Public speaking is an art, just like dancing ballet, singing opera, and writing great poetry. Some people are naturally talented and dance, sing or speak well even without undergoing proper training. There are many young speakers who are loved by the audiences even if they are facing a large crowd for the first time in their life.
However, just like every skill, the ability to talk well in public can be learned and can be perfected with time. Fortunately, in the digital age, everything is available at the tip of people’s fingers. People can visit this site to take professional public speaking courses.
How Much Time Will It Take To Perfect The Art OF Public Speaking
There cannot be a rigid time frame within which a person can master the art of public speaking. The time required to polish skills and master them depends on several factors. According to Suasive solid structure makes your presentation easy to tell and easy for the audience to follow.
Pre-Existing Skills Of a Person
A talented person will take less time to brush up on his skills. Some people have good diction, have a naturally bold voice, or have a good presence of mind. These people do not get jitters at the thought of facing a crowd or answering questions at a press conference. In fact, some people love interacting with the masses, and for such individuals mastering public speaking can be a matter of just a few months.
Level Of Experience
In every field experience makes a huge difference. If someone keenly observes the speeches of a person over a period of time, they will be able to decipher the learning curve. Many Ted talk guests have made disastrous mistakes while delivering their first talk; however, when they are delivering their tenth talk, most of the mistakes are taken care of.
An experienced person is ahead in the learning curve in comparison with a novice. Hence an experienced individual will take much less time to master the skill.
The Availability Of Resources
The resources can be in the form of books, videos, or trainers who handhold individuals in mastering a skill set. If one has books of great orators, they can read them to imbibe the thinking style and skill of the great orators.
There are plenty of videos available on the internet that teach ways of pronouncing a word properly. In fact, videos on breathing exercises and jaw and lip movement exercises can help improve pronunciation.
There are public speaking courses that have separate modules for beginners and experienced people. For the former category, they start right from the basics, like confidence-building exercises, stage presence, etc. For more experienced people, they work on improving the impact of the talk delivered by working on the presentation style, the way of delivery, etc.
If someone has a group of peers, who are always willing to listen and give feedback; that can be a great resource as well.
Depending upon the type and the quality of the above-mentioned resources that are available, a person takes a few months to even five to six years to master public speaking.
Opportunities To Rehearse
It is a well-known phrase that practice makes a man perfect. The same is true for mastering public speaking as well. People have to actively look for opportunities to give talks in public forums.
They can sign up for a club where regular events are organised, and a host is required. Apart from this, volunteering to present at office conferences or signing up for a local TEDx event can also help.
Teaching school children is a good way to develop a presence of mind. Kids are usually impatient, and grabbing their attention is no mean feat. Moreover, children ask all sorts of questions and being able to answer them trains a person to handle random follow-up questions better.
Also, whenever a person delivers talks, they should involve a question and answer session after the question. This helps find out the areas of the speech which require more clarity. Participate in local improvs that will help develop spontaneity in a speaker.
If a person can practice almost regularly, then they can master public speaking skills in a matter of two or three months.
The Level Of Expertise That Is Desired
Speaking at a political rally to win a national election is quite different from speaking at an office conference to seal the next deal. Thus, the final level of expertise that is desired will determine the amount of time, effort, and resources that will be required to master a certain skill.
If the objective is to get the next promotion or be able to host the next college event fluently, then it should not take more than five or six months to learn public speaking.
However, if the objective is to deliver a talk to a global audience, then the preparation can take years. Famous speakers work with writers, public relations agents, etc., while practicing for their talk. Hence, the ability to coordinate and deliver an awe-inspiring speech at the same time takes significant hard work.
The Level Of Determination
For learning any skill, the learner’s level of determination has a vital role to play in how fast the skill is acquired. If a person makes a well-defined schedule, practices regularly, and gets enrolled in a professional training course. Then he will pick up the nuances of a good speaker quite fast.
Thus, a determined learner can master public speaking in a matter of six to seven months.
Conclusion
Mastering the art of public speaking has multiple advantages apart from the obvious goals of career advancement. It can develop a person’s overall personality; it can boost self-confidence and give a sense of self-worth, especially for under-confident people.
If done with the objective of raising awareness like a mass awareness rally etc., it can be effective in spreading a crucial message far and wide. Words that are well spoken have immense power, so much so that aptly spoken words have changed the course of history since times immemorial.
