Both great chefs and great communicators start by deciding to become one, then experiment across different styles to find what suits them. A chef reads cookbooks and tries cuisines; a speaker practices keynotes, impromptu talks, and prepared speeches. Mentorship, specialization, and relentless practice turn either into mastery.
Being a great communicator is like becoming a great chef who has his own recipe. So just like a great chef starts somewhere with the decision that he wants to become a chef, he then starts to go there out and try it out, multiple things. He reads from other chefs' books, he learns, and he gets mentored by other chefs. And then in this process, he starts to figure out that I am good at this part, I am not good at that. Maybe I'm good at Chinese cuisine, but I am not very much interested in Mexican dish. And then once he gets that, okay, this is what I want to do, then he goes all in and specializes on that. Similarly, a great speaker, once he decides to become a good professional speaker, first of all makes the decision internally. Then he goes and tries out multiple speaking. So he tries out a keynote speaking, he tries out impromptu speaking, he tries out prepared speaking, and so on so forth. He takes every bit of speaking as a practice ground, and then he becomes self-aware, and then he says that, okay, maybe keynote speaking is something that I want to focus upon. Then he gets the mentorship of a great keynote speaker or coaching from a good keynote speaker, and then he goes dive deep into picking his topic, and then honing that, and in the process, he becomes a great keynote speaker. So everything starts when you decide to become something, when you decide to take on the identity, and then you consistently take action and refine your growth.
