Why public speaking is important

We speakers can sometimes take our talent, skills, and passion for public speaking for granted.  It's nothing for us to jump on a stage in front of masses of people and deliver a message with unbridled enthusiasm and clarity.  Many of us cannot figure out why so many fear public speaking.  Statistically, most people who are surveyed rank public speaking as their number one fear.  As a great speaking colleague of mine, Chris Scheeren would say, "That means more people would rather be the subject of a eulogy than deliver one."

Public speaking, however, is also a fantastic tool for individual growth.  What can public speaking give you?

1. Effective interpersonal communication.  Great public speakers have great eye contact with their audiences, for example.  Mastering that skill automatically translates to effective eye contact, especially in situations such as job interviews or even conversations with close family and friends.
2. Structure and organization.  Speakers whose thoughts are unorganized get quickly exposed in the worst place--in front of an audience.  Public speaking teaches folks to break thoughts down by bullet points or segments.  That way, the audience finds your concept much easier to follow.
3. It helps you focus on WHO you are.  Just as I mentioned in point #2, a speaker who is not genuine gets quickly exposed.  Having been a consistent high school speaker since 2000, I learned very quickly that teens are like sharks.  One drop of blood and your butt is theirs.  In other words, as soon as they detect any weakness in a speaker, his/her speech is pretty much over.  What weakens a speaker most is coming across as a phony or, even worse, a con artist.
4. Articulation.  This is the most fundamental skill of oral communication.  If a group can understand every word you say, you will "wow" individuals with your articulation in small group or one-on-one settings.  Trust me.
5. Leadership.  A great speaking coach named Ron Arden once said, "He or she who speaks, leads."  It's as simple as people paying attention to the person who has the floor in a meeting.  Public speaking gives one the opportunity to express a vision, a directive, and influence others.
6. Stress management.  I'm totally at peace when I speak because I expend lots of energy.  Every single ounce of stress pours out of my body with my energetic delivery.  There are also other stress management tools that speakers employ such as breathing, voice, and body language exercises.
7. Confidence.  Nothing makes a person happy like delivering an effecitve speech.  You don't have to be a public speaker in order to experience the elation of well-articulated words in front of a group.  Most of us desire some form of appreciation, and what happens most of the time when people finish speaking?  Applause.  But even when applause isn't the end result, just getting from point A to point B in a speech gives the speaker that feeling of "mission accomplished."