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Why should you Learn and Improve the Unique Skill of Public Speaking ?

This is the most asked question today in 2021. According to Guinness Book of World Record, 54% of American adults rank public speaking ahead of the fear of death among life major fields.

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Before narrating the answer extensively, we must know what ” Public Speaking ” is. Does it merely mean – ” Speaking done publicly “? How many people must be present to make something public? Is it a dozen or fifty or hundred or even one person? These questions will obviously come to the surface as the term ” Public Speaking ” is the combination of two terms _ “Public ” and ” Speaking “.

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The speech is public when the speech is meant and intended for general dissemination and when any speech is not confidential, then we call that speech ” Public Speaking “.

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Female manager in glasses addressing businesswomen in meeting

Does the term speaking mean – “ Only moving of lips “? No, certainly not. Speaking actually means the art of effective communication i.e. rhetoric which has some philosophical and structural discipline.

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Thus it is the fusion of natural innate talent and learnable ( Learn + Develop + Implement ) skill. Speaking in Public is all about going on the stage and producing your thoughts in an organized way in the stipulated time.

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What is Stage ?

Whenever you are separating yourself from the audience or crowd and stand-alone irrespective of the size of the audience or seating arrangement of the audience, that is exactly called a “ Stage “.

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The audience may be your school friends as family gatherings. Speaking from a stage is really a learnable skill. If you want to be a leader or make yourself separate from the crowd, you need a ” Stage “.

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Is Public Speaking New to Us ?

The simple answer to this question is “ No “. Public Speaking is not at all a new phenomenon. It has been in practice since ancient world such as Greek Civilization, Roman Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Mesopotamian Civilization.

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Cicero , the greatest orator of Ancient Rome

It was the most vital subject for the students in those days. During the ” Golden Age ” of Greek civilization, all the great stalwarts like Demosthenes, Cicero, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Sophist, Sophocles were outstanding orators.

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Demosthenes
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Socrates

They used to talk from pin to elephant, from mushroom to geometry. They began to observe all kinds of rules to make themselves a good orator.

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Sophocles

It is true that the style and pattern of Public Speaking have been changed over the years due to technological upliftment like microphones, amplifiers, radio, public addressing mike, television, computers, etc.

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Sophist

What are the Six Basic Elements of Public Speaking?

There are mainly six ( 6 ) basic elements of Public Speaking. They are as follows: –

1. The Speaker :-

The speaker is the first element without whom there will be no public speaking. S/he is the pivot of speaking in front of the Public. A good speaker makes us see with our ears.

Public Speaking Woman

2. The Message :-

The message is the second important element of public speaking. Through the speaker, the message is reached to the audience. It is the duty of the speaker to frame the message and disseminate it properly to the audience for whom the speaker wants to say something.

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3 . The Audience:-

The audience is the primary receiver of the speech thrown by the speaker. The audience is the key factor in speaking publicly. Through their body language, posture, and gesture the speaker can easily understand whether his or her speech is effective or acting negatively.

4. The Feedback:-

The feedback of the audience is another essential element in ” Public Speaking”. The feedback of the audience matters a lot. If the public speaker stands silent in the corner after his or her speech and none shows any interest to come and talk to him or her, then the speaker can easily assume that his or her speech is not good enough to satiate the aspirations of the audience.

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5. Noise:-

There should not be any hustle and bustle during public speaking. The speaker must be given complete co-operation by the audience by keeping a complete dead silence at the time of delivering his or her speech. The speaker’s attention may be defocused from the topic if there will be too much noise and frequent clapping.

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6. The Place or Situation:-

This is also an important element of Public Speaking. The place where s/he has to deliver the speech must be conducive. The situation must be created to accept the significance of the speech of the speaker. The effect of speech will not hold good ultimately if neither the place nor the situation acts favorably to the public speaker.

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Is Public Speaking Both an ” Art ” and ” Science”?

This is the most asked question centering around Public Speaking. It is a unique skill. It is not at all an easy task. Some people are born with it and some are not. It can be learned through Public Speaking training and practice. Some people are not able to get connected easily. Those who understand the veins of “Art” and “Science” in “Public Speaking“, can get connected with the audience easily.

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Why is Public Speaking called “Science”?

The speaker’s ability to craft the speech in a way that is understandable and clear to the audience. It emphasizes the following features for which “ Public Speaking” is called “ Science”.

Structure of Speech:-

There is a specified structure of a good speech full of content. “Public Speaking” is not at all a good and effective speech if it is devoid of an organized structure. The unstructured speech cannot sustain in the mindset of the audience.

Writing of the Speech:-

There should be well-knit coherent writing which is converted into an effective speech by the “Public Speaker“. Thoughtful content with powerful diction plays a vital organ of “Public Speaking“. Well-designed coherent content is a piece of science.

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Articulation or Diction of the Speech:-

Articulation is completely a scientific process. It has a systematic process. The level of pitch, pause, and nasalization are combined in the articulation. The choice of correct words in the appropriate context is also a matter of science.

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Why is Public Speaking an ” Art “?

Public speaking is undoubtedly an art. Speaker’s ability to capture an audience and keep them interested and entertained is an art.

1. Personality:-

The personality of the speaker matters a lot in public speaking because the art of public speaking comes from the speaker’s personality. His/Her diction, gait, posture, stunt, dress really reflects his or her personality.

2. Passion:-

The passion of the speaker also encompasses art. An artistic sense generates from the level of passion. In public speaking, the innate passion flows out from inside through your tongue.

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3. Confidence:-

The level of confidence is also a component of art. It’s an art to show the level of confidence at the right moment and right spot.

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4. Connection/Interaction:-

The perfect connection or interaction with the audience is an art. It’s not an easy ball game. It’s inculcated through rigorous practice in an artistic manner.

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5. Enthusiasm:-

The enthusiasm of the audience is also a part of art. The speaker has to fill in the inquisitive audience with a plethora of new information.

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6. Eye Contact:-

The eye contact between the speaker and the audience is an art. The speaker has to be intelligent enough to understand the pulse of the audience’s choice through eye contact.

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What are the Rules of Public Speaking?

There are six rules of public speaking. These six rules of public speaking will guide and train any budding public speakers if they take public speaking as their future career.

1. Build Your Idea:-

You always try to focus on your well-prepared idea which is convincing and purposeful to others. You have to frame your idea with your familiar concept. You should always make some creative ideas. A competent public speaker always delivers some unique message and ideas. S/he has to deliver a new idea with a thoughtful mind.

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Beautiful female speaker smiling during business conference

2. Hook Audience:-

A good public speaker always hooks the audience with captivating and charismatic speech. S/he always has to keep well connected with the audience. The public speaker has to devise multiple ways to be adhesive with the audience.

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3. Showing Your Knowledge:-

Knowledge plays a vital role in public speaking. Practical knowledge is rather more important than bookish knowledge. A good public speaker has to know a bit of ancient wisdom and modern science.

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4. Make Actionable Content:-

A vibrant public speaker always provides actionable content to the audience which will help the audience to improve on what they do or the way in which they think. The content has to ascend from complex to simple. Content and speaking should be open-ended to grow more engagement with the audience.

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5. Speech Should be Didactic:-

The competent public speaker’s speech has to be didactic and prove yourself a successful giver without cutting others down. A good public speaker has to expand the content that benefits them. It’s always better not to be excessive preachy.

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6. Avoid Tautology:-

A public speaker must have a natural voice and his or her speech must be free from tautology. S/he has to fight shy of any repetition. A good and experienced public speaker can’t make their audience bored.

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Indrajit ganguly

About the Author

Indrajit Ganguly

Hi! I am Indrajit Ganguly. People all across the globe know me by my professional nickname IG. I am a spoken English trainer in Kolkata and Blogger. I love to write blogs and articles that attract me.

9 thoughts on “Why should you Learn and Improve the Unique Skill of Public Speaking ?”

  1. Great post! We will be linking to this great article on our website.
    Keep up the good writing.

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  2. We must thankful for Mr IG to raise this sub. Because I have not seen anybody that who raised this subject.
    To be an aesthet I want to know how can I improve my public speaking and how important it is.
    But in that period of the pandamic it’s hard to get out side.
    So then you need a psychologist like Mr IG. And that would be profitable for you.

  3. From the very beginning of mankind, humans are involved in public speaking, either by making sounds as per Zahavian signaling theory or in public forum in modern era. Public speaking comes with confidence, no matter which language we are interacting, one has to be sure about the whole thing he or she is going to speak out. If he or she just throws an arrow in blank thinking someone definitely will catch that arrow and make it to the bull’s eye, this thinking can never make him or her a good public speaker. Language barrier obviously becomes one of the greatest factors which resists someone from being confident about speaking in front of a large crowd but if the idea is clear, that level of barrier automatically comes down.
    As you have already mentioned that audience are the capturer, listener of a speaker, obviously they play a vital role in gaining or downing the confidence of a speaker. In ‘desi’ countries like us, we have an inhumanitarian tendency of booing people for no reason. Regardless of the language, if a speaker is addressing a crowd for much amount of time constantly, he or she can make a mistake either technical or non technical. That’s quite natural. Audience have to be supportive. We live in a society, an ecosystem, where we are dependent on one another so let’s just try to be a little more helpful to others if possible.
    The current world is about marketing, if you promote something well, either it’s a business or a job, you can see it’s benefits in near future. So, for that you have to pitch your idea in a way that makes you look like you are confident, you have the proper idea of what you are doing and obviously speak in a simple way. We don’t need highly complicated vocabularies to pitch some idea.
    At the end of the day, no matter what you are involved in, you have to speak in public. Definitely the number of listeners will depend on your job, on what you are doing. But you have to speak publicly, so it’s definitely important to improve this skill as soon as possible at least to survive in today’s world.

  4. First of all I want to thank you Sir for making this Blog..This Blog is helpful for everyone who are interested for public speaking and also students in this Blog we all can gather some knowledge …….yes it is true that public speaking is an Art it’s a meditation who are meditate there self daily like a saint they can only reach there niche ……it’s a practice years and years if u can practice your self thn only you can reach that place some people born with this talent otherswise you have too look at pint to elephant point …..It’s a face time challenge with the audience …. public speaking is a Art like deliver there speech to audience and eye contact with the audience time to time also maintain body language ,and keep patience on speaking no hustle if you are slothful on stage thn audience loose there intrest to listen on your speaking …as well as public speaker maintain there speaking speed also …they have to deliver some good and unique and funny point otherwise it’s monotonous ….all points they have to maintain after that only people can good at public speaking who are gain all the point onward .. They are the gems ……

  5. Sourav Bhattacharya

    Genuine public speakers always aim to influence and move the audience with their elegance and own charisma. Now their charisma consists of some typical features which are unique and mandatory for a public speaker to have. If we read the success story of great public speakers from legends like Cicero, Socrates to our contemporary popular speakers, it will be evident that they did have the capacity to understand public pulse and to communicate with them at ease. They were, rather are, quite adept in appropriating their content, style to the requirements and demand of the public. Quality of the audience is a crucial factor in building up a genius public speaker.A Cicero would not have existed if Roman civilization was not at its cultural and academic crescendo.
    On the other hand, when an audience is not that much educated, then a good speaker has to shun rhetorics and take recourse to commoners’ speech to relate to the crowd.So, along with every other quality like understanding psychology of audience, ability to influence with own personality, adapting to various external factors,reading public body language properly and last but not the least to possess enough knowledge and wisdom to deliver a speech, an ideal orator must realise the limitations of his or her audience because the ultimate pleasure of an orator lies in aligning his or her own thought frequency with the wave length of the listeners.

  6. In 21 century public speaking is very important to us. A man/women defined by his or her work. So man/women need to improve the presentation skill and public speaking skill towers her fellow worker.
    We know a good communication skill has 4 pillar CLEAR VOICE, GOOD PRESENTION SKILL, EYE CONTACT ,GUSTURE/BODY LANGUAGE.

    If Public speaker don’t have any commend on these skill then he/she might be FRACTIOUS speaker for audience.
    My personal felling is that “a PHILOMATH person always be a good public speaker ”
    Thank you sir, I have OBEISANCE for you to giving chance to write here.

  7. In this current posture, when we are all try to spend some time in social media then we are frequently observe the two words i.e. ‘public speaking ‘. At first I had no idea about this. After that I try to gather some knowledge about this with the help of Google. A good demagogue always cazole the peoples infront of the stage or anywhere. This is the not only art but also I say it ‘Scientific Art’ that is also agree with you. It has many aspects in this cosmic world. We are all try to copy one another. But one things that is always keep into the mind are ‘Observation’ and ‘Believe’. Counterfeit idea or suggestion can be perilous in the near future. So once let me sum up the topic which was ‘ Public Speaking ‘ is open yours eye and ear as well as brain and try to find out the best things from the oceans of conterfeit knowledge and idea. That’s all …Thank You.

  8. Yes, of coures public speaking is an art and science. Here has discoused about six basic elements which is absolutely needed for public speaking. Someone have inborn talent but need to be practice for more excel about public speaking. A demagogue is good public speaker who developed his skill through practice and hooks the audience. When we say something at public platform, the speech should have be content and verious dimension like political, social, economical becouse we belongs to egalitarian socity.

    1. Public speaking is the art of speaking face to face to a live audience. Public speaking is the combination of two term ‘public’ and ‘speaking’.when the speaker speak publically and delivered his/her message/thought to an audience is called public speaking.
      Public speaking is very important for many people because in every field like-Family gathering, social, official meeting and school events etc. We have to speak in front of audience with effective speech. so we need to learn and develop our skill. When we speak in public our speaking skill can increase our confidence.A good speaker should deliver her speech with confidence and with out repetition. A good speaker is one who entertains the audience.

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