Programmers solve problems and most of the time use a keyboard to do so.
I firmly believe you need to be able to efficiently express yourself through typing. There’s probably nothing more fundamental in programming than being able to think of something and expressing it in code without losing your train of thought.
I say efficiently and not perfectly. You don’t have to be the fastest typist in the west but speed helps. I could make up a couple of “imagine a surgeon that didn’t know the way around a scalpel” or “a baseball player that didn’t know how to swing” but I wont, you probably get the picture.
I was lucky enough to take typing lessons back in computer class in school. They gave use those orange covers you placed on top of the keyboard to hide all the keys. We’d use this with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing and some other variation as a fun game. While most people lifted up the cover while the teacher wasn’t looking I just simply dealt with the damn thing and learned how to type instead of hunt and peck typing my way through it.
Before trying to become a great programmer, I suggest spending some time practicing, after all the only way to become a touch typist is through typing quite a lot. Check out: Typing.io, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for Mac, Typing.lk.
Next you time you go to a programming workshop, you’ll be able to look at whatever the instructor is doing up front while you type, keeping up with everyone just fine.