, and we thought it was about time that we shared some of the best accounts that we’ve come across so you can benefit in the same way that we have.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, let’s take a look at some of the public speaking gurus that you should be following on Twitter.
As well as being an incredible public speaker and a charitable philanthropist, Steve Wozniak is also one of the co-founders of Apple. His work helped to establish the computing industry that we know and love, but these days he’s more well-known as a public speaker. He doesn’t tweet specifically about public speaking, but he has plenty of inside knowledge on offer for those who look for it.
Malcolm Gladwell is a bestselling author and well-known public speaker who always makes a splash when his name is added to the speakers list of an event. One of the interesting things about following Gladwell is that he has insights into all sorts of different topics, from public speaking to sociology to psychology. If following him on Twitter isn’t enough for you, you can also check out his podcast, Revisionist History.
Seth Godin is one of the most well-known thought leaders in the marketing space and a widely sought after public speaker, so you’d be a fool to pass up the chance to give him a follow. Just be warned that this is essentially an account for him to post links to his blog updates, and he doesn’t really use it for anything else. Even with that in mind, it’s still worth a follow.
Entrepreneur Richard Branson has earned his public speaking stripes through 40 years of running companies and delivering keynote speeches. Today, his Virgin Group has over 400 subdivisions in all sorts of industries, from entertainment to space travel. His Twitter account is a real mixed bag, consisting of everything from excerpts of his speeches to the social issues that are weighing heavily on his mind.
Oprah Winfrey rose to fame as a radio presenter and talk show host, and so we can safely say that she knows a thing or two about speaking to an audience. She’s also known for being a quality storyteller, whether we’re talking about her writing or whether she’s sharing the stage with Michelle Obama and interviewing the former first lady, as she’s been tweeting about recently, she’s another must-follow if you want to learn from seeing what other people are doing.
Chopra is one of the more controversial figures on our list because he has more than his fair share of critics due to his take on alternative medicine. Regardless, the guy knows how to have an audience eating out of his hand, and he also tweets about mindfulness and self-care, which are also important for us to remember as public speakers. He shares a bunch of videos via his YouTube channel, too.
Simon Sinek is known for being a skilled orator, which is probably why his 2009 TED Talk has over 40 million views and is subtitled in nearly 50 languages. It’s also the third most popular TED Talk in history, and his name was the fifth most searched for term on YouTube back in 2017. We’re talking about a guy whose name is a byword for public speaking, and so if you want to build yourself a reputation, you could do a lot worse than to follow him and to learn from him.
Gary Vaynerchuk is an interesting character because he started out as an expert on wines through his family business, before becoming a thought-leader and the owner of a marketing company. He has a no-holds-barred approach that includes a lot of adult language, but his Twitter feed is worth watching for a masterclass on how to create content and put it to work for your personal brand. He’s particularly noteworthy for putting video and audio content front and center of almost everything that he does, which is a solid idea for people in the public speaking space.
Tony Robbins is a bestselling author and business strategist, as well as an entrepreneur and an iconic public speaker. He doesn’t tweet as often as some of the other names on our list and he doesn’t post a lot of video content, but your Twitter feed isn’t complete if you’re not following him and benefiting from the insights that he has to offer.
Dale Carnegie died in 1955, so we can safely say that he’s not the one at the wheel of this account. Instead, this is the Twitter account for the organization that Carnegie created and which carries his name, offering workplace training and development. It’s full of great tips about clear public speaking and effective leadership and is a great way to learn how to win friends and influence people.
Now that you know a few of the top accounts that you should follow if you’re interested in public speaking, it’s over to you so that you can log into your Twitter account and give each of them a follow.
As always, we’d love to keep the discussion going, so feel free to go ahead and let us know in the comments if there’s anyone you think we’ve missed. And of course, if you tweet about the subject yourself then we’d love to give you a follow, too.
In the meantime, be sure to follow us on your social networking sites of choice so that you can stay up-to-date with us, and check back soon for another article. We’ll see you soon!
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