Communication is the backbone of society. It allows people to influence decisions, motivate change, form connections and more. Public speaking is among the popular forms of communication. Numerous people engage in this form for varying reasons. For example, Marc Accetta is a proficient public speaker and success coach who often hosts seminars. However, to be a proficient public speaker like him, one needs to have a number of important skills. They need to be comfortable with addressing groups, ranging from small meetings to large auditoriums.
In simple terms, public speaking skills refer to the talent of competently addressing an audience. No matter whether it is in front of people one already knows or a room of complete strangers, the ability of a person to communicate to them with confidence and clarity is known as public speaking skills. People like Marc Accetta, who commonly have to address a large group of people, tend to possess pretty competent public speaking skills. March in fact addresses live audiences almost every month, and impacts tens of thousands of lives every year. He wouldn’t have been able to make such high impact without having proper public speaking skills.
Important public speaking skills include:
- Communication: The ability to communicate with others clearly is vital for any public speaker. There are multiple elements to becoming an impactful communicator. The first of these elements is good diction, which is needed to make sure that the listeners understand the words said by the speaker. The other elements include controlling the volume of the speech and the speed of taking. A good communicator can adjust their speech patterns based on the audience.
- Confidence: There are many who are great at conversations in small groups, but feel uncomfortable in front of a larger number of people or while being the center of focus. Confidence is the key to delivering the needed information in a manner that is influential and impactful. Even though confidence is often an innate skill, people can surely develop it through practice.
- Empathy: Being able to relate to the audience is extremely useful in a speech setting. A good public speaker tries to gauge how their audience feel, and subsequently adjust their tone, pace or style as per its accordance.
- Charisma: Having a level of charisma helps public speakers to maintain the interest of the audience in their speech. An attentive audience will retain the information conveyed by the speaker more efficiently.
- Stamina: While stamina is not directly linked with public speaking, giving a long speech or presentation can be a physically-taxing experience. Hence, stamina is needed to give long speeches without needed breaks in between.
No matter whether a person wants to become a success coach similar to Marc Accetta, or desires to pursue some other profession that involves addressing large groups of people, they need to firstly hone their public speaking skills. Right from stand-up comedians and news anchors, to politicians and professors, there are several types of professionals who require excellent public speaking skills.