Doing your homework and learning to speak

Feeling like you have to speak can cause you to say stupid things.

I see this play out again and again in class with others who are talking for the sake of participation points.  They trip themselves up with ill-informed comments that invite criticism.

To have an opinion you have to do your homework.  You have to deeply understand the underlying principles of the situation.

I struggle to speak in class.  One part of that is related to confidence.  But another part is in doing my homework.  Not just my homework for class, but my preparation for moving into the business world in general.  I need to be better prepared, and to be successful I will need to be the BEST prepared person.

Professor Arthur Segal said at a small dinner on 10/28/2014 that no one will teach you about the real estate business.  Don't seek apprenticeship programs.  You're going to have to teach yourself, and learn on your own just like you always have.  Since he was speaking to a military student, he said "you'll have to teach yourself like you always have, maybe even how you literally taught yourself how to survive."

Professor Segal said, you know to know the deal better than anyone else.  You have to read the leases, because no one else has.  You have to meet the tenants face to face.  You have to understand the financing structure.

I need to do my homework, be the best prepared person in the room, to ensure that I survive and thrive as I transition.  Doing my homework will also give me the confidence to speak up, in class, in meetings, at social dinners, and elsewhere in a business context.