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Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
The One Skill Every Entrepreneur Over 35 Must Master
Public speaking isn't just a communication skill — it's the key to raising capital, building high-value networks and accelerating business growth after 35. Learn how to develop this ability in 2025. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. As an entrepreneur who started my journey later in life (in my 40s), I've seen firsthand how my ability to speak with clarity and confidence can change everything. While many skills matter in business, one rises above the rest in 2025: public speaking. Public speaking is not just about giving TED Talks or standing on big stages. It's about clearly and confidently communicating your vision, value and offer to the people who matter — your team, your investors, your customers and your community. In this article, I'll show you the benefits of being a strong public speaker. I'll give you tips to improve your speaking skills. If you want to grow in business — at any stage — this is the skill that multiplies your impact. Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success. Public speaking skills are tied to perceived leadership ability At age 35 and beyond, most entrepreneurs already have experience. You likely already have big wins in your field, you've learned valuable lessons, and most importantly, you have something to say. But unless you can say it in a way that inspires trust, motivates others and attracts capital, your growth will stall. According to a 2017 study published by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, public speaking skills are directly tied to perceived leadership ability, credibility and influence in professional settings. Strong public speakers are rated as significantly more competent, likable and persuasive by their audiences — even when delivering the same content as weaker speakers. In other words, if you're an exceptional verbal communicator, you're more likely to be seen as an authority. And how you say your message determines whether you attract opportunities or get overlooked. Here's what public speaking does for you: I buy apartments for a living. For me to be successful in that, I need to communicate my offer to investors so that I can raise money from them. Once you master the single most valuable skill in 2025, you'll be able to: Establish yourself as an authority. Clarify your message. Drive people to take action — buy, invest, partner or support. Build trust with your audience. Even now in the age of AI and Zoom meetings, the ability to verbally communicate your ideas, thoughts and offers will always set you apart from everyone else. Related: 7 Public Speaking Mistakes that will Weaken Your Confidence Public speaking as a gateway skill Why do I say this is the #1 skill? Because public speaking is a gateway, once you get good at it, everything else gets easier, especially networking and raising capital. Let's break it down: Public speaking fuels better networking When you speak clearly and confidently, you naturally attract people. You become memorable. People want to connect with you. A strong network isn't built by handing out business cards — it's built by sharing value. When you speak at events or in meetings, you're broadcasting your value to the room. You're creating connections at scale. The result? A growing network of people who trust you and want to work with you. Public speaking makes raising capital easier I've raised millions of dollars in capital over the years. And I can tell you from experience that investors value people just as much as they do deals. If you're not someone who inspires trust, even if you have a killer offer, they'll probably pass on you. If you can stand in front of someone and clearly explain your opportunity, your plan and your track record with confidence and passion, you are far more likely to gain their trust. Related: 10 Public Speaking Hacks I Learned From My TED Talk Overcoming the fear of public speaking You might not believe you're a great public speaker. Maybe you don't think you have the charisma you think it takes. Or, like 75% of the population, you might experience anxiety about speaking authoritatively in front of others. This fear is called glossophobia, and it often stems from the fear of being judged, making mistakes or losing social approval. According to Psychology Today, public speaking anxiety is closely tied to our brain's fight-or-flight response. We feel exposed, vulnerable and wired to avoid the risk. In some studies, people ranked it as a fear bigger than death. It's one of the most common fears in the world. But luckily for you, you don't have to be a "natural" to be an effective public speaker. You just need to practice. Here are some tips to improve your public speaking skills: Be confident – Confidence makes you appear more credible and likable. Channel anxiety into excitement – Reframe nerves as energy. Be authentic – Speak naturally, don't over-rehearse or memorize. Use voice modulation – Vary your tone and pace to stay engaging. Keep it short and digestible – Attention spans drop after 20 minutes. Connect with your audience – Know the room, use humor and be relatable. Tell stories – Storytelling creates an emotional connection and makes messages stick. Use repetition – Reinforce key ideas by repeating them clearly. Practice with intention – Rehearse like you're live to build confidence and flow. Take the first step today If you've avoided public speaking or haven't spent time developing it, now's the time to start leaning in. Remember, you don't need to be flashy or theatrical or brimming with charisma. All you need to be is clear, confident and committed. When improving in different areas of my life, I like to focus on the next three things. You might be tempted to make a mile-long list on "how to be a better public speaker," but don't. You'll get overwhelmed and discouraged because of the number of action steps. Just focus on the next three things. The first thing I think you should do is ask yourself: Can I explain it clearly, in three to five minutes? I don't care if you're raising money for real estate like me, explaining new software, or implementing a marketing campaign – if you can break it down in three minutes, everything else opens up. Then, after that, consider some of these small steps: Practice sharing your business story with friends. Record short videos explaining your mission. Volunteer to speak at local meetups or webinars. The more you speak, the more you'll grow. Related: How to Speak So People Pay Attention Final thoughts If you're over 35, you already have wisdom, experience and stories to tell. Don't let fear keep you quiet. The world needs to hear what you have to say. Because when you speak with clarity, you grow with confidence. And when you grow with confidence, people follow.
Indian Express
20-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
‘Next big thing' of fashion industry arrested for alleged $300 million investor fraud
She was once hailed as the next big thing in fashion – a visionary who's changing how women shop, rubbing shoulders with brands like Ralph Lauren and Ann Taylor, and speaking at TED Talks. Now, Christine Hunsicker, the founder of CaaStle (once called Gwynnie Bee), a company that promised to make renting stylish clothes as easy as streaming a movie on Netflix, has been arrested on fraud charges, accused of deceiving investors out of a jaw-dropping $300 million. According to prosecutors in New York, Christine's success story was built on a web of lies. They say she faked documents, invented financial audits, and spun tales about CaaStle's booming revenue and massive cash reserves—when, in reality, the company was on the verge of collapse. 'Christine Hunsicker defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars through document forgery, fabricated audits and material misrepresentations about her company's financial health,' said US Attorney Jay Clayton, laying out the allegations, ABC News reported. The timing couldn't be worse. CaaStle had just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, meaning it was shutting down for good. Prosecutors argue the company's failure wasn't just a bad business model—it was Christine's alleged pattern of deception that sank it. They claim she told investors the company was raking in hundreds of millions while hiding that it was nearly broke. Christine, 48, had once been a darling of Silicon Valley and the fashion world. Her idea of renting out trendy clothes online was a hit, and big-name brands jumped on board. But behind the glitzy marketing, things were falling apart. Even after the CaaStle board kicked her out as chair and told her to stop fundraising, she allegedly kept pitching to investors with false numbers. By April 2025, she quietly stepped down as whispers of misconduct grew louder, followed by a wave of civil lawsuits. On Friday morning, Christine turned herself in to face a laundry list of charges: wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and even aggravated identity theft. These could land her in prison for 20 to 30 years, with the identity theft charge alone carrying a mandatory two-year sentence. Her lawyers, Michael Levy and Anna Skotko, aren't buying the prosecution's story. In a statement, they said Christine has been open and cooperative with investigators, and they're ready to fight back. 'Although Ms. Hunsicker has been fully cooperative and transparent with both the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY and the SEC, they nonetheless have chosen to present to the public an incomplete and very distorted picture in today's indictment. There is much more to this story, and we look forward to telling it.'
IOL News
16-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- IOL News
The Orange Peel Theory: why tiny acts of love pack a bigger punch than grand gestures
The Orange Peel Theory suggests that the small, everyday acts we do for our partners like peeling an orange can mean far more than big romantic gestures. Image: SHVETS production /pexels Scrolling through TikTok lately, you might have come across videos about the "Orange Peel Theory". At first glance, it sounds oddly specific. Why is peeling an orange suddenly a relationship trend? But the idea behind it is as sweet and thoughtful as it sounds, and it's making many people rethink what love truly looks like. The Orange Peel Theory suggests that the small, everyday acts we do for our partners, like peeling an orange, can mean far more than big romantic gestures. Not because someone can't peel their own orange, but because it shows care, thoughtfulness, and the kind of gentle attention that makes us feel safe and loved. While you won't find the 'orange peel theory' in any psychology textbook, the conversation it sparked is deeply rooted in relationship science. Clinical psychologist and applied neuroscientist Dr Kate Truitt explains that these micro-moments of kindness help build a foundation of trust and emotional security in a relationship. 'The truth is, it's the small acts that create a sense of security and connection for long-term relationship success,' she says. Love is in the details; think about your own life for a moment. Has someone ever made you a cup of tea on a stressful morning? Sent a simple text just to say 'I'm thinking of you'? Or yes, even peeled an orange for you because you were busy typing an email? These little things might seem small, but they remind us: You matter. I see you. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Relationship coach Esther Perel, known for her TED Talks and bestselling books, has long championed this idea, too. In her podcast, " Where Should We Begin?", Perel often reminds couples that intimacy lives in 'the micro-moments' the shared looks, the unspoken gestures, the ordinary acts that say I see you. Relationship experts often talk about how intimacy lives in the everyday. According to Perel, it's less about candlelit dinners in Paris and more about turning toward each other in small moments, asking how your partner's day was, noticing when they're tired, and helping out in ways that show, 'I've got you.' Research backs this up, too. A 2021 study published in the "Journal of Social and Personal Relationships" found that small daily acts of kindness and affection were strongly linked to relationship satisfaction and longevity. Couples who consistently show each other small kindnesses feel closer, argue less, and recover faster from disagreements. These micro-acts, experts say, create a sense of 'felt security', the comforting belief that your partner is there for you, even when life feels unpredictable. And it's that everyday security, rather than occasional grand gestures, that keeps love alive over the years. Of course, peeling an orange isn't the only way to practice this. Maybe it's making your partner's coffee the way they like it, offering to drive when they're tired, or remembering to buy their favourite snack on your grocery run. What matters isn't the act itself, it's the intention behind it. It's about saying: 'I notice you. I care enough to make your day a little easier.' And the beautiful thing is that these small acts of love often inspire reciprocity. When someone feels cared for, they're more likely to show care in return, creating a gentle, ongoing exchange of love and kindness. Dr Hong Yin, psychiatrist at New Frontiers Psychiatry & TMS, cautions against reading too much into a single orange peel (or lack thereof): 'How we show love is complex and context matters. The orange peel is just one sample point. But what matters is the spirit behind these acts: kindness, empathy, and the willingness to tune in to each other's needs.' Kindness creates empathy. Empathy builds trust. And trust is the foundation of any lasting relationship. Sometimes, it's as simple as listening when your partner has a bad day, validating their feelings, or just making the bed when it's their turn. Even non-verbal cues a warm glance, a squeeze of the hand, can be surprisingly therapeutic. 'When we help, we give our partners a chance to recharge and reciprocate, Yin explains. That balance is the bedrock of a fulfilling relationship.' Micro-moments of kindness help build a foundation of trust and emotional security in a relationship Image: Sasha Kim /pexels That's not to say grand gestures don't matter. Surprising your partner with flowers, planning a special trip, or writing a heartfelt letter can deepen the connection, too. However, as Truitt explains, if those big gestures aren't backed by everyday acts of love, they can feel empty or performative. 'It's the combination that counts,' she says. 'But it's the daily moments like peeling an orange that truly anchor love in daily life.' When I first encountered the Orange Peel Theory, I found it amusing. Could peeling an orange really encapsulate deep emotional connections? However, my reflections soon shifted as I thought about the subtle ways I've experienced love: friends surprising me with my favourite biltong and cake, my mother couriering warm socks during winter or the fact that my little human stays up late to keep me company while I finish writing. These were the moments that made me feel most loved. Not because I couldn't do those things myself, but because someone chose to show up in a gentle, thoughtful way.
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Uday Ruddarraju joins Sam Altman's OpenAI after quitting Elon Musk's xAI: Tracing the career path of a supercomputing architect
Uday Ruddarraju joins Open AI after quitting xAI (image: X/@udayruddarraju) If you've never heard of Uday Ruddarraju, don't worry—you're not alone. He's not the guy giving TED Talks. He doesn't flood LinkedIn with motivational threads. But in the background of the biggest AI races on earth, he's the one writing the rules of scale. Last week, Uday exited Elon Musk 's xAI—where he was Head of Infrastructure Engineering—and quietly joined Sam Altman 's OpenAI , the force behind ChatGPT. This wasn't just a job switch. It was a heavyweight move in the escalating arms race of AI infrastructure. But the real story? It's Uday's career itself—one of sharp pivots, hard skills, and quiet influence in rooms that run the world's most powerful machines. From Minneapolis classrooms to 'Mission Critical Code' Uday is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, a public research university known for engineering depth over flash. He didn't graduate from an Ivy League or headline-grabbing tech institute. He went through the Midwestern grind and came out with core systems knowledge, the kind that's easy to overlook—but impossible to replace. Amazon: Lessons in scale One of Uday's earliest stints was at Amazon, where he worked on the infrastructure backbone that supports the world's largest cloud ecosystem—Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here, he focussed on building and scaling service infrastructure across distributed systems. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Fastest Selling Plots of Mysore from 40L | 40+ Amenities PurpleBrick Learn More Undo His team ensured that services met demanding latency benchmarks while remaining resilient to traffic surges. Key deliverables included: Developing scalable data ingestion pipelines for real-time analytics. Creating load-balancing modules that reduced latency across multiple data centres. Implementing auto-scaling frameworks that could react in milliseconds to surges in user requests. eBay: Modernising legacy giants After Amazon, Uday moved to eBay, where the challenge was different: Legacy systems. Uday was part of eBay's core site reliability and infrastructure engineering team, working on systems that handled billions of dollars in annual trade—but were often tied down by legacy code. While Amazon taught him how to build big, eBay taught him how to fix big. Robinhood: The fintech fast lane At Robinhood, Uday stepped into a world where milliseconds matter. Every glitch has real-world monetary impact. As Engineering Manager for Platform and Infrastructure, he helped Robinhood scale its backend to serve a rapidly expanding user base, especially during pandemic-era trading surges. Robinhood gave Uday something new—speed—not just in code execution, but in strategic decisions under fire. xAI and Colossus: The quiet giant In 2023, Uday joined xAI, Elon Musk's stealthy new AI venture with a not-so-stealthy ambition: To outdo OpenAI. At xAI, Uday led the team that built Colossus, one of the most powerful AI training supercomputers ever constructed. It was built to power Grok 3, xAI's answer to ChatGPT. In simple terms, Uday made sure the most powerful compute cluster in Musk's arsenal didn't just work—it flew. When he left xAI, Uday posted on X, 'Jensen Huang was right—Elon and his teams are singular in what they can achieve.' The OpenAI switch Now, Uday has switched camps. From the underdog building a rival chatbot, he's joined the titan. OpenAI isn't just building models—it's running products at global scale: ChatGPT, DALL·E, Codex, Whisper, and an API suite with enterprise-grade demand. While his exact role at OpenAI hasn't been disclosed, one thing is clear—he'll be scaling the engines behind the magic, not chasing the spotlight. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Hindustan Times
27-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
ChatGPT isn't just writing for us - it's changing how we talk, and you might not even realise it
Have you noticed people around you suddenly dropping words like 'meticulous,' 'adept,' or 'delve' in everyday conversations? Maybe your college buddy or that uncle who loves TED Talks has started talking about 'exploring new realms' or 'becoming more adept' at something. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. There's a good chance they've been spending time with AI chatbots, and it's starting to show. ChatGPT's style is everywhere. You might be using AI words without realising it. Here's what's changing in our daily conversations.(Unsplash) Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have picked up on this trend. They dug into over 280,000 academic YouTube videos and found that, ever since ChatGPT became popular, people are using certain words much more often - words that pop up a lot in AI-generated text. These aren't scripts written by bots, just regular folks, especially in academic circles, picking up the AI way of speaking without even realising it. What's interesting is that these AI-inspired words aren't just getting sprinkled in here and there. They're actually replacing the more colourful, local, and sometimes quirky language we all grew up with. Where earlier you'd hear a passionate, winding argument, now you get neat, structured sentences that sound a bit… well, robotic. It's as if everyone's reading from the same AI-approved dictionary, and the little flavours of our speech are quietly fading away. Some people might shrug and say, 'So what?' But think about it. Language isn't just about getting your point across. It's about showing where you're from, what you care about, and how you see the world. If we all start talking like chatbots, we lose a bit of that personal touch, you know? There's another angle too. Have you ever wondered if being polite to AI - saying 'please' or 'thank you' to ChatGPT - will make us more polite to each other? Or maybe, if we get too used to being blunt with machines, that same tone will slip into our real-life chats, making things a bit less friendly. Let's be honest, though. It's hard to resist the convenience. If you're racing to finish a paper or a work report, ChatGPT is a lifesaver. It's quick, it's clear, and it rarely fumbles for words. But if you lean on it too much, its voice starts to become your own. Over time, your writing might lose its quirks, its local flavour, and start sounding just like everyone else's. Of course, this isn't the first time tech has changed the way we talk. Remember when texting made us say 'LOL' or 'ROFL'? Or when emojis crept into our daily chats? Now, it's AI's turn to shape our language, not because it's better, but because we're getting used to it. It's funny, isn't it? We built AI to sound more like us, and now we're starting to sound more like AI. Maybe it's time to pay a little more attention to the words we use. Bring back those local idioms, those family phrases, the stuff that makes your speech yours. After all, there's nothing wrong with being a little different - especially when the world is starting to sound the same.
