Public Speaking: The most essential interpersonal skill?

We all know that a balanced mix of soft skills shapes an individual's personality. It is usually said in the job market that a lack of technical skills may be overlooked if the individual has competence in soft skills. The question now arises: which soft skills are more crucial than others? Is it time management? Is it adaptability? Is it attention to detail? Is it work ethics? or Is it interpersonal skills such as Public Speaking? 

In my opinion, Public Speaking edges over other interpersonal skills, and in this article, I will present some facts to support my argument and encourage you to predominantly work on your public speaking skills.

Public speaking simply refers to the craft of conveying a speech or presentation to the audience. It can involve sharing any sort of idea, presenting facts, debates, presentations, etc. The end goal of public speaking is to convey the message clearly by actively engaging the audience. It is for sure that it has a positive impact on the professional career of an individual, but it has profound impacts on personal development too.

Increases Self-Confidence: The stage freight eventually diminishes when you deliver regular speeches and presentations in front of an audience. The pressure of being judged and the fear of rejection are eliminated once you gain abundant self-confidence.

Enhance Leadership and management Abilities: Great leaders own exceptional speaking skills, which make them a potential candidate to become for instance, a manger in an organization or a political leader. The craft of influencing others to do a certain task or act in a specific way makes an individual a great leader. Managers make use of these skills mostly in job Interviews, sales presentations, and debates.

Cultivates Critical Thinking Skills: It activates the cognitive strings of your brain as you try to research and analyze information to deliver a captivating speech. Critical thinking is proven to be an important skill when you are trying to solve complex problems within an organization.

Polishes Communication Skills: Public Speaking provides you with a forum to structure your thoughts and ideas briefly and with the utmost clarity.

Emphasizes on embracing Empathetic nature: Public speaking allows you to share your opinions and understand the perspectives of others, which encourages empathy and allows you to be more patient and accepting. Such an empathetic environment encourages active participation and open-mindedness and fosters an all inclusive working environment.

Assists in motivating others: A well-curated speech can instigate emotions and inspire others to work harder. This usually happens when a speaker shares a piece of experience from his personal life that ignites passion amongst the audience and can shape their mindset in a similar direction. It eventually develops a deeper connection with the audience.

In conclusion, it can be said that public speaking is the most fundamental and crucial interpersonal skill due to the wide range of benefits it offers. Public speaking advances the interpersonal skills of an individual.

“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” Ralph Waldo Emerson