So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Samara Bay pointed out the subtle yet significant difference in how we perceive 'talking' versus 'speaking'. She suggests that 'speaking' carries a higher stake and a scarier cultural connotation than 'talking,' which is a more common, everyday activity. This linguistic distinction can contribute to heightened anxiety around public speaking engagements.
“So also like, let's just be honest about there's some sort of linguistic, uh, curlicue in the word speaking that feels higher stakes and scarier than talking, which we all do every day.”