Introducing Public Speaking. By Ojijo Ogillo

 

Public Speaking is an Essential Skill

Every employer, whether in the church or mosque; in the military or religion; in school or workplace; in the public or private sphere; wants me to have certain qualities which will make me useful to the workplace.

Apart from the specific job skill, the other most important skill is effective communication (public speaking, written and oral expression). This is a soft skills or transferable skills or management skills. It can be ‘transferred’ to all other career opportunities, and jobs. Dale Carnegie, the great American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills wrote, ‘Financial success is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to people skills.’ The ability to communicate effectively is the foundation, wall and roof of people skills; of influencing people.

Effective communication is the foundation of successful relationships, both personally and professionally. To communicate effectively, I can either speak or write, and of the two, the spoken word is the most powerful. I want to read Talanta – Ojijo’s Guide to Identifying, Developing and Selling My Talent and Career Skills, which has practical exercises on interview skills, oral communication; written communication (letters, vitaes, and profiles).

In the course of my personal and professional life, I will be speaking to groups of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. This is called public speaking. Public speaking is a powerful tool, and many a politician have made their careers using skillful delivery of speeches, including Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, Marcus Garvey, Hugo Chavez, Barrack Obama and Fidel Castro, to name but a few.

However, in public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five (5) basic elements to be effective, often expressed as,  ‘’why’ am I saying ‘what’ to ‘whom’, ‘where’ and ‘how.’’

Public speaking is an art and a skill, and the more I practice it, the more effective my communication becomes.

Ojijo-is an author of 31 books, public speaker, poet, pianist, lawyer, and business systems consultant.   ojijo@allpublicspeakers.comThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
. +256 776100059.