In 2021, my friend sent me a video from a guy on Instagram who appeared to be a world-renowned communication expert.
As I followed him over the coming months, I realized there was something different about him.
The way he spoke, the way he moved, his humor, his delivery, his confidence. To me, he seemed to command attention like few people I’d ever seen.
His name is Vinh Giang, and he has gradually become someone I follow on almost a daily basis for public speaking and communication tips.
He’s also a super inspirational entrepreneur, having founded several successful companies, and I’m a student of his STAGE Academy online communication course.
So I decided to go through Vinh’s best content and pull out some of his most impactful quotes.
These quotes are some of his most powerful advice and wisdom.
Enjoy 🙂
Table of Contents
33 Vinh Giang Quotes on Public Speaking, Communication and Success
Here are some of Vinh Giang’s best quotes:
Public Speaking
1. “Improv taught me to reframe the unknown.”
2. “We’ve got to learn how to really love ourselves. That’s the only way you can truly stand here and not fear anybody else’s judgment. Because you realize one lesson: What I think of me is so much more important than what you think of me. And we’ve really got to understand that. And I think confidence starts there.”
3. “You can still be shy. Just be louder. Many of my students, 90% of them, have a volume that is below optimal. When you don’t inject volume, you don’t show vitality. When you don’t add volume, you don’t show confidence. It doesn’t sound like you believe in the things you say. When you don’t add volume, it doesn’t show authority. Authority is taken away from you.”
4. “It’s not about you. Get out of your own damn head. You’re there to serve. When we become too self-conscious and too self-obsessed, that means we’re not present with others. Whereas, when we go to present, the first thing we have to think of is, ‘This is not about me.’ Get out of your own head and go, ‘It’s about every single other person I’m about to serve right now.’”
5. “The most powerful lesson I’ve learnt when it comes to communication I would have to say is this: People say, ‘What’s the difference between standing on stage and speaking to 1,000 people, 40,000 people, versus a room of 500 people, 100 people, 50 people, 1-on-1? How do I adjust how I communicate based on how many people there are in the room?’ The answer is: Be as big as the room.”
6. “If we bring too much emotion to an event or to a speaking engagement, if it is too much and if it distracts people from the core message because you’re no longer able to deliver the message, then I believe it is a problem. It’s important to be able to be in a place of comfort with that tragedy before we share it.”
7. “Sharing a vulnerable story can make your talk memorable, but it can also backfire if you’re not prepared. If your emotions overshadow your message, you risk losing your audience’s focus. Test your story in a less critical setting first.”
8. “Clear movement for a purpose is very powerful. Whereas, if we overuse movement, then movement is no longer seen as something that anchors things. When we move, unsure movement creates a little bit of that in our voice. In key moments when you’re delivering bits of information that are so profound, you want zero visual clutter.”
Communication
9. “There’s a world of meaning that extends beyond the words. Of course, the words we use are very important, but how we use our voice is equally as important.”
10. “If you’re not aware, and you keep ending on a higher pitch, then everyone’s going to question your authority. Make sure you end on a lower pitch.”
11. “My ‘why’ is to teach people how to use their instrument so that we can create a more kind, a more loving, and a more compassionate world.”
12. “When you say, ‘Yes but…’ to someone’s concerns, you’re negating their concerns. It takes the conversation into a negative direction. You start to get defensive and the other person starts to feel defensive too. Whereas, when you say, ‘Yes and…’ you’re saying, ‘I acknowledge what you’re saying’ whether you agree with it or not. You’re saying, ‘I acknowledge what you’re saying and we’ll build on top of that together.’ It’s a collaborative experience. It’s a very powerful technique in the world of improvisation.”
13. “They’ve done extensive research that people who use their body language are perceived as better leaders. And we’re all leaders in some place in our lives.”
14. “You’re already great at using your voice. You are. Trust me.”
15. “People don’t realize but you have an image that you create vocally when you use your voice. Far too often in the corporate space, in the professional space, we focus on our visual image, but we do not focus on our vocal image. Don’t leave this to chance. If you want to build rapport with people, if you want to learn how to build trust, you need to learn how to master the advisor’s instrument. Because only when we connect with people do we deserve to influence their decisions.”
16. “You know what happens when you become very comfortable with the pause? All of your non-words and your filler words, meaning all the umms, the ahhs, they all start to disappear. Because, again, when we get uncomfortable, what do we do? We go umm, ahh, umm. And these umms and ahhs take so much away from your credibility. It’s like playing a beautiful piano song and then having a weird key in the middle. Remove them from your speech. There’s no need for them.This [your voice] is an instrument. Play beautiful music.”
17. “Your accent is never a problem. What’s a problem is we’re using the wrong mouth movements in the wrong language. One of the most powerful things you can do: Grab a book every day, read it but overdo the mouth movements. When you overdo the mouth movements and the tongue movements, you’re now learning the English set of mouth movements to speak the English language. You’ll still have your accent. You’ll still sound beautiful. But clarity is enhanced.”
18. “You’re only as good as you can communicate. To me, this is where the potential lies. In your people, if you help them improve their ability to communicate, now you’re unveiling potential. Because now you get the customer to truly see them for their true capabilities of what they can help you solve.”
19. “If you keep playing the smaller version of yourself, what kind of opportunities would you attract being this person? It’s not your fault if that’s how you are now. It’s because we’ve never been taught how to use this instrument (your voice). You were born and you were given one of the most complex instruments in the world. No manual. No teacher. No coach. It’s ridiculous. As you improve your communication skills, you’re then able to amplify to the rest of the world the best parts of who you are. You’re then able to show the rest of the world what you’ve truly got inside.”
20. “When you’re communicating online, when you’re speaking, look into the camera basically 100% of the time. Don’t look at yourself. Hide self view so you don’t get obsessed with how you come across and how your hair’s not sitting right today. Look at the camera when you’re talking 100% of the time. Even when the other person’s talking to you, you look at the camera 80% of the time. So that when they’re talking, you’re giving them your eyes so that they can connect with you.”
21. “To be a great storyteller, you must first become great collectors of stories. Start a new note in your iPhone or your Android and just write “Story Bank.” The next time in your life something that emotionally moves you [happens], capture it. Who? What? Where When? Capture the story. And before you know it, if you capture a story a day, by the end of this year you have 365 stories you can use.”
22. “Inspiration comes from melody. There’s an underlying world of meaning that lives under melody.”
Success
23. “Don’t be so attached to who you are in the present, that you don’t give the future version of you a chance!“
24. “Someone who’s confident is someone who isn’t afraid to walk into the unknown.”
25. “If you’re talented, you have a head start. So don’t waste that gift that you’ve been given. If you’re not talented, don’t feel sad, because most talented people rest on their talent. The majority of talented people tend to lean on that talent and no longer develop skill. And you can surpass that person. But again, it’s not about you beating other people. It’s about you racing against yourself.”
26. “People are so afraid of what other people think that they will do what other people want. And those people don’t care about you and they’ll forget about you anyway. If you try to please everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one. The person willing to state the truth and be themselves…very powerful. Whereas, the person that allows every other person to dictate what they do does not have power.”
27. “When I was young, I didn’t allow myself to dream. As an adult now, I remind myself it’s okay to dream. Allow yourself to dream. Create time and space to be able to dance with your dreams and just explore what life could be.”
28. “When you truly master something, and you continually get better at it, people can’t compete with you. Especially if your work feels like play to you. I know not everyone is going to be able to find this. But it’s about understanding that if you genuinely can find work that feels like play to you, it means you’re going to get so good. And anyone who’s competing against you who’s working, they can’t win! It’s worth seeking for.”
29. “When you copy one person, it’s plagiarism. When you copy from 100 people, it’s original. I’m standing on the shoulders of giants.”
30. “Don’t be afraid to try lots of things. Don’t be in a rush. Don’t be so focused on just making money. Be focused on finding something you really enjoy. Find work that feels like play. Have the courage to find work that feels like play.”
31. “There’s someone who’s much worse than you, doing the very thing you want to do, and they’re getting paid a lot of money to do it, just because they believe in themselves more.”
32. “Recognize that we live in a very different world now, so the traditional path is no longer the traditional path.The path less walked is the traditional path. It’s becoming the traditional path. Life is like a book, and most people write one chapter, and they reread one chapter for the rest of their lives. When the feelings and emotions come up, when you feel like you need to change something, that’s the indication to write a whole new chapter. And what makes a great book, Vinh? What makes a good book and a great book is a book when you turn the chapter, you didn’t see that next chapter coming. So I say, as far as I’m concerned, we live once. Write as many different chapters as you can and live an exciting life. Not a safe life.”
33. “In the world we live in today, people become average at something and expect success. Use this as a North Star: It’s a quote from Steve Martin that says, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’ I use that as a North Star. I said, ‘The world will not be able to ignore me because I’ll work on my craft, because that’s what I can control. I won’t blame the world. I won’t blame any of you. I won’t blame the market. I’ll take full ownership.’ So be so good they can’t ignore you.”
Michael Karp is a personal development blogger and self-published author. He started his personal development journey in 2011 as a sophomore in college.
Since then, he has self-published several books, started an online business and became a digital nomad, achieved his dream of moving to Thailand and traveling around Southeast Asia, built a following of 18,000 people on Instagram sharing personal development advice, became a life coach, found his life purpose, and healed his body with the power of his mind.
With a deep passion for serving others, Michael continues his hero's journey on a mission to help people around the world to empower themselves, realize their true potential, and achieve their dreams.
