Coming from someone who had zero public speaking skills to becoming an elocution contest champion, I can say that the skill of public speaking is easy to learn and develop. Schools and colleges teach their students to speak in public, as it is regarded as one of the most important skills a person need to have in order to become “successful”. While there is some truth in that notion, it is also important to understand that the most important thing about public speaking is not the speaking skill itself, rather it is the “what” is being spoken or delivered to the audience.
One of my public speaking mentor once said that public speaking is not the “art of speaking”, but it is the “art of conveying intelligence”. Which is why when training students on public speaking skills, besides the usual communication proficiency, verbal and non-verbal communication, gestures, pronunciation and enunciation, etc., I also stress the importance of building a solid base of knowledge in oneself. For without a solid base of knowledge of the most fundamental things in life, a public speaking skill would be just useless if not damaging.
Most of us will probably have met or seen a person whose speech inspires a lot of people; and we probably have seen how some of them inspire people to do the wrong thing. We probably also have met people whose speaking skills are not as “energetic” and “inspiring”, yet their words sink deep into our hearts. The latter kind of person is the one that we need our students to become.
Contact me if you need mentorship or coaching on public speaking.
All posts in this blog are my own personal views (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are not to be associated with any organization or institution related to me.