[sidman]

I think your right PG but there are some caveats. For one i think to be able to pass it off that ideas are better then speaking (which i do agree with) you need to have some clout behind you and prove your worth and you have surely done that with respect to startups and the tech world. Honestly if anyone else did the talk you did (new ideas) and delivered it the way you did (lots of um's) i'm sure the crowed would have passed it of as a lunatic with crazy ideas who cant even speak. I sometimes empathize and if it was me that was there I would classify myself as a raving lunatic who cant speak.

I think this is again part of the subset of ideas that looking good and looking smart is actually better then being smart cause perception is everything. I personally have always look at whats inside and what the actual words mean, even when im listening to a song i listen to the words and if they effect me rather then the sexiness of the singer (like i know most of my friends do)

I remember watching a movie called puncture with chris odonnel(sp?) where he was a lawyer promoting safe needles that could save front line health workers from getting accidentally stuck and the inventor of the needle didn't know how to present infront of the investors. As a result he got nothing even though he had a great product with great potential. (the movie was based on a true story)

So i do agree with you however i think for most of us without much clout still trying to prove ourselves in the world learning to speak well is just as important as learning to write and have ideas (i hate speaking publicly but im trying). If we cant present ourselves to investors or to customers well (or intelligently) we wont even get into the door :)