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Is public speaking important for students?
Communication is the key to growth- the only medium that can influence a large number of people in a short duration of time. Right from birth, an individual uses communication to express himself/herself.
Without effective communication, a child cannot ask for water or food from his/her mother; a student cannot ask for help from his/her teacher; and when the same student goes out into the world for a job, he or she finds it difficult to navigate in the professional life without effective communication.
One of the subsets of communication is public speaking. Public speaking is that pillar of communication that helps a person at different stages of life starting from a school student to a working professional in communicating with their peers, superiors and subordinates.
Public speaking is the art of using verbal or oral communication in expressing oneself, asking someone what they wish to know or telling someone what they know. It is also an efficient art of persuasion.
In the words of Joseph Conard,” He who wants to persuade should put his trust, not in the right argument, but the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.”
Public speaking is an art that begins at school. A student is introduced to it in the form of debates and orations but many fear it because of stage fright or speaking anxiety and since it's easy to escape from during student life.
However, escaping it becomes highly challenging in professional life where it becomes a daily affair.
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Let’s Define Public Speaking
This brings us to our topic of discussion: what is the meaning of public speaking?
In simple terms, public speaking is a live presentation or speech given by a person to a large audience to educate or influence or entertain them. It can be given by a school student in the form of a debate, a team leader of a company or a politician asking for votes.
Public speaking doesn't always mean giving a speech, it is also related to other activities such as leading a meeting, pitching a proposal in a meeting, or narrating a story.
A situation where there is a lone speaker in front of the audience is considered public speaking.
Why Is Public Speaking Important For Students?
Every person, at least once in their life, gets a chance to speak in front of a group of people. Teaching students this important skill at an early stage in school will help them speak more fluently.
As a result of the practice, students show an increase in general confidence as personality development. Students get nervous when asked to speak in front of their classmates but with practice, this nervousness subsides and they begin to enjoy the process.
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Public speaking can help a student in building confidence
It is important to note that those who gain the confidence to speak in public are more capable of influencing decisions and having an impression on the audience.
Before any big event, you or your child can achieve and build your confidence by practising public speaking. Speaking in front of a group might help you gain confidence.
It is very inspiring to overcome the anxieties and hurdles that come with public speaking. Furthermore, engaging with a group of individuals can serve as a firm reminder that a child has valuable knowledge and viewpoints to share with the world.
When a child delivers a speech or leads a team with his/her communication skills, it presents them with a sense of achievement. As the child progresses from speaking to small groups of people to large crowds, his/her confidence improves.
Confidence helps students to have faith and trust in their instincts, whereafter their need for validation for being right or wrong reduces.
For example, when a student participates in a debate competition, the student not only learns how to speak fluently but also learns how to convince the audience and respond to the questions to prove their point.
Such an exercise makes the student be more comfortable around a crowd and present their point more sensibly.
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Public speaking helps in enhancing leadership skills
One develops leadership skills through public speaking. A leader's worth is enhanced by confident speech. A good speaker makes a better leader, and the two skills are interlinked. Starting a student at a young age to speak effectively will help them in connecting with the audience whilst motivating them.
The ability to make people understand your vision and hard work are the traits of a good leader. A good speech instils confidence as well as a sense of power in the audience.
Good leaders use their speech to not only put their thoughts across to their audience but also to make the audience believe in what they are saying. Such leaders focus on reaching that level where they attract the crowd with their words.
Quick question: Did you know that Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook wasn't good at public speaking, but worked hard on the skill for years to grow in the world of business?
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Public speaking helps in developing vocabulary and attaining fluency in the language
Good public speaking skills help listeners in understanding the point of view of the speaker more clearly, but for that using the correct words and right tonality is important.
For instance, if a student is asked to talk about global warming, he/she will go for an informative tone which will help their fellow students in understanding what they are trying to say.
This helps the students in learning new words, which expands their vocabulary and how to fix their tone ie. either positive or negative accordingly.
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Public speaking helps in better communication
The more you practise giving speeches, the better you'll become at communicating orally. Improved oral communication skills can be applied not only to future speeches but also to everyday conversation. A speaker is either really good at communication or gets really good at communication with time.
They reach a level of confidence that makes them comfortable around people and talking to them. For example, a student who participates in school debates or storytelling competitions, etc. speaks better.
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Public speaking helps students build upon their general knowledge
Public speaking might seem like an easy task, but it requires a certain amount of preparation. When you go for public speaking, you cannot simply stand at the podium and talk on any random topic, it has to be meaningful and informative.
So when a student prepares for public speaking he/she starts with collecting the information related to its topic by reading books or searching the internet.
This way he/she builds upon their general knowledge which remains with them for a good part of their life.
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Public speaking helps in developing better writing skills:
Did you know that public speaking can help a child improve his/her writing abilities as well? Writing techniques used to write a good speech can also be used to write other content, such as reports, articles, memos and letters, research papers etc. Good writing skills can lead to better work assignments and grades in school.
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Public speaking teaches children to stay calm in high-stress situations:
Learning to be calm in a stressful situation is perhaps the most transferable public speaking benefit. Public speaking is a stressful experience for the majority of us.
As a child gets more proficient in public speaking, he/she also learns how to stay calm, which is necessary to deliver the speech successfully.
How To Help Students In Becoming Better At Public Speaking?
Here are a few ways which can help students in becoming better at public speaking:
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Make it fun and interesting
It is important to make a child comfortable with the art of public speaking before emphasising on them to be perfect in it. You can do this by turning it into a game that will make it more interactive and fun and will make it sound less intimidating.
Let the child begin with speaking aimlessly, which will help them build the desired confidence and later teach them the attributes of public speaking by working on the mistakes or teaching new ways.
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Teach them to focus on delivering a message before focusing on the technique
It is imperative to teach a child how to deliver a good message to their listeners instead of focusing on the technique, which can be learned anytime.
Teach them how to begin their story, the voice in which they should narrate it, and how to change their tone at relevant parts to make it sound more fun.
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Regularly interact with the child
Talk to the child and ask questions related to his interest, igniting his curiosity by teaching him something so that he talks and questions about it wholeheartedly. This is an exercise that can be done at any time of the day while going for a walk or before bedtime but develops a habit of doing it regularly.
FAQs
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What are the best practices of public speaking?
Public speaking might make a child nervous in the beginning or he might stammer while speaking. Here are a few practices which will help them overcome these fears and become fluent in them:
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Prepare them with enough practice
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Teach them about their audience since they would speak for these audiences
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Don't let them go overboard with heavy words, try to keep it simple
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Teach them to ask for feedback to improve their flaws
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Do not ask them to just read text out of a sheet of paper, ask them to understand it and make it interactive for them
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On which platform does PlanetSpark take these classes?
PlanetSpark takes these classes online, which helps the kids in attending them comfortably from their homes without hampering their normal study schedules.
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How long is the PlanetSpark course?
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What are the charges for a demo session?
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What is the size of an average batch?
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