Public Speaking.

Public speaking has a basic definition of speaking to a crowd or audience, for a specific purpose; be it to entertain, educate, or anything else that would influence a listener. The best public speakers could go on for hours and hours, have the opportunity to go to different places of different crowd sizes to deliver the same messages, generate the same energy and great feedback from huge multitudes of followers, and what more, get paid a lot of money to do it. However, in reality, one does not get to that particular standard in one night, or a few nights even. A good speaker needs to be able to move his listener and stir him up in the inside, not only to inform him. Should one hold these kinds of skills, one can move nations. That statement may have some truth in it, as the best politicians and leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mao Ze Dong are very talented public speakers.


Public speaking may be a walk in the park to some, but to others, a horrible nightmare. Why should anyone be afraid to speak in public? Glossophobia, or stage fright, is a very common fear shared by thousands in the world. Imagine the whole room has your attention, and is waiting for you to produce something brilliant. The average person would just be overcome with fear and give up, sweating profusely, knees shaking and stuttering, which will not help the situation at all. The idea of it would already cause one to panic. Even so, thruthfully, there really is no need to panic. In my opinion, why focus on the thought that “Everyone is waiting for me to break down”? Rather, try concentrate on the fact that you, as opposed to everyone else in the room, were given a golden opportunity to express yourself and that everyone else gets to hear your opinion about a subject matter. Should you get the mind on the correct path and look at things positively, then you can take the other necessary steps to become a good public speaker.


One must remember, a person is never born good at talking. Or at anything. It is simply not possible. Ability comes from constant and gruelling practise, and hard work. Sure, it may be possible for one to just keep on talking for hours and hours, but to keep the attention and interest of the listener will take more than just a chatterbox. One must hone his speaking abilities, put it to practise and develop it, so that the words that come out of one's mouth may influence, and not be translated as simply garbage. In my experience from being a youth in school up until college and university, experience and practise was essential in my never ending journey to develop my skills to speak publicly, of course when necessary. Honestly speaking, I was a person of very few words. Over the years, one of the many things that I have learnt is that being silent does not get one noticed. It does not get one many friends either. I had to think about where my problems lied. Being brought up with English as my first language, I had absolutely no problem conversing, and thus I could not understand what I was doing wrong. I realised an obvious fact; I was shy, and scared of how I looked in front of other people, afraid that they will judge me and judge the way I speak, that I might look like a complete idiot in front of them. Eventually, I came to terms with those thoughts and figured out that I had to change my ways. I decided to do the most common thing. Practise, and train. Whenever I wanted to say something, or speak of something, I say it and picture how the outcome would be in my mind a thousand times, and when necessary, also when alone, I say what I need to say out loud to get it correct. When I began to get used to talking, I needed other methods to enhance my speaking, to make a conversation, or topic more interesting. Voice control would prove as a very effective tool to get the message across. Different tones should be used for different topics, also to emphasise on certain parts. Aside from that, one must also realise that if one talks to fast, it will make it impossible for anyone to understand a word you are trying to say. Besides voice control, I found humor to be very useful. Sarcasm worked for me too, but good, clean humor makes for a good, clean conversation. Therefore, all in all, I can now say that I enjoy conversing with others, not only informally, but up on the main stage. I know how to keep an audience entertained and focussed. However, I cannot say that after all that, I have become an excellent public speaker, but I can say that I can only get better, given that more opportunities presents itself.


Reflecting on the workshop, it answered a lot of fundamental questions that one would need to be good at speaking publicly. It is true that one must decide on specific matters to include in a speech, and not ramblings of irrelevant items, matters that relate to the topic discussed, and relating to the audience even, as to be more intimate with the people you are making a connection with. That, along with good material and preparation, ensures for an outstanding presentation. The workshop presented ideas of what Aristotle thought to be the most effective methods of a good presentation. Such ideas seem logical and very helpful. That included the principles of a persuasive presentation, that is the powerful rhetoric of ethos, pathos, and logos. What caught my attention was how simple words used or words left out of a speech can influence listeners so much. “i will show”, rather than “i will attempt to show” makes so much difference. It gives the speaker so much more credibility. What more, as the speaker, such things also gives the speaker a much needed confidence boost to take control of the audience and hold their interest.


As it shows, in order to captivate and have a long lasting impact on your audience, simple words at times will simply just not suffice. This is why a good vocabulary would help in strengthening an argument. Not only that, but it also gives more credibility to the speaker as a good vocabulary will be interpreted as a person with intellect, and an in depth knowledge of what he is trying to express. In other words, a good vocabulary will help a speaker in many senses, such as expression and communication. Take for example the word speaking. There are plenty of words that may be well connected to speaking, such as articulating your thoughts, or conveying a message, asserting your authority, enunciate words, as well as conversing and communicating. They all mean the same thing, but using different words for different situations may help others to see things in a different perspective, or in a lighter or stronger viewpoint. Moving on, one of the most common problems that a speaker may face when delivering his speech is his nervousness. A person does a lot of things when nervous. The worst thing about it is that it becomes many times magnified when on stage and in front of an audience. As I said earlier, many things may happen when a person is nervous, such as stuttering, the shaking of the knees, hands fidgeting, and the need to mess around with paper and all sorts of objects within arms reach, among other things. That, at first diagnosis, is the main 'symptom' for a sickness called 'lack of practise'. With more practise, of course, that should not happen. Of course, if that does not work, and stage fright never leaves, then there are a few methods one can do to solve that problem, or have it seem not as obvious, as the speaker has to always remember that the audience wants a person who is confident at what he is trying to say. Without confidence, there is no point in listening to what he has to say. To solve such things, simple tips may help in a big way. These include having little notes by your side to ensure flow in your speech, and continuity, and no doubt helping you remember your lines. If you need to find something to do with your hands, then hold on to your notes in a relaxed manner. Once you feel comfortable with it, you may not need it anymore, and then hand gestures will keep your hands occupied. This will assist in sending a message to the audience as it helps in emphasising points that need to be made. The audience, even though unrelated at all to the speaker, will somehow be able to understand, as humans send and interpret such body signals subconsciously.


To conclude, it is of most satisfaction for a speaker to be able to convey and influence, leaving a mark on his audience. With the right tools, any person may be able to impact people by speaking, as public speaking, arguably, may just be the most importantly valued skill that any individual can possess.