Not Nice. Clever.
Why Introverts Are Secretly the Best Public Speakers
A conversation with Kat Torre and Candice Carcioppolo on Not Nice. Clever.. Published April 17, 2025. 52 minutes.
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THE CONVERSATION
Public speaking built for extroverts leaves a lot of talented introverts on the sidelines. Kat Torre and Candice Carcioppolo, introverts themselves, dig into the quieter advantages with Salvatore: thinking before speaking, reading a room, owning the pause, and taking up space. Expect frameworks, body language cues, and pre-stage rituals you can use this week.
KEY IDEAS
The introvert’s edge
Introverts think before they speak, and that habit makes the first sentence out of their mouths carry more weight. They also watch. Point out something a room has not noticed and people will decide you are wildly intelligent, whether or not you are. Salvatore built his practice after finding that most public speaking training taught extroverts to package their natural charm, with little skill-building for anyone else. Twenty years of coaching data-driven leaders came out of that gap: frameworks, techniques, and principles that work with a quieter wiring.
Nerves and excitement share a body
The physiology of nervousness and the physiology of excitement are the same. Only the label differs. Telling yourself the feeling is anticipation retrains the judgment the brain makes in that moment, and the way you show up changes with it. Candice adds a reframe of her own: an introvert has finite energy for new people, and a stage spends a little of it to reach a lot of them. Speaking becomes an efficiency, a tool for connection that the one-on-one route could never afford.
Turn the spotlight
Getting caught off guard is the fear. Choosing the spotlight removes it. Salvatore’s aha came when he realized that with the light on him, he could redirect it: take what he had observed in the room and point it at the leaders, perspectives, and ideas that deserved attention. The introvert stays in control of the space and shares it generously. Owning the stage, in that sense, has very little to do with making it about yourself.
Own the pause
The gold standard of a good communicator is being able to own the pause. A one or two second silence reads as a lost place. Hold it a beat longer and the audience decides you are a trained speaker. Three to five seconds is strong. His first coach pushed him to ten. The advanced version is the anticipatory pause, placed mid-sentence where nobody expects it, so no one jumps in and even the people on their phones look up. Introverts get interrupted at commas and periods. A pause in an unnatural spot protects the thought.
Two missteps introverts make
First, oversharing data. Analysts, engineers, and scientists trust the receipts and keep layering evidence until the listener reacts, assuming everyone will reach the same conclusion. A metaphor that paints what the data means lands faster. Second, skipping the train of thought. An introvert often sees the solution five minutes early and delivers only the answer, and the room argues because nobody traveled the path with them. Walking decision-makers from A to B to C keeps them on board. Emotion belongs in the mix too: point to the scar and describe the feeling behind it, and people can process the meaning behind the numbers.
Presence, space, and rituals
Magnetism on stage, in Salvatore’s reading, is authenticity combined with comfort. Two ingredients build it. Self-awareness, meaning the work of knowing who you are and standing in integrity. And physiology: chest open, shoulders back, elbows out on the table, more space claimed until it starts to feel natural. The body tells the brain it is safe, and the voice changes. Before a high-stakes moment, visualize the process with the feeling attached, ask yourself questions that presuppose the positive, and name an ally who will amplify your voice in the room.
IN HIS WORDS
“Introverts think before they speak. That edge makes the first thing out of their mouths more powerful, more worthy of listening to.”
“The gold standard of a good communicator is being able to own the pause. There is nothing more powerful than a pause.”
“When it comes to introverts, I will say one of the biggest things to do is change your space. Just take up more space.”
LISTEN AND FOLLOW
Thank you to Kat Torre and Candice Carcioppolo for the invitation and the questions. Subscribe to the show for the rest of the catalog.
The frameworks behind this conversation.
Clear and Compelling collects the principles, strategies, techniques, and frameworks Salvatore teaches on shows like this one, written for analytical, technical, and introverted leaders. Morgan James Publishing, October 2026.