I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Shashi Tharoor and Mehdi Hasan live during an interactive session. The two speakers kept the audience engaged and spellbound with their easy flowing conversation and responses. Before I realised the two hours were over.
Some people are naturally gifted. They can weave their magic with their words, their presentation, or maybe their presence.
For the rest of us mere mortals, well, we’ve to learn this skill.
Public speaking is always intimidating, doesn’t matter what one says.
To be able to engage the audience, capture their attention and keep them with you, is both a skill and an art.
1. Reinforces Self-Confidence
Be it an elocution at school or a valedictorian’s speech or addressing your team, standing up there in front of the audience needs a big bucket of confidence. Confidence in yourself, in what you’ve to say.
And this confidence doesn’t just magically appear when you’re on stage. It’s something that has to be worked on regularly.
Best to start off early. Get children to participate in school activities. With each event, their confidence will grow. As they become more aware of their shortcomings, they can work on them.
It will also help them get over their fear of facing an audience. It’s the confidence with which you present yourself that will decide the success of your presentations.
2. Augmenting Communication Skills
If confidence gets you up on the stage, then it’s your communication skills that will keep your audience engaged.
You don’t need a vocabulary like Dr. Tharoor to get the audience interested. It’s how you speak, communicate and engage with them is what makes the deal.
If you’ve seen some of the best speakers, you’ll realise that you like them because of the way they speak. Some speakers use plainspeak, some humour, some make it relatable. Either ways, you can’t ignore them.
Being able to express your ideas and thoughts clearly is absolutely essential. Fumbling, faltering or getting flustered can create the wrong impression. Can make you look unprepared.
3. Developing Leadership Qualities
Once you develop the confidence to get up there in front of a gathering and have the ability to convey your ideas clearly, the transformation into a leader is assured.
Public speaking nurtures the leader in you.
My first time on stage at school was a disaster. It became a standing joke for a long time. Not disheartened, I continued to take part in various oratory activities and built up my skill.
It needs practice. The confidence children develop will enable them to take on leadership roles at school. They’ll be able to inspire and motivate their team.
As professionals, they can lead their team effortlessly as they confidently speak and lay out the goals clearly. Nothing’s lost in translation.
4. Refining Critical Thinking
You shouldn’t be surprised if you’re able to speak clearly and articulate your ideas and thoughts explicitly.
That’s because you’re able to think critically.
Your ability to speak coherently is dependent on you thinking clearly. If your thoughts are not organised then you’ll not be able to deliver impactful lines.
To be able to convince and impress others, you’ve to develop your thinking abilities.
Children who take part in debates and elocutions have to prepare their speeches and deliver them effectively to impress the judges.
The earlier they get into this habit of thinking critically, being able to organise their thoughts, and express them clearly, the better prepared they’ll be to speak in public.
In their professional lives, they’ll be able to speak confidently, make better decisions and think analytically. A surefire way to impress everyone.
5. Helps Overcome Fear and Anxiety
Your brain freezes. Your tongue clamps up. You begin to hyperventilate. All this just because you’ve been asked to speak before an audience.
Believe me, you’re not alone. The thought of speaking in public does this to the best of us.
The fear and anxiety of facing the sea of faces, all looking at you, can lead to cold feet. This panic rises from the lack of preparation. I don’t mean the content, but the associated and essential skills.
You fear facing the people because you lack the confidence. You’re feeling anxious because your communication skills are wanting. Your brain’s gone into over drive and is continuously spewing ideas but you can’t seem to be able to organise them.
By working on your public speaking skills, along with the other skills required, you can easily overcome your fears.
Conclusion
In a world where how you present yourself matters more than anything else, its essential to develop your public speaking skill. It’s a timeless skill.
Ordinary people have held the attention of people with their oratory skills, led movements and inspired revolutions.
For us, let’s just stick to making those around listen to us and create a favourable impression.
This is essential for children as they’re less likely to get overwhelmed or feel embarrassed. Provide them the opportunities to learn to speak, narrate, recite, deliver, modulate, verbalise, declare or pronounce.
Let’s hear from the future leaders!!