This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:

• Introverts vs Extroverts: Who's the Better Leader?​
• On the Show: 8 Killer Openings for Your Next Speech ​
• New Course: Read this if English isn’t Your First Language ​

Introverts vs Extroverts: Who's the Better Leader?

Hi Reader,

*** You can now enroll in the Speak Like A CEO Academy live Fall Cohort, starting on 26 August. My promise: You become a top 1% communicator in 9 weeks. 10 seats only. ***

"Everyone shines, given the right lighting," writes Susan Cain in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.

Most leaders are extroverts. That's the myth almost everyone believes – and it's wrong.

Picture a great leader and you'll probably see a big personality, the charisma, the person who commands the room and never runs out of things to say.

For decades that was the official model of leadership. But times have changed and new data tells a different story.

Karl Moore, a management professor at McGill University in Montreal, reviewed hundreds of articles and interviewed over 750 CEOs across North America and Europe for his 2025 book.

He found the room was split almost evenly: roughly 40% leaned extrovert, 40% leaned introvert, and the rest sat somewhere in between.

So for every charismatic frontman running a company, there's a quiet, reflective leader doing the job just as well.

This is fully in line with my own experience coaching over 300 CEOs and thousands of leaders.

Anyone can be a great leader and communicator, and the best ones have range. They're not stuck in the extrovert or introvert corner. They adopt both introverted and extroverted communication styles – that’s why Moore called his book “We Are All Ambiverts Now”.

They know when to speak and when to listen, and how to communicate in different contexts with different audiences. They don't assume everyone runs on the same operating system they do.

Here are eight situations where extroverts and introverts differ, and what to do about each:

1/ Verbal Communication

Don't read silence as having nothing to say. Give your quiet people the question before the meeting, not in it.

2/ Meetings

Send the agenda (topic-goal-outcome) in advance so half your team gets to bring their best thinking.

3/ Decision-making

Don't force the call in the room. Let the reflectors go away, think, and come back. The answer is usually better.

4/ Networking

Your strongest relationship-builder may be the one deep in a single conversation in the corner.

5/ Feedback and Conflict Resolution

Read how much care the conversation needs. Some people can take it straight and fast; others need you to slow down and land it gently.

6/ Hiring and Promotion

Don't promote in your own image. You want a team that complements each other with charisma and quiet competence.

7/ Remote Work

Introverts tend to thrive more in remote settings. Watch who's thriving and who's fading and find the right balance for the team.

8/ Presentations

Play to strengths and team them up: the high-energy person and the deep-prepper.

You don't have to change who you are. But the key to great leadership is to stop assuming that everyone thinks and communicates like we do.

Get that right, and you lead the whole room. Not just the half that thinks like you.

ON THE SHOW

8 Killer Openings for Your Next Speech

▶️ Episode 336 on YouTube, Spotify or Apple.

"Hi, I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for joining. My name is…"

Please never open a speech like this. It's the fastest way to lose a room.

You spend years building your expertise and days preparing your talk – just to give it all away in the first 10 seconds with a weak opening.

Your opening matters more than almost anything else because of the primacy effect. Your brain pays special attention to whatever it hears first. So your first sentences have four jobs:

1/ Grab attention
2/ Make people care
3/ Prime how they feel
4/ Frame how they think

That means your opening has to be interesting, relevant, and emotional. All in the first few sentences.

My rule: script nothing except your beginning and your end. Nail the first lines and the last ones.

For everything in between, trust your structure, not a script.

This week on Speak Like a CEO, I give you my top 8 openings that make the room look up from their phones – from the Ice Cream Cone to the Startling Statistic to the Personal Revelation.

​​​

NEW COURSE

Read this if English isn’t Your First Language

I went to California in June to record courses on leadership communications with LinkedIn Learning.

All three just dropped, and more than 2,000 people have already completed them.

The good news: they are free (as long as you have a paid LinkedIn subscription).

I'm particularly proud of the one for non-English native speakers, which I pitched to LinkedIn after they had asked me to record the other two. I believe it addresses a real pain point for many of us.

Leadership is challenging enough, and doing it in a language that isn’t your first adds real complexity. As someone who started out with basic high school English, I know what that feels like.

But effective communication depends on structure and articulation, not a perfect accent. In this course, I share practical frameworks that help you lead clearly and confidently in English.

We explore techniques for giving direction, delegating at the right level, running structured one-on-ones and meetings, communicating upward to senior leaders, and navigating difficult conversations.

​Start the course here. ​

Have an inspired weekend,

Oliver

PS: Join my live cohort – small group, big results.

Eo Ipso Communications GmbH

c/o Mindspace

Uhlandstraße 32, 10719 Berlin

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​