Public Communication, Essay Example

Historians believe that the first public orators originated in ancient Greece. With time, techniques and methods of delivering information varied, however, the basic patterns stayed universal. The history of public speaking has existed for centuries and always had a tremendous impact of people. From telling a simple story to giving an inspiration speech to their troops, audience of the ancient speakers varies from few to thousands.

Public communication is the process of delivering information to an individual or a group of people. The skills necessary to become a professional speaker at times are overlooked since some people find them unimportant or do not have a wish to learn more about public speaking. However, when asked to give a speech people might find themselves in a state of panic or inability to do so. This common fear of speaking is called glossophobia and with practice and knowledge can be overcome.

Communication is a very complex process and at the same time it is not an easy skill to perfect. However, the ability to speak professionally is one of the most valuable assets in any profession.  Every day we see people giving speech, a seminar or a presentation and most of the time it involves a little stress. And it is normal. However, when people learn the proper way of speaking, the stress can even help you communicate better. What is the best way to overcome fear? It is practice and practice makes perfect. When you first rode a bicycle did you fall? Did it hurt you? Did you continue? Most of us will answer yes to the abovementioned questions and what it proves is that if a person has a goal, he or she will be able to reach it with practice.

Not all professions require formal public speaking but we speak publicly every day. We interact with people, family, friends and colleagues. Communication is a tool of transferring meaningful information that can be understood. There are different ways to communicate: body language, writing, facial and hand gestures, media, etc. However, the best one is speech.

Public speaking requires certain skills to be learnt. It is essential to learn how to handle success and failure. When a person fails in his or her presentation, they tend to get down on themselves. But from every experience and in public communication as well, it is important to learn a lesson and analyze it.

First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle named five components in his Rhetoric (fourth century B.C.): speaker, speech, audience, occasion, and effect. When delivering a speech an individual should present the audience with the interesting introduction, body and a conclusion. Speaker much always be prepared and organized. He or she much review the material and be ready for question and answer section in advance. It is a good idea to know your audience when giving a seminar or a conference as it can help you to prepare yourself better.

Being a good public speaker involves good charisma. Some people argue that it is a naturally born talent. Charismatic personalities catch audience’s attention in no time and make the presentation interactive and joyful. At times even a very boring subject can be turned into a lively presentation. However, there are tips that can help improve one’s abilities.  Professional speakers always add some flavor to their speech with a joke or an interesting quote that will make the dialogue with the audience more pleasant and relaxed. Using a quote in order to emphasize your point during the presentation is a good tool to draw your audience in and help to relate to them.

Each audience responds in its own way to appeals base on altruism, self-interest, desire, fear, and so on.

A key to achieve success is not only saying something worthwhile but also being brief. Speaker should always have a strong, captivating introduction and a memorable close, and put the two as close together as possible. Professional speaker also talks with great confidence, clarity and tries to get audience to participate in the subject. These tools can greatly improve the presentation itself and will be appreciated by the audience.

It is very important to talk about something you believe in and share the vision. Speakers own motivation lies in expressing his or her own ideas. If a person shows passion and understanding of the subject, it will appeal to audience and will be very natural. They say orators are born. But it has been numerously proven that to become a good speaker takes time, practice and strong determination. Just like not giving up learning how to ride a bike, everyone can put enough efforts to becoming a professional speaker.

Works Cited

Rice, Ronald. Atkin, Charles. (2008)  Public Communication Campaigns (p.54)

Carnegie, Dale. (1998) How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking (p.76)

Ligos, Melinda. (2001) Getting Over the Fear-of-Speaking Hump. 20 June 2001 http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/20/jobs/getting-over-the-fear-of-speaking-hump.html?scp=4&sq=public%20speaking%20fear&st=cse

Howard Latham. (1987) Speech Communication in the Office (p. 7-8)