Richard Branson may well be the world’s most famous entrepreneur. He got his start selling records out of the trunk of his car – or ‘boot’, since he’s English. Today, some 360 companies later, he’s the Chairman of Virgin Group, and has innovated or even overturned more industries than most of us have heard of, including space flight.

But how good a speaker is he?

You can see Branson here:http://tinyurl.com/d6qxjf. He’s talking with Arianna Huffington about his wealth and other matters.

Also check out his interview with TED’s Chris Anderson here: http://tinyurl.com/l99z8k.

Branson is not a good public speaker; he’s halting, shy, and labored. (Indeed, he typically avoids stand-alone public speaking and instead does interviews or shows video.) But he’s also charming, thoughtful, and very, very smart. If you bear with the awkwardness, the results are worth it. Branson is one of those rare individuals who has figured out how to do exactly what he wants to do and be incredibly successful at it – all the while apparently having loads of fun. Most of us can learn from him.

The most extraordinary attribute of the man – at least in public – is his humility. He comes across as genuinely humble in his interviews, even going so far as to physically hunch over in order not to dominate his interlocutor. That makes him the opposite of the alpha male – the omega male, perhaps? – and it works very well for him. He’ll probably never be a captivating speaker. But he does exude plenty of charisma, and leadership is something he learned how to ace at an early age.