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Quiet Superpowers

Guy Roberts

Have you ever felt like you're not being listened to? That you're quiet? Or that you have amazing ideas that you struggle to articulate to others?

I'm Guy Roberts, and here we explore the quiet superpowers of communication. I grew up without ever saying much. It took me a long time to "find my voice".

Communication is the single most important skill you can learn in your life. And yes, it can be learnt. In each episode, we break down a topic or aspect of communication skills, to help you on your own journey to creating more meaningful connections with others, building self-confidence, and being seen and recognised for what you can offer.

Whether you're new to improving your communication or you're a seasoned speaker, let's find your quiet superpowers of communicating.

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  • 28 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 24 min
  • English

Episodes 28

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  • S6 · E3
    Yesterday · 19 min

    Do we need to get better at being alone?

    Hey friends - in this episode, we explore how solitude is really something we can practice. I believe that the best way for us to understand ourselves better is to first become comfortable at being by ourselves, alone. For a long time, I found solitude confusing and challenging. I didn't know how to be alone without feeling uncomfortable. We look at how we can gain confidence and comfort in being alone - especially in relation to public spaces. As always, feel free to share your ideas and comments!

  • October 19 · 25 min

    How do we adapt now that AI exists?

    Hey friends - in this episode we look at the repercussions of AI in society and on our personal time. Having seen AI continue to become more and more powerful since studying the fundamentals of it in university, I wanted to take some time to discuss how we can manage our lives now that it's around. Hope you enjoy this episode! I'm not an AI-expert, so don't take anything as say as truth. If you have ideas you want to share or connect with me, feel free to comment.

  • October 13 · 18 min

    Is confusion really a bad thing?

    Hellooo - this episode is on confusion. Ironically my own confusion prompted me to create this episode, and I even felt confused when trying to decide on the structure. We discuss why confusion is actually an opportunity in life, just an uncomfortable one, and why it can be tricky to navigate. I hope you find this useful - and if you have any of your own thoughts / ideas on managing confusion, feel free to share them below.

  • S6 · E2
    October 5 · 57 min

    How can we become more vulnerable with people in our lives?

    Hey friends - this is the 2nd conversation-style episode. I recorded this with my brother, Dan Roberts, and the topic for today is vulnerability. We aim to define vulnerability, then explore how we can build more of it. Note: the piano section is only at the end of the episode. This is another sample from my jam session with friends in Osaka during my Japan travels :) Hope you enjoy!

  • S6 · E1
    September 29 · 19 min

    Is Japan made for introverts?

    Hey friends - as you may have guessed, I'm in Japan currently! I will be here for around 1 month total, and I wanted to take some time to discuss introversion within Japan and my thoughts on it so far. We discuss whether Japan is a haven for introverts, and what we can learn from this environment. Hope you enjoy this episode! Special mention to Feel Osaka Yu hostel, where I had the opportunity to join a jam session with the owner and his son - who also happens to be excellent at piano!

  • S5 · E5
    September 24 · 21 min

    5 habits I've Built for More Mindful Travel

    Hey friends - this is a shorter episode on how you can travel in a less stressful way. Specifically, we discuss tactics you can use for finding moments to recharge and gain energy whilst in busy environments, which are common whilst traveling. If you often feel that traveling is extremely taxing, then there may be some useful tips in this episode :) Please also share any of your own advice / tips in the comments!

  • S5 · E4
    September 14 · 31 min

    How to improve your self-confidence

    Hey friends - this is an episode on self-confidence, self-belief, looking at the different factors that influence this, and how we might improve it. (I realised that the video is over-exposed and couldn't manage to quite fix it in the editing process...) Hope you enjoy this episode! As always, please leave any comments or feedback below :)

  • S5 · E3
    September 7 · 53 min

    Dan Deighton: Why we shouldn't disregard public speaking

    Hey friends - this is a special episode where I had the privilege to record a conversation/interview with Dan Deighton. I met Dan through a public speaking club. He is a very experienced public speaker, professional coach, and personal mentor. This conversation covers a wide range of topics centered around public speaking, with a focus on the particular benefits of developing this skill for introverted and quiet people. I hope you enjoy this different format of the podcast! As always, please let me know if you have any questions, feedback, ideas in the comments below! You can find more about what Dan does here: https://deighton-confidence.carrd.co/ He also posts frequently across multiple channels: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-deighton-45572b131/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourachievementor Substack: https://substack.com/@yourachievementor

  • August 31 · 29 min

    How to genuinely connect whilst traveling

    Hey friends - this episode is about how to connect with people whilst traveling. I have spent a while traveling alone in recent times, and I've been interested in how we can improve the kind of connections we form with strangers, and look at why we're prone to avoiding these kind of interactions so often. Links and resources mentioned: https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/jschroeder/Publications/Epley&Schroeder2014.pdf https://www.paulekman.com/resources/universal-facial-expressions/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30183512/ https://drkatieblake.com/blog/psychology-of-solo-travel (I'm not quite sure why my background light changed color towards the end!)

  • S5 · E2
    August 24 · 29 min

    How can you regain your ability to focus

    Hey friends - this is an episode about the modern problem of concentration and focus. This has been a personal struggle of mine, so I wanted to take some time to talk about new habits that I've been using to practice and improve the quality of deep work that I do, as well as ideas you may like to use for yourself. Hope you find this episode insightful. As mentioned, here is the article "Stay on the Bus": P.S. Apologies about the background music noise... I struggled to remove this whilst editing, and couldn't find a quiet place in this hotel!

  • August 17 · 30 min

    The quiet influence of Bertrand Russell

    Hey friends - today we're looking at Bertrand Russell, a profoundly influential and prolific British philosopher. He was also someone who exhibited many quiet habits and behaviours, of which I've become fascinated in over the past couple of months. We explore his life, and draw out insights that will hopefully help you to live a more influential and exciting, yet quiet life. Resources mentioned: Deep Work. Cal Newport The Spirit of Solitude: Bertrand Russell, Ray Monk A History of Western Philosophy, Unpopular Essays, The Conquest of Happiness (Bertrand Russell) I've also been working on a new weekly-ish newsletter which you can find here: https://buttondown.com/guyroberts21 Quotes from this episode (Bertrand Russell): "A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live." "In adolescence, I hated life and was continually on the verge of suicide, from which, however, I was restrained by the desire to know more mathematics." "We are all prone to the malady of the introvert, who, with the manifold spectacle of the world spread out before him, turns away and gazes only upon the emptiness within." Hope you have a wonderful rest of your day :)

  • August 9 · 22 min

    Why we need more feedback in speaking

    Hello friends - this episode is about some recent experiences with public speaking, and the resulting value of receiving feedback! Hope you enjoy (and look forward to a new episode next week!).

  • S4 · E4
    June 30 · 5 min

    A short vlog and book recommendation

    Hey friends- this is just a very short episode I recorded whilst on a hike at the weekend. I wanted to share something I'd recently discovered through a graphic novel on introversion. Hope you find this useful! Apologies for the sound of the airplanes, I hadn't realized how loud these were! I've also started a Substack recently - https://guyroberts21.substack.com/ If you have any feedback of comments, please let me know :) Feel free to leave a voice note : https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • S4 · E3
    June 15 · 19 min

    The superpower of a weak social battery

    Hey friends - today's episode is about why I believe it's actually a benefit to have a weak "social battery", typically as an introvert. I share my ideas on how to reframe the challenge of wanting to be able to socialize more with other people, as well as some things that we can do to support the recharging when you do feel drained. I'm aware there's been a long gap since I last uploaded...! I've been preparing for the upcoming travel, where the format of the podcast will change. I'll be sharing the links for where you can follow my journey. I plan to write, podcast, and vlog (and take some amazing photos!) whilst traveling. If you have any feedback of comments, please let me know :) Feel free to leave a voice note : https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • May 14 · 12 min

    2 things that break my overthinking

    Hello - today I want to share a couple of strategies / ideas that I've found useful when handling the challenge of overthinking. 1 - Talking to others 2 - Finding ways to be in the present I'm still experimenting with these, so I have some of my own research that I'm excited to continue! Hope you find this useful. Links mentioned: The Paradox of Choice TED Talk (Barry Schwartz): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM Atlas of the Heart (Brene Brown): https://brenebrown.com/book/atlas-of-the-heart/ The Way Meditation App (Henry Shukman): https://www.thewayapp.com/?source=us_traffic I'd love to hear if you have any of your own methods for working with this challenge of overthinking. Feel free to share below or with my directly. https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • May 5 · 30 min

    Q&A: What Are Quiet Superpowers, Really?

    Hey friends - this is a Q&A revisit of the very first episode, "What are your quiet superpowers?". I noticed that the show had evolved somewhat since posting this first episode, so I wanted to take a deeper dive into this topic, what the show is about, who this is for etc. As always, let me know if you have any questions or feedback! Links mentioned: Carl Jung - Psychological Types (beware - it's a large document!) https://jungiancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Vol-6-psychological-types.pdf Carl King - 10 Myths about Introverts: https://carlkingdom.com/10-myths-about-introverts Susan Cain Quiet book - https://susancain.net/book/quiet/ TED Talk: https://youtu.be/c0KYU2j0TM4 Robert Waldinger TED Talk- "What Makes a Good Life": https://youtu.be/8KkKuTCFvzI The Tim Ferriss Show - https://tim.blog/podcast/ Feel free to leave a voice note : https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • April 27 · 6 min

    Vlog #01

    Hey friends - this is officially my first vlog on the platform. This is an episode for some thoughts and reflections on the podcast, and production over the past few months. There have been some challenges, yet some new directions that I want to take the podcast in, which I'm excited to share with you. If you have any feedback of comments, please let me know :) Feel free to leave a voice note : https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • S4 · E2
    April 20 · 11 min

    How do you manage a difficult experience with communication?

    Hey friends, so today I want to dive into a topic that I don't think is talked about enough. Some of us have past speaking experiences that had a significant impact on how we feel about speaking. The question here is - how do we overcome a particularly intense and negative previous speaking experience? This is a difficult topic, and I hope this episode can be useful if this is something you struggle with. Many of us experience intense fear and anxiety when it comes to speaking in front of others. It can feel extremely hard to work towards building confidence - especially when there has been an incident in the past that knocked us down. This episode, we explore what this fear is and how we might approach it with more compassion and curiosity. Journaling prompts (for practicing self-compassion): When you think about speaking in front of others, what do you notice in your body? Write a short letter to yourself — as if you were a caring, wise older version of you writing to the person who is still carrying fear around speaking. Not to tell them to "just get over it." But to tell them what you wish someone had said to you. If self-compassion were a practice you did for speaking — the way a runner stretches before a race — what would it look like for you? What small, regular act of kindness toward yourself might help you carry this more lightly? If you have any feedback of comments, please let me know :) Feel free to leave a voice note : https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • S4 · E1
    April 18 · 31 min

    Is there a perfect balance of time spent alone and time spent with others?

    Hello - today we're discussing the topic of how to balance time effectively between socialising and alone time. This is something that has perplexed me for a very long time! So I wanted to explore whether such a perfect balance existed (spoiler alert: it doesn't!), and how we can improve the way we spend time both alone and with other people, without burning out. Mentioned links and resources: Weird Improv Comedy Game : https://creativefacilitation.com/bunny-bunny-2/ DU Professor + others, Balance between solitude and socializing: everyday solitude time both benefits and harms well-being: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-44507-7 Behavior of People: Role of Extraversion and Loneliness: https://www.academia.edu/113714928/Behavior_of_People_Role_of_Extraversion_and_Loneliness Journaling prompts for understanding how you spend time alone: Do you often choose to spend your time alone? Is the time you spend alone something that you're retreating into? Are you trying to escape from something else? Apologies for the delay in getting this one out! https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Note: I would never share a voice note on the podcast without asking.

  • S3 · E3
    April 6 · 31 min

    How can you use communication frameworks when speaking without preparation

    Hey everyone- this is the final episode of the three-part series on how to improve at speaking without preparation, on communication frameworks. In the last two episodes, we looked at: The psychology and reasons behind why we struggle with speaking without preparation The tools and tactics we can use to start improving at this This episode is on frameworks, which allow us to systemically and sequentially organise our thoughts and ideas into a clear structure. 365 questions for practicing: https://cougarrhetoric.toastmastersclubs.org/jdownload.cgi?action=download&path=365_Sample_Table_Topics_Questions__Courtesy_of_District_8_Toastmasters_International_.pdf Sample AI prompt for creating questions: Generate 10 random practice questions I can use to rehearse impromptu speaking frameworks. The questions should be varied — covering personal opinions, everyday life, social situations, and light professional scenarios — but should NOT be highly specific to any one industry or job role. Each question should be open-ended enough to be answered using one of the following three frameworks: Hook / Frame / Message / Landing — for structuring a short speech or monologue with a strong opening and clear takeaway. PREP (Point, Reason, Example, Point) — for sharing a clear opinion or recommendation concisely. SOAR (Situation, Obstacle, Action, Result) — for telling a story about overcoming a challenge. Let me know if you have any questions, thoughts, feedback! I've created a Podline - where you can record a short voice message and send through: https://podline.fm/quiet-superpowers Otherwise, feel free to leave a comment or a review here :)

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