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Benefits of Public Speaking

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Professional benefits | Personal benefits | See also

Whilst many people fear public speaking, there are plenty of good reasons why you should not only approach it with courage, but also with pleasure and hope.

Professional benefits

If you are a professional, and particularly if you are independent or work for a consultancy or other 'body shop', public speaking can give significant skills.

Skill-building

When you are a professional person, there are many occasions when you will need to speak with others outside of the big-audience public-speaking scene. For example a manager may want to address his/her department (or an individual address everyone and the manager). You  may also want to talk persuasively with individuals in any situation from getting a job to getting a raise in salary.

Public speaking can help with all of these situations. If you can stand up in front of a large audience and talk persuasively, then talking to a smaller group or an individual is not such a big deal.

Professional credibility

Speaking at events, conferences and so on is very good for adding to your credibility. The larger the event the better, as you can add these achievements to your CV.

Networking

When you are a speaker at an event, you will suddenly find that everyone wants to talk with you. This is of course a splendid opportunity for making friends, building business contacts and more. Not only this, but you also get the opportunity to network with other speakers, some of whom may be very difficult to contact in the 'normal' world. Speaking events may also have guest rooms for speakers where they are plied with food and drink and can network together as a superior echelon.

Finding work

The credibility and networking opportunities that public speaking gives also provides you with the chance of finding work, from people who might offer you a full-time job to consulting engagements.

Personal benefits

As well as professional benefits, you can gain a lot personally, in ways that you can use in all walks of your life.

Developing courage

It takes courage (at least at first) to stand up on the stage and talk, even when you may feel like running away and hiding. By facing your demons you can learn to face and overcome even more situations, becoming a more courageous person in the process.

Building confidence

There is no doubt that you need confidence to speak on a public stage and also that speaking on a public stage can help you become more confident. Just as being courageous once makes you more courageous at other times, so also does acting in a confident way makes you generally a more confident person.

Learning to argue

When you present, you often need to put forward a coherent argument. In the preparation that you have to do, in the practice and on the actual stage of public speaking, you will learn much about the art of argument, especially if you get to engage with your audience in some form of question and answer.

Learning to persuade

Beyond and within argument, you will have plenty of opportunity to utilize many of the methods on this website in practicing the subtle arts and science of persuasion.

See also

Argument