The Power of Public Speaking

For nations, as for individuals, public speaking is a vital way of expressing ideas and achieving objectives. Throughout history people have used public speaking as a vital means of communication. What the Greek leader Pericels said more than 2,500 years ago is still true today : “One who forms a judgment on any point but cannot explain it might as well never have thought at all on the subject.” Public speaking, as its name implies, is a way of making your ideas public—of sharing them with other people and of influencing other people.

      During modern times many women and men around the globe have spread their ideas and influence through public speaking.

      Not only will the public speaking skills be crucial to your personal success as you work and live in a world shaped by globalization, they will be vital to our nation as it competes with other nations.

                      

How to present your speech well

• Here are some very basic tips to help you become a better public speaker. The same tips can be used when you communicate in meetings or in smaller groups.
• Do not start your speech with five minutes of greetings or welcoming of everybody. For example don’t go on to mention all the honourables, chairpeople of organisations present, comrades, ladies and gentlemen and so on. It becomes boring and you may leave people out. Just start with "Honoured guests, Madam Chair, friends."
• Start strongly so that you get people’s attention. You can use a joke, but only if it is relevant and really funny. It is often better to start by saying why you are there and what the issue is. For eg. " A terrible tragedy is waiting to happen to young people in our community – today we meet together as parents to discuss what we can do about the rapid spreading of HIV and AIDS in this area."
• Don’t fidget and try not to make "er" and "um" noises, which take people’s attention away from what you are saying. Look confident and calm and speak with authority.
• Make eye contact – look at different parts of the audience so that everyone feels that you are making eye contact with them.
• Try to speak as naturally as possible, don’t read a speech – rather make notes that you can refer to.
• Keep your language simple and don’t use any jargon or abbreviations, which your audience may not understand.
• Try to keep your voice as low as possible and to speak slowly without boring people or treating them as if they are either deaf or stupid. Don’t speak so slowly that people get bored or insulted and don’t race through your speech.
• Keep your tone normal and human, in the same way that you would when you speak to a respected person in your family. Don’t raise your voice too much, start shouting, or speak as if you are addressing a very formal meeting. Try to change both the pace [speed] and tone [sound] of your speaking, in a natural way, so that people don’t fall asleep.
• Don’t be scared to use feelings when you speak but never become over-dramatic. It is good to show that you genuinely care about issues.
• Try not to depress your audience - when you share problems with them make sure that you always point out a way forward to overcome the problems.
• Don’t humiliate people publicly when they ask questions or disagree with you. Even if they are talking nonsense, try to be nice to them. People do not like leaders who behave in a nasty way.
• Use humour when it seems right but don’t make a fool of yourself. Audiences want you to be nice and human but they will not respect you if they see you as a clown.
• Keep your speeches as short as possible; you should never speak for more than 15 – 20 minutes and if you can keep it to ten minutes that is even better.
• Make sure that you say the most important things at the beginning of your speech and then again at the end since many people may fall asleep or become distracted for the middle part.
• When you use statistics, make sure they are presented simply and try to illustrate them. For example "Two in every three people in this area have been victims of crime. Look at the two people next to you – these figures mean that only one of the three of you has not been a victim of crime."
• Be very careful not to say things that will make your audience feel uncomfortable or embarrassed unless you can immediately follow it up with something that will make them feel better.
• Never say "Finally," or "In conclusion," unless you really mean to end at that point.
• Always thank people who have invited you and thank the audience but do not make a five minute thank you speech at the end. Keep it short.
• Practice your speech in front of friends who can give you some feedback
• Ask someone to take notes during your speech and to give you feedback afterwards about what went well and where you can improve.

 

 

The 11 Solid Reasons Why Pubic Speaking Is Important In Your Life

Before we devide into my 11 solid reasons why public speaking is important (and why you should get good at it) I want to revisit some defining moments in history to display the importance of public speaking.

·         Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream speech” which inspired a nation and broke down racial barriers. Without his leadership and his inspirational speech it may have taken an extra 10 years to bring equality to all races.

·         Presidents Nixon’s speech united a nation and put a man on the moon

·         Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address put him on the map for president. Without this speech he may never have been the icon he is today.

·         Hilter’s many speeches were delivered with extreme passion and caused arguably one of the most horrific genocides of all time.

Throughout history it has been public speaking that has united people and caused great change, both positive and negative. Public speaking is important, both in history and in your life.

1. Increase in self confidence

      Public speaking will help you increase your self confidence dramatically. We live in a materialistic society and you can’t avoid that. A lot of our self worth and self esteem is gained by our perceptions of what we think other people think about us. Now this is obviously not ideal, it would be nice to get our self esteem from somewhere else, but we have to work with the hand we are dealt.

      By doing public speaking you are increasing your skill at communicating with others, making you more confident around people automatically, and it also increases your skill at perceiving people’s reactions to your message.

      This means in general conversation you can better understand what people are thinking and thus change what you are saying to make them think and feel the way you want them to. Thus you can help to make people think highly of you.

2. Makes you more comfortable around other people

      I already highlighted this above but I will elaborate on it here. One of the worst things about being around other people is those awkward moments when neither of you know what you say or you fumble and say something stupid.

      Public speaking is important because it increases your skills at speaking (an activity we do every single day) and thus even when you are with one other person, as opposed to a group, you are less likely to be awkward and more likely to be comfortable and confident.

3. One of the best ways to generate sales (or get a better job)

      If you own a business or do some form of work on the side public speaking is one of the best ways to generate sales. Understanding how to effectively get your message (and the emotions tied to that message) across to another person can help you generate more sales for your company.

      Public speaking skills are also important in securing a better job. It is how you present yourself at a job interview that will be the ultimate decider as to whether or not you land that higher paying job and whether or not you get paid in the higher bracket or lower bracket of pay rates.

 

4. One of the most effective ways to get your message across

      Public speaking still remains as one of the most effective ways to get your message across to a large audience.

5. At some point in your life you will need to do it

      Almost every single person will need to speak in public at some point in their lives. Every public speaking opportunity is an opportunity to grow your leadership, your influence and your career. By becoming a confident and capable public speaker you instantly put yourself above many other people who refuse to stand up and speak.

      You might need to work in sales and speak to groups of people to sell product, you might need to give a presentation at a business meeting, you might have to give a speech at your daughter’s wedding. No matter who you are it is almost 100% certain you will need to give a speech at some point in your life.

6. It will allow you to make a difference in your life, business, community, career

      As we said above, every speaking opportunity is an opportunity to grow in leadership and influence. Having the opportunity to influence people’s thoughts (remember they’re taking time out of their busy head to listen to your thoughts on the world) put you in a position to create real positive change in people’s lives.

      In order for anything important to happen an idea needs to be transferred from one person to many. President Nixon did this when he inspired America to put a man on the moon. Public speaking is one of the great ways to get your idea across and make a difference.

 

7. Skills learned can boost performance in other areas of life

      Public speaking will improve you communication skills, your leadership skills, your confidence and your ability to read and understand people. There are multiple other skills you will learn when public speaking that can actually boost your performance and fulfilment in other areas of your life.

8. Public speaking allows you to demonstrate your knowledge

      90% of people will avoid getting up in front of people to give a speech. By standing up and speaking to a crowd you are positioning yourself as an expert in your field and you have a great opportunity to share your knowledge.

9. Public speaking allows you to improve upon your knowledge

      One of the best ways to learn is to teach, and public speaking is exactly that…an opportunity to teach. Public speaking is important because it helps you to improve your knowledge. The preparation that goes into a speech and the fact that you have to work out how to communicate to others effectively makes you understand your content that much better.

10. Public speaking differentiates you in the workforce

      As I said before, probably 90% of people will avoid speaking up in a given situation…and probably even more people avoid public speaking. By having the confidence and ability to speak in public you can differentiate yourself in the workforce. This could put you in line for the next promotion or keep your head off the chopping block when the next redundancy rolls around.

11. Public speaking will help you form a tribe of supporters around you

      By standing up in front of people and delivering a talk you can attract like minded people around you. Seth Godin calls this a tribe and I think it is a great concept.