Elon Musk just admitted he suffers from self-doubt over his public speaking, a skill critics have hounded him over

REUTERS/Mike Blake

Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

• Elon Musk called himself a "bad public speaker" in a tweet on Thursday.
• Commentators have noticed in the past that the Tesla CEO seems uncomfortable presenting to a crowd.
• Fans on Twitter reacted with support and empathy.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Public speaking has long cropped up on lists of America's top phobias, and it seems Elon Musk is no exception.

He may be known as a visionary leader who has made billions of dollars from his innovations, but Musk berated himself for his public speaking skills on Thursday - his birthday, no less.

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A Twitter user posted a SpaceX video from 2011 of Musk talking about the company's Falcon Heavy rocket at a press conference. A younger looking Musk stumbles over his words and stutters during the clip:

Responding to the Tweet, Musk said: "I'm such a bad public speaker! Damn."

Commentators have previously picked up on what they consider Musk's lackluster public speaking skills. Inc noted his tendency to stammer through presentations and in 2015 VentureBeat went in hard on his Model X launch presentation. Two speaker coaches even created a YouTube video unpicking his performance at the Tesla Model 3 launch.

Nonetheless, his tweet attracted supportive and empathetic comments from other Twitter users. "You're too harsh on yourself," one user replied. "It's all good Elon, you should hear me," tweeted another. So as nervous as Musk might be, it seems unlikely his public speaking skills are going to hold him back.

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