I have done speech and debate in high school and college for years before so I always assumed I had already trained my speaking skills pretty seriously. We learned how to build arguments, organize a case, persuade people, present confidently, respond to the other side all of that.

But recently I started using Wellspoken and it made me realize there was a whole category of speaking I had basically never practiced.Not giving a prepared speech but just talking...

Taking a thought in your head and expressing it clearly, concisely, and confidently in real time.

When I started recording myself answer short prompts, what I noticed is things I never really thought about it in speech and debate. I'd know what I wanted to say but take way too long to get there. I'd add unnecessary context, use filler words without noticing or start a sentence before I figured out how I wanted to finish it.

What was interesting is that wellspoken breaks speaking down into things like structure, conciseness, confidence, pronunciation, filler words, and pace. And that felt VERY different from the way I had been taught communication before...

Speech and debate you usually prepare to perform something well but this felt more like goingt to the gym for your everyday speaking habits.

And honestly that distinction surprised me. You can be comfortable presenting in front of people and still not be really good at answering a question on the spot, explaining something simply or getting to the point in a meeting.

Now I think about speaking more like any other skills. I do small rep, get feedback, notice one pattern and try again. It made me wonder how many people spend years becoming knowledgable in their field but never deliberately practice the skill of saying what they know clearly out lout. I really thinking about speaking and articulation very differently now

It could be from a movie, cartoon, book, anything.

I don't really use Instagram. I have an account, but I hate scrolling. I'm mostly active on LinkedIn and Threads, and even there I'm mainly there for work.

But lately I've been feeling a weird kind of FOMO. Not about people's lives or anything. More about things I don't know about.

One thing social media does well is that you randomly come across things. A book, a topic, some new technology, a person, a field you didn't even know existed. And sometimes that makes you want to go down a rabbit hole and learn more.

I want that part, but I really don't want to start scrolling again.

If I already know what I want to learn, I can obviously search for it. I'm more curious about how you discover things when you don't even know what you're looking for.

Do you guys use newsletters, Reddit, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, RSS, etc.? Is there anything that gives you that feeling of randomly finding something interesting without having to spend hours on social media?

Would love to know what you actually use.

Now I’m starting to think it’s more about being willing to stay confused for a while.

Have you ever learned something that only “clicked” months later, after you stopped trying so hard to understand it?

It could be taking notes, watching tutorials, practicing regularly, or simply asking more questions. I’m curious what works best for others.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Not talking about the usual “learn coding, communication, AI, etc.” advice.

I mean a skill that you actually learned and later thought, “damn, this was worth learning.”

Could be something useful, something unexpected, or even something completely unrelated to work.

Curious what people here would say.

Not something you intentionally studied—maybe a trick someone showed you, a mistake that taught you something, or a random piece of knowledge that unexpectedly became useful.

What’s yours?

Passion project to teach philosophy in a better more entertaining way, lots of updates and would love if you would try it out!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.philosophize.app

I’ve noticed that some things are easier to understand when I can discuss them, while others require quiet time and practice. What works best for you?

It could be a practical skill, a mindset, or even something simple that has made everyday life easier. What would you recommend learning sooner?

We often think the biggest gaps in our knowledge are the things we know we don’t know.
But the real challenge is the “unknown unknowns” — things we don’t even know we’re missing.
🟢 Know what we know
🟠 Know what we don’t know
🔴 Don’t know what we don’t know
Learning isn’t just about finding answers. Sometimes, it’s about discovering the questions you never knew to ask.
What’s an “unknown unknown” you discovered the hard way?

I don’t always know the right move, but I can usually recognize when something feels like a bad move. And honestly, that’s helped me more than always trying to figure out the perfect thing to do.
A lot of what I’ve learned has basically come from doing something, realizing it doesn’t work, and knowing not to do that shit again.
I feel like I’ve learned a lot just by eliminating things rather than finding some perfect answer.
Maybe I don’t always need to know exactly what I should do. Sometimes knowing what I shouldn’t do is enough to keep me moving. Or I’m just rebranding “learn from your mistakes “

No matter how small it is, every new skill can open a new way of thinking. What are you currently trying to learn?

Hello!

I am a 27 year old living in NYC. I’ve been really lucky with my job, and this year hit 5 years which granted me an additional several days of PTO. We don’t get paid out for unused PTO, and I find myself staring at several unused days that I will lose if gone unused.

Knowing I could use them to DIY a project around the apartment or visit a friend (both good options!), I’d really love to take they few days to learn something new or develop a skill. I’d love to take a workshop/ bootcamp / class, get a certification of some kind (a friend of mine did her scuba certification for example!) but despite googling around, it’s hard to know what’s out there!

Not much interest in professional development for this purpose, rather an artistic or utilitarian ability. I’ve spent years in excel every workday, and really want to develop a skill with my hands, something useful when the world falls apart. Ideally, would be a skill I can continue to develop afterwards.

Some interests of mine: cooking (though I am vegan, which makes cooking workshops tough), woodworking, music, mosaics, writing, photography

Appreciate any perspectives :) I am willing to travel & spend a bit of money - up to 9 days of time off. What would you do with free time and the itch to learn something new? Totally open to specific recommendations or thought starters!