The QUIET Book Tour Continues…
Author: Susan CainHi everyone,
Here’s the latest news from the QUIET book tour, which continues at its whirlwind pace!
1. QUIET has been on the New York Times bestseller list ever since it debuted in late January.
2. Chris Anderson, the owner of TED, recently tweeted that my TED talk ”smashed” all of TED’s previous records for number of views in first week of posting — currently over 1.3 million views since the talk went live on March 2.
3. British readers! Tomorrow I’m headed to the United Kingdom, and would love to meet you. Please check my Events page for live events and TV/radio appearances.
4. American readers, the tour will continue in the U.S. in April. Please check back soon for upcoming appearances.
5. Here are a bunch of recent TV, radio, and print interviews with me, and mentions of QUIET:
CNN – Introverts Run the World — Quietly
The New York Times - In New Office Designs, Room to Roam and to Think
The Asian Age – Why Introverts are Quiet Winners
CTV News – Interview: Loud Society Fails to Capitalize on Introverts
MSNBC – Video interview on The Dylan Ratigan Show
WNYC – Audio Interview on The Leonard Lopate Show
Vancouver Sun – Hate Networking? Introvert Business Leaders as Good or Better than Extroverts
Knoxville News Sentinel – Introverts Living in an Extrovert’s World
TheCommentary.ca – Audio Interview / Podcast
The Introvert Entrepreneur – Audio Interview / Podcast
Jezebel.com – How to Set Boundaries with People you Love
Forbes.com – Lessons from Dad and Jeremy Lin
The Atlantic – How TED Makes Ideas Smaller
The Journal Times – In What Light There Is: The Power of QUIET
Cosmic Log on MSNBC.com – Deep Thinkers Take Center Stage
Cool Hunting – Link About It: This Week’s Picks
The Guardian – TED 2012: The Final Countdown
Boing Boing – TED 2012: Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts
Wired News – TED and Meta TED: On Scene Musings from the Wonderdome
The Bellingham Herald – Quiet Power: Introverts Can Capitalize on Their Inner Strengths and Feel Good About It
Popsop.com – Sshh Branding: The Quiet Revolution
TheNextWeb.com – Why the World Needs to Start Embracing Introverts
THANK YOU for your support and interest.
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The acclaimed New York Times bestseller, now in paperback:
"Rich, intelligent... enlightening."
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I really enjoyed your book, quiet, where you have helped many thousands of people understand themselves and their gifts. But its been at those moments where you did what must have come hard for you, speaking in public, where you became my hero. To believe in something so much to be willing to have the courage to do the very thing you find so difficult is heroic. I watched the TED broadcast…and can tell you I probably would have chickened out. You came across clearly, and with an element of honest vulnerability that only served to connect with people like me even more. Most people don’t want to be called a hero, but sorry, you are my hero!
[...] Book, the Website, the Press, and the TED [...]
As one of your British readers I’d like to say how pleased I am that you are visiting! I won’t be able to get to the live events unfortunately, but I wish you well and hope that you have a great visit. I will try to catch one of the radio interviews.
Just started reading (and enjoying) the book yesterday after waiting more than a month for it to be available at the library. May you enjoy all of the success that comes your way.
A friend of mine for forty years recently passed away. Everyone who knew him described him as a “quiet man.” I don’t think that necessarily means he was an introvert, but he definitely was more a listener than a talker. Do you know of any poetry which praises the virtue of being a quiet person?
It was an experience that I would describe as long awaited revelation. Your soft speech about being an introvert even though not entirely original, has made a great impression on me and somehow it sorted out quite a few questions about my own life.
Above all it helped me to summon enough courage to stop trying to be bold and expansive.
As I reflect on my past actions I can see, that I always tried to suppress my quiet side and be more outgoing. Maybe it was because of the kind of books I read. But the truth is that although I tried really hard I have never forsaken the introvert inside me. I even learned to appreciate it, but it never occurred to me, that I should embrace it. And for that I wanted to thank You.
I just started your book Quiet. I find it fascinating and logical the evolution of the extrovert ideal. Mostly, though i feel liberated. I use to think I was agoraphobic but that didnt really fit. Then maybe on the spectrum. Now I feel peaceful in the knowledge that I’m an introvert! No apologies! Thanks!
Really enjoyed your interview with Pat Kenny this Morning. It is wonderful to hear someone speak positively about being an introvert. I look forward to reading your book.
First of all i wanted to thank You, even though You probably heard it like thousands of time. I’m also a law student and i was just doing my project on comparative law,when I decided to watch something at ted.com and of course there are many of profound, smart, and serious speeches but yours was just truly overwhelming (in good sense)! I was amazed and grateful that you have thrown the light on such a supposedly easy case. I learned a lot from that video, and i want to congratulate You the book! I hope it will be soon available in different languages (especially in Polish). Your idea spreads to the world! You can be proud of yourself. Best regards, Veronica
I’m declaring you my virtual mentor, and I’m going to take your quiet response to be all the affirmation you have time to give and that I, ultimately, need. Here’s to quietly making the world a better place for all of us and all our collective children.
Just heard your BBC Radio 4 interview and had to write to say how much it struck chords with me in so many areas that I’ve observed in life. A revelation. It was a great interview. I hope you have an enjoyable time here in the UK; I’m sure it will be a great success.
Susan,
I downloaded your book yesterday on my Nook Tablet and plan to read it in full this weekend! Shyness is debilitating! Introversion is peaceful! Thank you for separating the two and validating that introverts are not an inferior breed!
Back to the book…
Thank you!
Kathy
Hi, Susan! I’m so happy to hear you are doing so great! Looking forward to April and to see what is next for your book tour. Just FYI, the L.A. Times Book Festival is taking place at USC on April 21-22, so think you might want to come to that?
Hi Jane, I think I’m scheduled to be traveling somewhere else then, but too bad — I would have loved to meet you in person!
Hello,
So I need to write a term paper for my sociology class and I’ve decided in my own mind that I want to write it on Introversion. Specifically on introverts in the classroom and work setting. I’ve already read “Quiet” and I feel that I have a decent grasp on the subject. Although with that said, my teacher told me that this subject will be quite hard to write about, but would be very impressed and interested if I did decide to focus on introversion. My question is, what would you suggest is the best way to research introversion in the workplace and classroom? Any advice or helpful hints as to how I can gather information and knowledge about this topic would be greatly appreciated.
-patrick
Hi Patrick, I would start by checking the citations in my book, reading those papers, and following the footnotes to other sources. Also interviewing some of the people who wrote them will take you far…Good luck!
[...] *** Here is a selected list of press mentions from Susan’s post: [...]
Hi Susan
Such an interesting book. I would love to hear your thoughts about some of the questions that are being processed in my suitcase, shown here
http://2coach.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/online-collaboration-introverts-and-solitude/
Thank you
Susan- I am in the middle of reading Quiet, and had to stop and dump my brain before it overflows. I’m a high school teacher and I’m an introvert. Books are my escape, as are the many projects I can find that allow me to work alone, to create, and to think. Teaching teenagers is not really the idyllic, quiet escape from noise that people like me usually seek. In fact, as a kid I swore I would never teach. Finally, as I read deeper into your book, I am starting to see why I felt that way, and why the rewards of being a good teacher have made me feel like I was becoming that extroverted person I always wanted to be, if at a cost. I’ve had 18 very successful years in the classroom, in front of thousands of collective students. Still, there exists a part of me that has always worried they might see through my facade. For when I am ‘on stage’ I am the extreme extrovert – I have to be. But some days it’s so very difficult.
I was also a basketball coach for more than 20 years, and in that role, I roamed the sidelines, as extroverted as anyone I knew. But now I am starting to think maybe it was all just a ruse. Not that I don’t have extroverted tendencies – I’m sure we all do in the right moments. But being in the limelight, being the center of attention, having to outwardly lead so many at one time by being as much an entertainer as an inspiration, has been such a struggle. The ‘meet and greet’ times at church? I dread them, and suffer mightily through them. I do understand their purpose and value, but I have started stepping out of the room during those times just to avoid the superficial friendliness it encourages. You have awakened in me a new awareness of who I might really be, and are helping me figure out if teaching is the key to breaking out of my introverted shell, becoming that idealized extrovert society wants me to be, or if it is simply breaking me.
I just want to thank you for being the first of many authors I have read to help me see myself for who I am, and for telling me that I’m ok as is. In fact, I might be more than ok – I might be really great, whether I teach or not. I may not be cut out to start my own business, or to be the author of the next great social movement. But somewhere inside my brain, where I spend a great deal of my time, even while raising an active family, there may lie something special, my raison d’etre, and I am now, thanks to you, on a quest to find it.
Good morning(in U.S.) Susan,
I hope that the tour is going well.
I saw and listened to this poem on FB from Krista Tippett’s ‘On Being’. In case you did not hear it or know her work, here it is:
http://blog.onbeing.org/post/20390529831/sylvia-boorstein-reads-nerudas-keeping-quiet
Hope you enjoy it.
Herb
Another mention of your book: http://www.inc.com/geil-browning/power-of-the-quiet-entrepreneur.html
An introvert with extroverted tendencies with multiple personalities all in order would say “I’ll read your book.”
My first art show was a success. It was successful because I realized that the people at the gallery were interested in what I had to say non-verbally. This allowed me to chat with everyone in a very energetic way. With practice and understanding of your own fears most can come to deal with their perceived “ailment.”
Yes, I’ll read your book.
Dear Susan,
You’re insight has shed an important light on such an incredibly undervalued topic! You’re book has also really help validate my pre-existing feelings about being an introvert and I hope this books helps surge a new wave of thinking and prevail the Extroverted Ideal.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and from the deepest nook of my cognitive brain!
- Laura (from Montreal, Canada)
P.S. Will you be visiting this part of the world anytime soon?
Dear Susan:
Now that you have demystified the differences between extraverts and introverts, I was dismayed to find an article on the MSN page the title of which stated that “you had to be a narcissist” to land the job during a job interview. Yet, the article in question then described an extravert’s capacity to explain himself with ease during a job interview.
What a lovely world we live in, huh!!! Before your book came out, the media dissed introverts. Now that your book is out and you have gone through upteenth media interviews to explain the differences between introverts and extraverts, now they label extraverts as narcissists. Will this labelling and hatred never end!!!!
Is it just me thinking this is wrong? I may be an introvert, but I take offense at seeing my extravert brethren getting demeaned for having the gift for gab during job interviews. Enough already!!!
Tears softly dampen my face after just finishing watching your TED talk online. The point about just occasionally showing the world what’s in my suitcase obviously struck a big chord! I work with a number of introverted children, often gifted, as an educational consultant and I, too, schooled myself in public speaking as it annoyed me so that the mere idea of speaking publicly struck such fear in my heart! Thank you for your Year of Speaking Dangerously and for your decision to share your findings. Simone
Hello Susan. I’ve been enjoying all your places of presence; your book (loved it), the TED talk, and your interview Arianna Huffington. I participated in an online “chat” a while back with you, and classroom group work came up. (I work with PreK age children). Then today I read this, and thought of you. Keep on sharing your amazing and important message.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/04/11/fp_graham.html?tkn=WLPFdTuga2reCM2G5KEtyYE80mq6o8PCPcxo&cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS1
-Tracy
I am over 65-overweight-overeducated-and-out-of-shape enough to have made a certain piece with my character at this stage, but I loved reading the book and continuously saying, “Oh yah. That’s me,” “Yes, that’s what I do,” etc. This book could have seriously affected my life if I had read it in the third grade. And, if I had had a baseball coach with the sense to tell me to relax on the field instead of bear down and get tough, I could have made millions (well, thousands in the 60s.) Excellent book that puts relevant research into wonderfully accessible form.
I’m also extrovert enough to argue that we should change the spelling of “peace” to “piece” as in my 12.04/13;42 comment above, but on the other hand, maybe there are bigger issues to push.
gj, Card-Carrying Certified Introvert (CCCI)
Before reading the book I thought I had some kind of a social handicap. Since I’ve read it, I realized that I am actually relatively normal, altough my personality seems to be verry introvert. One sentence in the book about introverts keeps popping up into my mind: “Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.”
The contradiction made by the words horror an joy is a wonderfull choice of words.
Another thing that attracts my attention is what you call the ‘yin-yang’ principle. It is also verry present in my own life. It almost seems like the introvert-extrovert relation also depends on the grade of it in the spectrum. (e.g.: I am verry introvert while my friends are verry extrovert). This leads many times to conflicts. Because of this situation I often feel unhappy. It came to mind that maybe it woudn’t be bad to have introvert friends as well. Problem is, where do find those people? It s a strange thought, isn’t it? One third of the people is introvert, but because they don’t speak much, hate going to parties etc, it’s hard to notice them. A silent person is in many cases not remembered by the people who speak all night long. The search (not only to introverts, but also to myself) continues, but the knowledge I’m not alone gives the search itself a purpose.
Thank you for publishing such a book, it must be pretty hard for you, an introvert to stand into the spotlights.
I feel exactly like you: No longer misunderstanding myself, feeling I had serious social problems, when all along I am an introvert, every bit as important as an extrovert. Isn’t this liberating?!
I have not yet started to read your book, but have two copies (hard/kindle for girlfriend and I), but seeing the public attention to introverts, and hearing your TED talk has really helped me start to realise more about myself.
I wish that this had come to public attention sooner, as I am now looking back at my life and regretting many decision I took when trying to be more like something I’m not, rather than focusing and improving on what I am.
Just the topic alone make me realise even more how wrong our society is with so many things.
I do wonder how amazing/insightful a book might be with your views combined with Malcom Gladwells work.
Thank you for sharing your views and work,
Best of luck for the future.
You seem to be catapulting yourself into the limelight, Susan!
You are really doing the publicity thing!!!
I just came across this quote by Galileo, as quoted in the book Galilieo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel. Another tribute to quiet!
“I believe that good philosophers fly alone, like eagles and not in flocks. like starlings. It is true that because eagles are rare birds they are little seen and less heard, while birds that fly like starlings fill the sky with shries and cries, and wherever they settle befoul the earth beneath them. “
Thank you for this excellent book. Really validated a lot about myself. However, I was disappointed that you didn’t discuss introverted parents with extroverted children (you covered all the other parent/child possibilities). Both my husband and I are introverts and our son in an extrovert. Our daughter does fine on her own and I don’t feel nearly so exhausted by her. He drains us and yet we realize that when we don’t give him all our attention, he gets drained. I’ve looked online for more info on this combination introvert parent/extrovert child, but haven’t found much. If you have any articles or recommendations for this topic, I’d love to know where to go.
I, too, found your book overwhelming in that it opens the mental doors to our differentness but makes no apologies for the existence of the blurring of introvert/extrovert “types.” One question occurs to me, though, and I hope I didn’t miss its being addressed by you already:
Do overly sensitive people simply focus more clearly on details, or are they better able (than extroverts) to SEE and CARE about the dissonant things they observe around them? For example, ten people may drive through an intersection, but only two will NOTICE and BOTHER to report a missing traffic signal light bulb or stop sign.
Thank you
Hi Susan,
I just read the NYT piece about all you went through getting ready for the TED talk. My heat went out to you as I read that. You did an amazing job, but I know it was hard. Just wanted to say I’m thinking of you and I hope you’re getting little pockets of quiet time!
Dear Susan,
Like Barb above, I just finished reading your NYTimes essay. This past weekend I attended a two-day, intensive business workshop for artists of all disciplines. What scared me the most was the idea of having to get up in front of the group of peers and introduce myself. For one minute. The pressure was incredible and the experience made me feel defensive and unsure of myself for the remainder of the weekend. Try as I might to participate and engage, I felt awkward and uncomfortable. And it’s always been this way for me. Yet networking is what we all need to do to be more successful.
I love what you wrote about ours being a society that favors good talkers over good ideas. This is so true. I will TRY to be more social as others ask of me. But I will never love a crowd. Give me an intimately small group, our feet also curled up beneath us, quietly chatting and sharing our thoughts and dreams. Anytime.
It is the stillest words that bring on the storm. Thoughts that come on doves’ feet guide the world.” [Thus Spoke Zarathustra, II, 44.]
FROM ‘ECCE HOMO’:
‘How much truth does a spirit endure, how much truth does it dare? More and more that became for me the real measure of value. Error (faith in the ideal) is not blindness, error is cowardice.
Every attainment, every step forward in knowledge, follows from courage, from hardness against oneself, from cleanliness in relation to oneself.
I do not refute ideals, I merely put on gloves before them.
Nitimur in vetitum ["We strive for the forbidden": Ovid, Amores, III, 4, 17.]: in this sign my philosophy will triumph one day, for what one has forbidden so far as a matter of principle has always been—truth alone’
Hi Susan! I recently heard about your book, Quiet, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU for standing up for us introverts! A couple of weeks ago, I was at a family event with my in-laws. Everyone was talking, laughing and joking around with one another, and I was sitting quietly in a chair just taking everything in. That’s when a lady whom I did not know turned to me and said, “You are so quiet…” Normally, when people comment on how quiet I am, then I get defensive and begin to make up an excuse as to why I’m being so quiet – like I’m tired or it’s been a long day or I’m not feeling well. But this time, I didn’t want to make up an excuse, so I responded with the most honest response I could give: “Yes, I am a quiet person.” This was such a small exchange of words, but it was a life changing moment for me. My whole life I have known that I was a quiet person, but I have always been afraid to admit this to the world. I wanted the world to believe that I’m talkative, outgoing and social because that seemed to be the more favored and more accepted personality type, but the truth is that I’m a quiet person, and that’s okay! Hearing about your book is even more validation that it’s okay to be who I am. I look forward to reading your book to learn more about the power of being quiet.
Hello Susan,
I wanted to say thank you for giving a voice to those of us happiest in the wings, out of the spotlight, busily engaging others one on one. Your bravery and determination has brought to life a sense of self that few comprehend and even less expound upon.
I began to well up viewing your TED talk hearing you describe your grandfather’s life and your connection to him-I’m sorry to have never met him. To have both of you share the stage and pass on your observations of society and how some of us are expected to navigate it would’ve been a great joy. You seem to be passing on some of his message, his legacy so to speak for the rest of us to hear?
I believe I am also a highly sensitive person and now feel more at ease with both my masculinity and self-acceptance of my ‘uniqueness’ in a culture that marginalizes the ‘soft approach’. I’m so happy you shared that link recently!
I wish you continued success on your journey and remember, you’re fast approaching the limelight, yet I somehow feel you’ll easily side-step it for the quiet, backstage alcove.
You deserve a well “edited” image to go with the copy.
http://www.refdag.nl/boeken/nu_even_stil_denkt_de_introverte_mens_1_651161
Like everything else in life, ‘introvertness’ is relative and exists in varying degrees, but as long as it isn’t bad enough to affect the quality of your life there is nothing wrong with it. Below are a few ‘observations’ in this regard that I believe can be proven beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt are true:
I’ll be 70 years old in November and I have not as yet succeeded as an entrepreneur for the same LEGITIMATE REASON WHICH HAS KEPT A LARGE PORTION OF SOCIETY FROM HAVING, AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS, A FAIR CHANCE TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL. This REASON is due to the negative effects,in their many and varied forms and guises,resulting from any number of possible ‘IMBALANCES’,which through no fault of their own,are part of their PHYSICAL,MENTAL,PSYCOLOGICAL &/OR PSYSIOLOGICAL MAKE-UP(&/or part of comparable ones in some aspect of their personal lives) ,any of which,either directly or indirectly,depending on how &/or to what extent that they might be affected by them,can DEFINITELY be partially or completely responsible for denying them the success that,without those ‘IMBALANCES’ in their lives,they may well have achieved.
Unfortunately,this is a ‘PROBLEM’ that hasn’t as yet even been recognized as such by ‘mainstream’ society.
These ‘IMBALANCES’,as vitally important as they are,are too lengthly/complicated to discuss in their entirety here,but you can see a longer discussion of it on my ‘webpage’ at (http://discounstores.weebly.com) and my ‘bio’ at the end of this email will give you an idea as to how these reasons affect me personally.
Suffice it to say here,however,that the negative effects from these ‘IMBALANCES’ are directly &/or indirectly responsible for several negative ‘things’ in our society.First of all,because far too many people in society are completely unaware that this problem even exists and because most of them have never experienced any of the negative ‘fallout’ from any of these ‘IMBALANCES’,they don’t recognize them for what they are when they encounter them in other people, which, in turn, can cause many negative conflicts and ‘misunderstandings’ between them.
More importantly,the negative effects resulting from these ‘IMBALANCES’ are responsible for far too many people, not only being taken advantage of in a host of different ways,but also for many of them being left out of a lot of decision making and other related process’s in all areas of society. They are also responsible for a limitless number of entrepreneurs never getting the chance to ‘showcase’ their talents and consequently,many good ideas IN EVERY REALM OF SOCIETY IMAGINABLE never get the chance to see the light of day.
Lastly,and most importantly,I’ll go so far as to say that these LEGITIMATE ‘IMBALANCES’ are a lot more responsible than anybody knows/realizes/understands for our society,dispite several centuries of trying,still being several generations behind where it should now be in it’s ‘evolutionary timetable’ of reaching the absolute pinnacle of human developement!!
I realize that there are those out there who have the exceptional verbal communication skills/abilities to be able to make a business or other type endeavor successful without having any initial funds to start with–but,in the end,these attributes are simply ‘tools’ that allow them to raise that exact same amount of ‘seed’ money to try and make that exact same endeavor successful.
I am also aware of ‘success stories’of those who started out under the most adverse of conditions and were still able to overcome all obstacles and still achieve great success. I commend these people for doing something that I could never do in a million years–however,having said that,and not to minimize their achievements(as if I,above all others,could do that),but,as their are in every aspect/sector of human achievement/endeavor,these ‘success stories’ are THE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE.
It never seizes to amaze me(and has for half a century)how con-men,simply because they have a charismatic personality &/or polished verbal communication skills/abilities,can beat, not just ordinary people but sophisticated businessmen as well,out of tens of millions of dollars on bogus schemes and investment deals–some of which don’t even exist!!! I,on the other hand,because I don’t have a good personality or good verbal communication skills,I can’t even get anyone to even listen to an idea of mine that might possibly help out many future generations of humanity to come!!!
The ‘power’ of a charasmatic type personality combined with good verbal communication skills can be seen at it’s best when Barrack Obama was elected president of the USA-the highest position on the face of the planet-strictly on these personal traits, as he couldn’t have been elected for any other reason because he never did anything of any consequence in his entire life!!!
Hi Susan,
Thank you for bringing some much needed attention to this topic which plays such a vital role in how we understand eachother in the workforce and in social settings. While taking Psychology in University, one of my favourite topics of research was the greatly misunderstood difference between shyness and introversion.
I wish you could make it up to Ottawa, Ontario so I could attend a book signing. Ahhh. Oh well.
Thanks again.
Hi Susan,
I just wanted to say thank you for writing quiet.