Mindset Matters: Larry Wilson on Talent vs Technique (The Wilson Method)

In this insightful episode of The Wilson Method, communications expert Larry Wilson explores the powerful role of mindset in personal and professional success.

Focusing on the idea of talent vs. technique, Larry breaks down why skill development and consistent effort often matter more than natural ability. Drawing from real-world experience, he shares how communication, growth, and self-awareness all begin with the right mindset.

The conversation also highlights the influential work of Carol Dweck, whose research on the growth mindset has helped reshape how people approach learning and achievement. Along the way, Larry shares practical advice—including wisdom inspired by actress Betty White—on staying open, adaptable, and committed to improvement.

If you’re interested in communication skills, personal development, and mindset strategies, this episode offers valuable insights you can apply right away.

Hosted by Larry Wilson
Produced by: Verbal Ninja Productions
Producer: R. Scott Edwards
Sponsored by: The Wilson Method

**Check out NEW upgraded website with FREE offer!!
Visit: https://theWilsonMethod.com 

Try Larry's "5 Day Challenge" via his web site.

Link: TheWilsonMethod.com

Transcript

Larry Wilson 0:00

Hi, this is Larry Wilson, and this is How to Talk to Humans. This is the podcast that shows you how to improve your communication skills. Are you looking to get a better job? Are you looking to find a relationship? Are you trying to do things in your life that have frustrated you and eluded you so far? I can show you so easily how to change that. Now, I can only do it with humans. If you're looking to deal with vampires or zombies extraterrestrial, this is not the show for you. But if you're really looking to improve your communication skills, I can show you what I've learned for 40 years in the show business working with the biggest celebrities and superstars in the world, and their secrets are unbelievable. What I'm going to be teaching you during the course of this podcast every week are tools that you can use to communicate toward success. Hi. Thanks again for joining me for another episode of How to Talk to Humans. I have a very interesting uh topic today because I did a presentation of Wilson Method to a group yesterday, live and in person, a group of uh retired people in uh Sacramento, an organization that's been around, I guess, for almost a hundred years, and is a big Northern California thing. And it was very, very well received. And uh some people came up to me afterwards. They're very enthusiastic. They wanted more information and they wanted to find out stuff. But one question that was asked by more than one person, they were asking about uh the difference, I explain, about technique versus talent. Now, I may be as guilty as anyone of something I caution you against using Wilson method. I want you to be aware there's a trap we all fall into. When we are covering material that we know so well, perhaps we've talked about it many times or uh all our lives. Sometimes we forget that people who don't know what our topic is or don't know what we're talking about, they may need a little bit more explanation of things than you're prepared to give because you're so familiar with it that you simply gloss over it. This, of course, is a disaster in communication because it may be the most important thing you have to discuss. So, mea culpa, since I always want to throw some Latin into this podcast. I am guilty uh of this, and I realized I thought it was very clear, saying what's great about Wilson Method is that it is all technique based. It is not based on talent. But then apparently that was confusing to a number of people. And I thought it was very interesting because I'm gonna try and explain it better today. My son turned me on to a book called Mindset, the New Psychology of Success. I think the author is Carol Dweck. God, I hope I'm getting this right. Uh D W E C K. And it's a fascinating book, a really fascinating book, and I recommend it highly. But I realized that it may be that this author was talking about the exact same things I talk about in Wilson Method, but using different language. And so I'm going to share that here because I suspect it may be clear, maybe it clears up some things. And in this book, one of the things they talked about was the difference between a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. And I think this may be the same idea that I'm presenting as talent versus technique, uh, although I should have said that differently, because uh this author equates a growth mindset as um dynamic, that all kinds of things can be happening. That a person who has the mindset that's a growth mindset believes that skills and abilities can be learned and constantly improved on. That's what I'm always saying about technique. It's the same idea in different words, that a growth mindset sees an organic ongoing process versus the fixed mindset that I think is equivalent to talent, that the fixed mindset identifies uh skills or abilities as a person's identity, and it's fixed, it doesn't change. Let me see if I can clarify it even further. In a fixed mindset, they for example, someone may feel like I'm smart, that's just the way it is. There's no growth, there's no advancement, it's just I'm smart, and so I can do whatever I need to do that requires being smart, versus a growth mindset who may think I worked really hard, and so I came up with a smart solution to a problem. Does that seem clear to you? Seems to me, although I'm so used to thinking them of them as technique versus talent, I'm not sure. I'd love to hear what your reaction to this is. But I'm hoping that makes it clear that the fixed mindset feels like things are static. And the author of this book does not address the question of uh talent, but I think that's what we're referring to here. Although talent is even more ephemeral, talent is even more hard to corral if we need it. That's what I think is one of the things that makes most people fear public speaking, fear any kind of human interaction, is that they don't know what I am gonna do if I'm called upon to answer a question or or speak in front of the crowd or uh write a proposal, any of these things. Whereas if you have technique, which is what I'm teaching in Wilson Method, then you always know you have these tools. And these tools are not magical, they're not uh mystical, they're not confusing, they're very simple. And you can apply them in any situation to acquire your desired outcome. None of it seems impossible, none of it seems mysterious, and it's I guess it's my it's my thesis here, that having a system of technique reduces your anxiety so much, it reduces the stress in your life so much because you aren't worried. You are I've told the story before, I won't belabor it here, about uh Peter O'Toole on the set of Lawrence of Arabia, where he was quite aware that sometimes the muse spoke to him and he was able to access this prodigious acting talent he had, but otherwise it wasn't. Sometimes just wasn't there. When it wasn't there, he didn't worry about it, he didn't try to force it, just wasn't there. But for most people, I think, if you're relying on that magical muse that we sometimes call talent to carry you through, oh my God, that's a that's a tremendous burden to be carrying. To not know whether you're going to be able to deliver the goods when you're called upon. That's I certainly couldn't live that way. I haven't lived that way. I I'm just I'm just trying to imagine what it would be like. I could see why people would feel like I would sooner die than get up and speak in front of a group of people at a meeting or a presentation or anything like this. You know, you've heard me speak on this podcast before about uh one of the tools of the Wilson method, which is employing empathy. Yesterday in this presentation, live presentation, I told them about that and told them about my experience uh learning that from Betty White. And I told them, I said, I utilized that specific strategy and tool before I came out on stage today to make this presentation speak to you. It makes you feel so much less stressed, so much less anxiety, suddenly it all becomes easy. So I'm hoping that this suggestion of this mindset may clarify the difference there. And if it doesn't, I hope you'll email me at Larry at WilsonMethod.com and tell me. Either say, oh yeah, that was really good, or no, it didn't help, it made it more confusing. I'm not sure what your experience was. But the idea, uh obviously, um the thesis in this book, uh, mindset, The New Psychology of Success, uh, I should also point out, I don't have any affiliate association with that author of that book. I don't, if you go out and buy that book, I don't receive anything. I'm just telling you, I'm sharing with you things that I found fascinating and really stimulating. So if you're serious about raising your communication game, I'm not the only source of information in the world. They're all around us. There's all kinds. And again, you know, I feel like sometimes people are afraid to take in useful tools or information if it's not one whole cohesive, unified field theory. You know, it doesn't have to be. If someone who you hate and you find obnoxious suggests one thing that's really useful that works for you, I'd use it. Forget all the stuff you hate about them, but use that one thing if there is such a thing. In this particular case, I loved everything about this book, but I thought it was a very interesting presentation. That clearly the thesis in the book is that the growth mindset is the wave of the future, that the fixed mindset is stagnant. I mean, it's that same idea of if you think, oh yeah, I have talent to do this thing, I can't control it, I can't I can't summon it when I want. It shows up when it wants, but when it does, it's really great. That's kind of like a fly trapped in amber. But the growth mindset believes that you are not the things that you do. You are an individual person. And skills and abilities can be learned all the time. It doesn't matter what age you are, it doesn't matter the basis of your education, the foundation of what you've learned before, none of that matters. The growth mindset believes that you can learn new skills and abilities and constantly be improving them, getting better and better at them. I hope that's what you're doing with the things I'm teaching here. Thanks again for joining me. I look forward to seeing you next week on how to talk to humans. This has been Larry Wilson. I want to thank you for spending this time with me, and I hope you found this information useful. If you're looking for more, you can find it at thewilsonmethod.com. There's a ton of stuff there. In fact, if you want, you can even speak to me because I'm human. Send me an email at info at WilsonMethod.com because I read every single one. I hope that you'll join us next week in this continuing journey. And you'll be with me for the next episode of How to Talk to You.