This skill determines the kind of life you LIVE
What are you talking about Hugo??
This skill set I'm going to be laying out to you is the most important one you could have. You can't be successful without it.
This will determine your success. But also your happiness.
But before getting into the skill itself...
Who does this apply to?
If you're an artist in the Web3 trying to make it, this skill is much more important than how good your art is.
If you're a content creator on Instagram, your content won't be good enough to make a living if you don't have this skill.
If you're in a 9-5, lacking this skill means you're getting paid less and people want to hire you less.
This skill is universal. Everyone needs to be great at it to succeed and have the best life possible.
In this issue, I'll go through this skill. And educate you on why it's important - and why you need to learn more about it.
Now, what is this skill?
People skills. Human communication.
And yes, this is a skill.
This needs to be learned (to have all of the tools).
Some are better than others from the start. That's talent.
But everyone can improve. And some people, are really bad at this.
For example, I was.
I was really shy as a kid. I don't know why - I just was.
Me getting bullied at school certainly didn't help.
In secondary school, after 7 years of bullying, I couldn't talk to strangers at all.
I was incredibly nervous to say anything in class.
I was incredibly nervous to make a presentation.
And on the 8th grade, I didn't do a single presentation.
And to this day, I've only made 1 speech in front of a classroom (which I was able to do after learning about speaking a lot.)
Let's hop forward. From the beginning of my artist career in Web3.
Clubhouse came around. I got an invite code at some point. I was excited.
(There were these "rooms" in which you could chat with others, and some could just be listening in the audience.)
But when I hopped into it... I never went to speak. It felt terrifying.
I noticed lots of people listening in Spaces. But I also noticed small rooms.
But I couldn't even put myself to them.
I thought I'd embarrass myself. I thought I couldn't do it.
I believe this was because:
1) I had never done that before (so I had massive anxiety).
(Anxiety is born when your brain can't predict the future outcome.)
2) I believed I'd stumble in my words.
3) I was so terrified of what others would think of me.
Do I regret not hopping in? Yes, if I had the people skills I have now, I could've helped my career a ton.
Many talk of the "good old Clubhouse rooms" where it all started.
I was there. But just listening.
Regrets are part of life. So there's no point in thinking about that. But it's good to look at your past mistakes and shortcomings to avoid them happening again.
Let's forward to 2021 autumn.
2021 autumn - my breakthrough (and 2 reasons how anxiety is born)
There was a Twitter Space (which is like Clubhouse rooms).
I didn't know how big the space was about to become.
(I certainly hoped it wasn't gonna be big.)
But I wanted to break off this fear of not speaking in Spaces. I had grown tired of myself not taking the leap.
I started preparing for the space. I had written literally everything that I wanted to say.
And then the moment came closer. I was there as a speaker now, but I didn't have the mic yet.
The hosts asked who wants to go first.
I thought no way I go first. "Lucky me", I didn't have to go first.
Then "Who wants to go next?". Not me I thought.
This went for 1.5-2 hours.
I was afraid of hopping in - as I thought there might be someone who is also going to open their microphone and then it's awkward.
But then... after everyone else had got to speak... I got the mic.
I said hi - and one of the hosts said hi back.
I couldn't hear the other host. This made me anxious and already regretted hopping onto the stage.
I thought there was something wrong on my end, and now I'd embarrass myself in front of 30+ people.
(Yes, that's not that many now that I look back - but it felt insanely much as I didn't have the experience.)
But then one of the hosts told me there was a mic issue at the other host's end.
And so I started telling my story of being bullied. For the first time ever.
I could feel my heart racing. It just speeding up like a Formula.
I could feel the sweat on my forehead. And at my fingers when I was scrolling the script whilst I was reading it out loud.
At a couple of points, I stumbled. But I quickly picked myself up. It'd have been more embarrassing if I just left the stage.
And then I said the last words. And thanked for the opportunity to speak.
One of the hosts still had mic problems. But the other host commented on my story and said thank you for coming up and sharing that.
Then they closed the space. And I felt so relieved.
I was happy. But mostly just relieved.
I had done that. I had talked in front of 30+ people (with some of them being photographers I looked up to - which didn't make this any easier. I wanted to, of course, leave a good impression on them.)
I was proud of myself. Even though I was the last one to speak. I had followed through what I said I'd do. I didn't turn back and go hiding.
I gathered confidence from this. And then 2 months later, I started hosting my own spaces which got great numbers (to me at least at the time).
We're talking 20-70 people per space on average.
I was hopping more to others' spaces too - and connecting with people I admired (and still do).
I had overcome my fear. Yes, by taking a leap of faith - but also, by learning more about the subject.
Why did I tell this story?
Because we've all felt anxiety before speaking. Before going to speak to a stranger. Or before going to speak to a person we're a massive fan of.
You might've been able to relate in some way to the story.
I hope you see, and understand, how anxiety is born.
To recap;
1) Anxiety is born when your brain can't predict the future outcome
AND
2) When your skill doesn't meet the challenge.
If I was a professional speaker before hopping to that first Twitter Space - do you think I would've been super nervous about it?
If I knew how to make a great first impression on everyone who was listening to me (including the people I admired)?
If I knew the unspoken rules of social situations - and how to read people well?
If I had had the skills beforehand, this process would've happened with much less pain. And faster. And I would've got to make better first impressions (that are hard to change.)
But once I booked my first trip to an NFT conference, in 2022, I started this learning process about people skills.
My journey from a shy kid IRL - to a thriving networker
Now that I was about to face people face-to-face IRL - there was no running away.
And now I had my money in the game.
So I started.
I read books. Studied them deeply.
I watched YouTube videos and studied them deeply.
I studied from podcasts... and so on.
And over the years, I've just kept on learning more and more.
As I have noticed, how much there is to learn. And how much these skills actually make a difference.
✅ You are getting paid more (workers with social skills earn more)
✅ You get more opportunities
✅ You can handle arguments and awkward situations better...
✅ You can explain your ideas with much more clarity
✅ You'll be able to be more confident in social situations
✅ You'll be able to make a great first impression without using a word
✅ You'll be able to thrive in networking events
✅ You'll be able to start and end a conversation without awkwardness
✅ You'll be able to read the other person - their emotions - and know exactly what to say (and what NOT to say)...
And much much more.
ManpowerGroup made a survey including 2,000 U.S. employers.
It found that 61% of American companies rated such “soft” abilities as communication, collaboration and problem-solving as the most desired skills in prospective hires.
Nearly everything requires collaboration. And you're better at it with great communication skills.
This is how you get the biggest opportunities
The greatest opportunities I've had in my life have come from social interactions.
I've perhaps chatted with an art collector. Or a curator. They've recommended me to another person. And this goes on.
Recently I did an Open Call with MET AMS.
All this took from me was a single LinkedIn message to the Co-Founder I had met the previous year.
I want to make a speech at an NFT conference soon - and I've met some people in person who select people as speakers. This enhances my chances a lot.
Many collectors have collected from me because of the successful first impression I've left on them.
In Sens, France, where I was a few weeks back, I connected with loads of people.
I talked about a possible collaboration with one huge artist.
I got to know a Founder of a certain SuperRare space.
I chatted for hours with a massive collector who has been collecting art for decades.
Guess how I found him haha? I've studied how "important" people look like - and behave like. They have similar things. You can spot these patterns when you know what you're looking for.
I spotted this guy vibing for 2 hours close to a DJ. There it wasn't a great place to start a convo. We could've not had a deep one.
So I waited patiently for that time before he left outside. Then I went and introduced myself.
And we're currently onboarding me to MakersPlace - and have some exciting ideas. Let's see what happens!
But - THIS ALL was because of my people skills. And I had LEARNED all this in the last 1.5 years (as I obsessed learning on this and spent a ton of time and money. Bought courses, books... you name it.)
The best thing? These are evergreen skills and will help you in all areas of life.
Career. Relationships. Whatever. This helps all of them.
Communication has always been human animals' most important skill
Human evolution, and survival, are because of our ability to tell stories (which is communication).
Before we had invented letters, we told stories by speaking.
Since then, being able to communicate well has been the most important skill a human can possess.
Back in the caveman days, we lived in tiny circles.
Now we live in much larger circles. There are many more we can communicate with. Whether it's face-to-face - or on social media.
Communication skills are now more in demand than ever (especially, as fewer and fewer people are good at them).
And they can be indeed learned - which is the best thing!!
I hope after reading all this, you see how people skills can help you.
To improve your life. And to avoid the pain of not knowing what to do in certain situations.
You can always learn by reading books or watching YouTube videos, but this takes much more time. And time is the only currency we won't get back. Ever.
It is difficult to find the correct information you need. I believe it's much easier when you have someone to guide you through this.
That's why I'm offering my help. I'm excited to present Social Mastery - A live training on this subject on October 23rd.
I'm going to go through it all.
After the training, this is how you'll transform:
You:
✅ can get more opportunities
✅ can handle arguments better
✅ can get paid more
✅ can eliminate the awkwardness in conversations
✅ can explain your ideas with much more clarity
✅ will be able to be confident in social situations
✅ will be able to make a great first impression WITHOUT using a word
✅ will be able to THRIVE in networking events and no longer waste your money with them - as now you can actually network
✅ will be able to start and end a conversation without awkwardness
✅ will be able to read the other person - their emotions - and know what exactly to say...
No longer will you...
❌ painfully watch opportunities slip by your fingers (as you didn't know how to approach someone)
❌ have extremely awkward conversations
❌ run out of what to say
❌ have to think whether you should hug or handshake someone
❌ read the other person completely wrong and step on their toes
❌ make terrible first impressions - and miss out on great connections
And much much more.
In a nutshell:
You can be more successful - and live a happier life with great people skills.
I'm making the training the cheapest it's gonna be. Ever. So if you're interested in learning these skills from someone who went through it all - make sure to join now.
You can find all the information and sign up here.
I'll tell you the secrets I possess and how I've managed to get the opportunities I've got so far. That you can replicate the same - and even more.
You won't be paying €45,296 (like you might need to pay through University, to gain great people skills).
And I have a 100% money-back guarantee - so there's no risk for you. I'm taking it all for you. :)
Everyone can benefit from this.
Yes, I am trying to sell this to you. I believe you'd regret not hopping on after hearing from peers how much this helped them.
I don't want you to regret this.
But! If for any reason you can't hop on, no worries. I'll be sending you this Newsletter every week anyway. :)
The next issues will be also on the same topic (of human communication). I'll teach some stuff for free. But I can't go anywhere close to as in-depth into teaching here as on the live call.
(See how lengthy this was - just talking about the importance of the skills.)
Here's the link again - so that you can learn this process the fastest - and avoid the pain of trying to navigate the world of people skills alone.
(I have also studied how people learn the best. Which many other teachers haven't. I'll provide you with that knowledge too you can implement in other areas of your life. :) )
I hope you study people skills more. Whether I get to teach you, or someone else. These are super important. :)
Feel free to reach out with any questions to hello@hugokorhonen.com!
Or via DMs on X or Instagram (@hugoraphy).
Thank you for reading - and hope to see you in the training! :)
(P.s. You can be an amazing communicator in English, without being great at it.
Words themselves don't matter that much. It's about how you say them. And about your body and how you use it.
Of this, I'll talk more in the training. But I might also briefly touch on this in the next couple of issues.)
Make sure to not miss my next blog posts. This is my way of educating you for free - before you can hop into deeper learning via live training and so on.
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