Why Study Public Speaking?

1、Today， beyond the relative security of the college or university classroom， nearly 7，000 speakers will stand in front of American audiences and deliver speeches. And during those same twenty-four hours， people will make more than 30 million business presentations. These speakers will express and elaborate their ideas， champion their causes， and promote their products or services. Those who are successful will make sales， obtain support， and educate and entertain their listeners. Many will also enhance their reputations as effective speakers. To achieve these goals， each will be using the skills， principles， and arts of public speaking.

2、Consider， too， that somewhere on a college campus right now is the student who will one day deliver an inaugural address after being sworn in as President of the United States; the student who will appear on national television to accept the Tony Award for Best Actress， or the Academy Award for Best Director; and the student who will present breakthrough medical research findings to a national conference of doctors and medical technicians， or whose words will announce the passage of important legislation.

3、Studying and practicing public speaking benefits you personally， professionally and publicly.

Personal Benefits of Studying Public Speaking

4、First， mastering public speaking can help you acquire skills important to your success in college. According to a recent Carnegie Foundation report，“To succeed in college， undergraduates should be able to write and speak with clarity， and to read and listen with comprehension. Language and thought are inextricably connected， and as undergraduates develop their linguistic skills， they improve the quality of their thinking and become intellectually and socially empowered.”

5、Second， public speaking can help you become more knowledgeable. There is a saying that we learn:

10 percent of what we read，

20 percent of what we hear，

30 percent of what we see ，and

70 percent of what we speak.

6、Consider for a moment two different ways of studying lecture notes for exam. One method is to read and reread your notes silently. An alternative is more active and makes you a sender of messages. You stand in your room. Put your lecture motes on your dresser， and deliver the lecture out loud， pretending you are the instructor explaining the material to the class. Which method do you think promotes better understanding and retention if the course material? You will not be surprised to learn that it’s the second method.

7、Speaking is an active process. You discover ideas， shape them into a message， and deliver that message using your voice and body. The act of speaking is a crucial test of your thinking skills. As the British author E. M. Forster observed， “How do I know what I think until I’ve seen what I’ve said? ” The process of developing and delivering an idea clarifies it and helps make it uniquely your own.

Professional Benefits of Studying Public Speaking

8、Studying communication， and specifically public speaking， is important to you not only personally but also professionally. In fact， numerous studies document a strong relationship between communication competence and career success. Effective speaking skills enhance your chances of first securing employment and then advancing in your career. John Hafer and C.C. Hoth surveyed thirty-seven companies， asking them to rate the characteristics they considered most important when hiring an employee. Out of twenty-six total characteristics， oral communication skills ranked first.

9、More recently， three speech and business professors collected 428 responses from personnel managers in business organizations to determine the “factors most important in helping graduating college students obtain employment”. Oral communication skills ranked first and listening second. The researchers concluded:

“From the results of this study， it appears that the skills most valued in the contemporary job market are communication skills. The skills of oral communication (both interpersonal and public)， listening， written communication， and the trait of enthusiasm are seen as the most important. It would appear to follow that university officials wishing to be of the greatest help to their graduates in finding employment should make sure that greatest help to their graduates in finding employment should make sure that basic competencies in oral and written communication are developed. Courses in listening， interpersonal， and public communication would form the basis of meeting the oral communication competencies.”

10、Once you are hired， your speaking skills continue to work for you， becoming your ticket to career success and advancement. Researchers Roger Mosvick and Robert Nelson found that managers and technical professionals spend approximately twice as much time speaking and listening as they do reading and writing. A survey of 500 executives found that speaking skills “rated second only to job knowledge as important factors in a businessperson’s success”. That same study also showed that effective communication helped improve company productivity and understanding among employees， Oral communication and public speaking clearly play a critical role in your professional life.

Public Benefits of Studying Public Speaking

11、Finally， public speaking can help you play your role as a member of society. As the German writer Thomas Mann noted， “Speech is civilization itself. The word， even the most contradictory word， preserves contact-it is silence which isolates.” Public speaking is an important part of creating a society of informed and active citizens.

12、A democratic society is shaped， in part， by the eloquence of its leaders:

Franklin Roosevelt， who rallied a nation during the Great Depression by declaring， “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”;

John F. Kennedy， who urged citizen involvement， exhorting us to “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”;

Martin Luther King， Jr.10， who challenged us to dream of a day when people will be judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character ”.

13、But a democratic society is also shaped by the quiet eloquence of everyday citizens:

The police officer who informs residents of a crime-plagued area how to set up a neighborhood watch program;

The social worker who addresses the city council and secures funding for a safe house for abused and runaway children;

The elementary school teacher who speaks to civic clubs， generating support for a meals-on-wheels program for elderly citizens confined to their homes.

14、In each of these instances， the speaker used the power of the spoken word to address a need and solicit an appropriate audience response.