What are the benefits of public speaking? Why should you learn? Is it worth the heartbreak? Here at Speechstorming we absolutely believe that learning to speak well in public is always a good idea and here’s why;

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Who does fear affect?

Study after study proves that public speaking is one of the biggest fears that people have and it affects many aspects of their professional and personal lives. Conquering that fear and improving your public speaking skills is enormously beneficial to anyone who tries it and the younger you start the better!

Use your voice!

Power is important in all our lives. The power to make decisions, set goals, be independent and above all true to ourselves. The power that comes from speaking in public and expressing ourselves clearly is phenomenal. Not using that power is to simply allow others who use it to speak on our behalf; always a dangerous path to follow.

What is fear?

Experts vary about the real reason behind our fear of public speaking; a version of the fight or flight instinct, fear of being judged and found wanting, not expressing ourselves properly but all agree that mastering this skill improves confidence and self-esteem, spurs people on to further challenges and increases a person’s self-awareness and empathy for others.

Improving takes time and effort!

Every time you speak in public you learn and improve, just as with any skill. Your swimming improves, your driving improves, your cooking improves. The benefits of sustained practice are well known and public speaking is no exception. Look for the opportunities to speak in public and don’t forget to get feedback; beneficial feedback helps you grow as a speaker.

Make suffering a thing of the past!

Count the amount of times you have suffered before, during or after speaking in public. Maybe you suffer with all three. Imagine a scenario where that no longer happened to you (and no, butterflies in your stomach is not suffering!). Imagine the control that would give you, the wasted time you would recuperate and the joy you would find in public speaking.

Is there hope?

Hope is not a madman’s folly! It is deeply ingrained in all of us and is a key motivator to moving on from difficult experiences and becoming better at what we do. Hope, that one day you will improve speech by speech, is the cornerstone of any public speaking plan you create for yourself. Take notes of your improvements and the benefits you feel from speaking well in public.

Don’t hold yourself back?

Stopping yourself from speaking in public through fear, embarrassment or a previous bad experience is perfectly natural but also a huge shame. Break down your goal to speak in public into easy, manageable steps and feel the benefits of exceeding your current level of ability. Build on small, achievable goals.

Fears can become skills!

Turning a previously held fear into a valuable skill can be life changing. Not only are you escaping from a prison of your own creation but in liberating yourself and vanquishing your fear you empower yourself, you inspire others and you open yourself up to experiences you never thought possible!

We don’t need beautiful power points!

Once you begin on your public speaking journey, from that very first speech onwards, you are not only learning public speaking. You learn how to tell stories, to structure speeches, to read an audience, to control your body language, to share your ideas and to connect with others on many different levels. Who said public speaking is just about creating beautiful power points?

Don’t limit yourself!

Reinforcing our perceptions of our own limitations is a game we all play. Many of us labour under limitations others set for us many years ago; parents, teachers, society. By reclaiming your voice and pushing through those limitations you can free an incredible power within yourself to live life on your own terms.

Choose life!

Most of us would rather die than speak in public; a statement we’ve all heard expressed many ways and by many people but the sentiment is always the same. Death, it appears, is more popular than public speaking. Choosing public speaking, therefore, is to choose life! What other possible benefit could be more important than that?

Too shy to speak?

Introverted people are simply no good at speaking in public. To be a star public speaker you need to be an extrovert; bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and always ready to entertain hundreds of people at a second’s notice. Nobody has busted that myth better than Susan Cain, visit her website www.quietrev.com and learn for yourself the benefits of public speaking for introverts.

The pain is worth it!

No pain, no gain. Nothing good comes easy. Never give up. The list could go on and on but the advice remains the same. At its root that advice is not that you will one day miraculously wake up as a global public speaking legend-in-your-own-lifetime but that the benefits of learning each step of the way towards that goal are tremendous, transferable and time-consuming.

Stick with it!

Grit, according to the years of research Angela Duckworth put into her book of the same name, is the true predictor of success. Sustained, meditated and controlled practice over a lot of time to improve your skill set. That’s what leads to excellence. In our case with public speaking give as many speeches as you can and GET FEEDBACK on all of them. Google Angela Duckworth’s TED video for more on Grit!

This is a short, basic list of the almost innumerable benefits that learning how to speak confidently in public can bring to your life. For more on the subject of communication and the world of public speaking check out our course on public speaking

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