Effective Public Speaking by Lacy

Effective Public Speaking by Lacy - January 2023 Scholarship Essay

Extracurriculars are unquestionably a noteworthy way for students to get involved and build relationships with their peers. With a wide variety of activities, ranging from sports, art and even academics, there is always something for someone to find where they belong. Every student should express interest in some type of after school activity, but there are some extracurriculars that should be required. Most notably, public speaking.

Public speaking is an imperative skill needed to be successful in all aspects of life. Effective public speaking skills allow the speaker to gain the trust of their audience. Getting personal and displaying humility are the first set of key skills needed to win over an audience. People will not listen to or respect someone that speaks as if they are arrogant and worlds above everyone else. Imagine you are at an event where a famous actor is receiving an award for their latest achievement. Instead of thanking everyone who got them to where they are today, their acceptance speech is nothing short of a boasting deliverance on the amazing talents they possess. Witnessing a speech like that would disinterest me immediately and my attention would drift to other places in the room. I would also not likely be nominating that actress for any other award in the future. Humility is considerate of others, a detail public speakers need to note. They are delivering their opinion, a message and much, much more. Arrogance will not relay the idea the speaker is hoping to convey to the audience. Public speaking should also be personal. A speaker who shares a personal experience or story is more likely to cause the audience to relate to them and their speech easier and more efficiently.

Preparation is just as important in public speaking as the deliverance of the message is. Without preparation, there is simply no message to deliver. This is a crucial step that many overlook, and with public speaking as a required class, it can be taught and engraved in peoples minds. Preparing not only to share your speech, but also to answer the potential questions the audience may have is something that many people do not think about, but guidance from a teacher or professor in a public speaking class would certainly be helpful. In a required public speaking course, students can be taught to take their nervous energy they would get in front of a crowd and use it to their advantage by bringing in the positive energy, A public speaker that exudes an optimisic attitude will immediately grab the attention of the audience from the start, and obtain that attention until the conclusion of their speech, thus creating a new generation of eloquently spoken individuals.

Public speaking should be a required extracurricular activity because it is a critical life skill that allows people to motivate change and form connections. Adults who have no ability to deliver a message in front of others will have no chance at survivng in the “real world.” A required class emphasizing the importance of this skill will educate students on how to effectively prepare and confidently deliver speeches to a wide range of audiences.