A classic MIT open course that once went viral has nothing to do with AI, algorithms, or physics. The course is called "How to Speak." The instructor, Professor Patrick Winston, taught this course every January at MIT without fail for 40 years, until his death in 2019. Generations of MIT genius students, before starting any project or launching any startup, were told by their seniors: Go watch this course first. Right at the beginning, the professor dropped a sharp, almost brutal claim: "Your success in life will largely depend on three things: your ability to speak, your ability to write, and finally, the quality of your ideas." At MIT, the toughest tech temple, speaking is ranked before ideas. This conclusion hits many "engineering-minded" people like a wake-up call. We often think that as long as our tech skills are strong and our ideas are brilliant, others will buy in. But reality is brutally different. If you have world-changing ideas but can't articulate them, others will see you as no different from someone with no ideas at all. So how do you communicate your ideas so that people want to listen, can understand, and won't forget? The core logic of this course can be distilled into a few extremely practical rules for speaking: First, never start with a joke. Many people think telling a joke before a presentation warms up the audience. Professor says: Wrong. When the audience just sits down, their minds haven't tuned into your channel yet. Telling a joke then will likely fall flat, leaving only awkwardness. The golden opening time should be used to make a "promise" — tell them what they'll get out of the next 60 minutes. Second, control information density. Don't cram your PPT with dense text. That forces the audience to do reading comprehension on the spot. The human brain can only process one core focus at a time. The more text on the page, the farther the audience's attention drifts from you. Third, "paint a picture" in the audience's mind. If you're explaining a complex concept, don't throw out formulas or jargon. Instead, use the most concrete analogy that instantly creates a visual image, pulling the audience into the context. This communication framework, refined by the professor over 40 years, remains a secret weapon for many elites today. Now, some people even turn these rules into AI prompts, using them before interviews, pitches, or presentations — having the AI act as a coach using Professor Winston's strict standards. In an age flooded with information junk, what's truly scarce is no longer "ideas" but "attention." Learning to express yourself isn't about pandering to others; it gives that precious seed in your mind a bulletproof vest to land in the real world.