By Malcolm Wilkins, KEY Public Speaking & Debate Coach

Perfecting your public speaking is a skill that should be considered essential to one’s progress in life. Effective and clear conveyance of a message to a large group of people, generally by the verbal prowess of a single individual or that of only a small group of people, is a big deal. If you can’t communicate your message in a way that makes sense to people and inspires them to take action, you limit your ability to succeed.

Masterful Communication Means You Have An Advantage At School and Work

The power of public speaking has been evident throughout much of the course of human history. Virtually all walks of life during various time periods have established the need for social communication and public speaking had been the pioneering mechanism - and this is especially true of today’s world, for several reasons.

1. Verbal communication has become as important as it has been dangerous in the age of globalization. In this day and age, and with a higher educated youth emerging, the importance of clarity in one's transmittance of a message has never been more important. Several misunderstandings between people, from powerful political figures to our next door neighbours can have drastic, but easily avoidable circumstances. All one needs, of course, is clarity, which can only stem from a solid foundation in the art of public speaking.

2. Public speaking can be considered a core life skill because of its role in social cohesion. This means that it is absolutely essential to build social connections in order to make social, economic and political progress in a modern day society. Several leading figures in the world of business, politics, scholarship and the arts have acclaimed the importance of public speaking as an indispensable life tool, from Bill Gates who called it “everything” to Nelson Mandela who called it “essential.” 

3.  Talking in front of people can be one of the most dreaded forms of communication and consequently can also be one of the hardest skills to master given a faulty environment. However, it is as rehabilitative as it is daunting. It possesses an ardent simplicity in its execution and can be one of the most effective ways of dealing with stress. Several academic journals have described how relieving it can be for people, both young and old, to talk to, and in, large groups of people; it is essential to the progress of stress therapy and social and psychological well being.

KEY offers young people the opportunity to develop and master the art of public speaking through our Elevator Pitch Summer Leadership Camp and throughout the year through our public speaking and debate programs.

Learn more about how our team can help your child gain the self-confidence and spark that turns a wallflower into a student body president.