More Than a Soft Skill: 4 Vital Public Speaking Skills and Why You Need Them

Whether it’s a company presentation, a client proposal, or a job application interview, public speaking is an outstanding method for demonstrating your knowledge and expertise. Surprisingly, many people still don’t see the value of this skill. Public speaking has long been considered a vital soft skill in any industry. However, many business moguls and successful entrepreneurs are against the adjective used in the term, primarily because it doesn’t even come close to describing the importance of vital public speaking skills.

In fact, Warren Buffett even declared it as the single most valuable skill anyone should invest in, saying that honing your communication skills can make you “worth 50 percent more” than you do right now.

And if that applies to all, how much more value do you think it would be for professional presenters in Dubai?

This article explains the four most vital public speaking skills and why you need to learn them.

Why You Need Public Speaking Skills 

The importance of public speaking isn’t limited to your career alone. It also:

  1. Helps boost your self-confidence

If you want to improve your self-confidence, speak in front of an audience. When you do, you’re practicing your communication skills and honing your self-esteem around other people.

As a bonus, it also lets you sharpen your sense of awareness in terms of audience reactions to what you’re saying. This will help you better understand how people think, making it easier to make them feel and think favorably. This is why public speaking is also vital in developing the power of persuasion.

2. Allows you to feel more comfortable around other people

When you practice being the focus of attention in public speaking, you also become more comfortable around people, even if they are strangers.

In other words, public speaking can help you avoid those awkward moments of silence that can force you into fumbling or saying something you’ll regret later.

This applies to both group conversations and one-to-one talks.

3. Improves your persuasion skills

Once the awkwardness is removed from the equation and you become more confident, you eventually get better at persuasion.

As you probably already know, this is crucial in many aspects of the business – be it for sales generation or a job application.

When you have the power of persuasion, you understand how to get the message across and the emotions tied to it. This will help generate more sales for your company.

This is also useful in convincing employers to hire you. Landing a better job is all about how you present yourself during a job interview. Many companies even decide whether to pay you more or less, depending on how you are able to impress them with your elevator pitch.

4. Helps you stand out

Most people won’t speak up in almost all situations; much less so in front of a crowd. Because of this, you’ll be able to stand out from the workforce or roster of applicants if you can pull off a confident and well-prepared speech that could wow companies into hiring or promoting you.

In contrast, not being able to showcase what you’re made of only dampens other people’s confidence in you, putting you at a disadvantage when the next redundancy rolls around.

In other words, public speaking might just be the difference between a promotion and getting laid off.

5. Supports knowledge sharing and expansion

Since most people won’t want to give a speech, doing so will help you position yourself as an expert in your chosen field.

It also opens up an excellent opportunity to share and even gain more knowledge. After all, teaching is one of the best ways to learn.

Top 4 Vital Public Speaking Skills You Need Today

Whether you wish to become a renowned Dubai presenter someday, you will need to learn these four public speaking skills:

1. Clear articulation skills

Public speaking requires crystal clear articulation, which means you should be able to:

  • enunciate clearly;
  • speak loudly enough;
  • use grammatically correct sentences; and
  • avoid using verbal crutches (e.g., “um”).

You already have an advantage if you can talk well during an ordinary conversation. However, remember that speaking in front of a crowd is much like a performance. This means you’ll need to practice and prepare well for it. If you are presenting in front of a PowerPoint presentation, a Powerpoint clicker will be a helpful tool that will help you to move around smoothly and have total control over your slides.

Although memorization isn’t necessary, especially if you can speak extemporaneously, it is still good to have your speech written out and read by you several times before you stand in front of the audience. This way, you’ll be familiar enough with your material to avoid excessive pausing, repetitive statements, and fumbling for words.

Pacing is also vital for this public speaking skill. This way, you will finish your speech not a moment too late or too soon.

2. Audience assessment skills

Did you think public speaking is all about you and the podium? No. It should also be about your audience.

No two people are the same, but there are times when like-minded people gather in a public speaking event because they have similar interests and preferences.

For example, some groups want to hear more details, no matter how technical they may be, while others want it laid out in the simplest way possible. Many enjoy humor, but not everyone does. Some jokes may work in one crowd, but not in others.

The key is to assess your audience’s needs and use that information to draft your speech and choose the appropriate presentation style.

3. Presentation skills

Presentation styles vary depending on the following factors:

  • Timing
  • Vocal tone
  • Body language
  • Facial expression

Changing your presentation style according to the needs of your audience could mean the difference between a boring talk and an engaging one.Recognizing the importance of this skill, many professionals are enrolling in presentation skills training programs. These programs provide comprehensive guidance on adapting your style, enhancing your delivery, and mastering the art of audience engagement.

In some cases, what is missing may just be visual aids. This is why slide creation and presentation tools, like PowerPoint, are important in public speaking.

Although you won’t always need slides, there are instances when doing a presentation without them is considered “speaking naked.” This is why you must have the technical know-how on using the software and an artistic sensibility to create appropriate, aesthetically pleasing, and easy-to-understand visual aids for your presentation.

4. Composition skills

Whether you write it ahead or do so right before your talk, it is vital that you can construct coherent, rational, and easy-to-understand speeches. Of course, it should also cover all the points you want to showcase.

Humor and storytelling can also help, but you need to know how to use them. Remember that while public speaking is a performance art, it still requires writing skills.

Speak With Confidence

Public speaking allows you to gain confidence in your own skills, which you need to hone to deliver a brilliant speech successfully. 

Speak with confidence by learning the top public speaking skills you need today.

 

Snehal
Snehal
Hi, I am an Author who believes in making the life of their readers interesting with his writing. Writing was always my first interest. Ever since I was a teenager, I was already into writing poems and stories. Today, I have gained a great experience in my work. Check out my work and share your views.

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