Warren Buffett believes strong communication is the key to unlocking a person's full potential — and he's urging people to keep working on it even as he prepares to step back from Berkshire Hathaway later this year. Separately, Jeff Bezos has long demanded that new hires at Amazon master a specific style of clear, structured writing. Their shared emphasis on the spoken and written word offers a rare glimpse into what two of the world's most successful business leaders value most.
Buffett's own struggle with public speaking
Buffett didn't start out as a confident communicator. In his early 20s, he was so afraid of public speaking that he signed up for a Dale Carnegie course. The experience changed him. Decades later, he still talks about the course as one of the best investments he ever made. In remarks tied to his upcoming retirement, Buffett stressed that communication isn't a fixed skill — it's something that demands constant improvement. He called it 'extremely important' for anyone who wants to maximize their potential, whether they're leading a company or just starting a career.
Bezos's memo culture
Jeff Bezos takes a different but equally rigorous approach. At Amazon, new employees are required to write structured memos that use strong verbs and follow a thematic paragraph flow. The company famously bans PowerPoint presentations in favor of these written documents, which are read silently at the start of meetings. Bezos has described the process as a way to force clarity of thought — if you can't explain something in a well-organized memo, you probably don't understand it well enough.
A shared priority that goes beyond style
While the two billionaires come from different industries — investing and e-commerce — their insistence on clear communication reflects a deeper belief: that ideas are only as powerful as the ability to convey them. Buffett, who spent decades running annual meetings and writing shareholder letters, often boils complex financial concepts down to plain English. Bezos, for his part, built a corporate culture where the written word carries more weight than slides or spreadsheets. For professionals at any level, the message is the same: invest in how you communicate.
Buffett's retirement later this year will mark the end of an era at Berkshire Hathaway. But his advice on communication — keep improving it — will likely outlast his active role. And for those starting out at companies like Amazon, the memo-writing requirement is a direct test of that same principle.
