How Public Speaking can help in other areas of your life

There’s no doubt that good communication skills are highly valued. By delivering a good presentation or speaking with confidence, other people will have a good impression of you and what you can do, which could help you in your life.

 

At work

You may not be delivering grand presentations at work, but you do a lot of presenting. Whenever you speak in a meeting or on a Teams project call (which you may be leading), you are presenting. You are representing yourself and your knowledge.

 

Having confidence in your speaking will help when you’re called upon to provide a sudden project update, share your thoughts on a matter, or offer a brief introduction about yourself to new colleagues.

 

Contributing and sharing ideas by speaking in meetings is commonly seen as important at work. It will help people notice you, which could, over time, lead to a collaboration or a new role or project. The opposite is also true. If you don’t speak up at work, you may end up being sidelined or forgotten.

 

Networking

As daunting as it sounds, a great way to network is to speak at conferences or give presentations.  Being a speaker on a programme offers an easy opening for anyone to come and talk to you, and if your presentation is good. People will come and speak to you.

 

If your thoughts are clearly presented and the presentation is engaging and persuasive, the audience will find value and be drawn to speak to you about it.

At school

The above points also apply to schools. Commonly, you are asked to do presentations or be called upon to give your opinion or a short review on a topic or book.

 

Some grades may include an oral component. There may be a debating group or classes where debating topics are part of it, which may be graded. Good communication and presentation skills could help your grades.

 

Interviews

This could be work or school/university, and often you’re put on the spot in responding to a question. Having prepared answers for possible scenarios helps, but being able to navigate under pressure when/if a question you’re not ready for arises is a valuable skill to have in your arsenal.

 

Performing well in an interview could get you your dream job, University place or a significant pay rise, which could drastically improve your life.

 

Speaking at birthdays/weddings

This is what is commonly thought of when you think about speaking. A speech in front of a large group of people. This could be your worst nightmare, but improving your skills and practising them does help the fear go away, or at least reduce it. You will feel more relaxed, and you will learn that if there is a mishap, the world does not end.

 

Normally, speeches you actually have to do are 20-30 seconds “thank you speeches” to thank attendees at a birthday party. Once you have practised these short speeches a few times, they do not seem daunting, and it’s a nice feeling and skill to be able to speak off the cuff if the moment requires.

 

Social skills

One of the ways we communicate and share information is by telling stories. Much of presenting is just that. Telling stories. If you are with friends and family, and you can tell engaging, enlightening, descriptive and succinct stories, it will have a positive social outcome.

 

Confidence

Public speaking and presentations are not easy. They take work and practice. The learning curve is very steep, particularly at the start, so progress can be quick. Doing hard things boosts your confidence that you can take into other areas of your life.

 

Public speaking, delivering effective presentations, and possessing good communication skills are all skills that can be learned. Good presenters are not born with it. They have worked to improve it. They have the same nerves and anxieties as everyone else. So, volunteer to give a presentation or lead a meeting, or even better – join a Speakers’ club and see what your potential is.