United Metaphysical Church - Public Speaking

The History of Public Speaking Training For Most of Us
By Ed Skurka

How do you work out?

Do you walk your dog around the block, jog five miles or pump iron for two hours? Whatever kind of workout you do, it's good for you. It may help you lose weight, feel healthier and get stronger. But, it will not make you a more capable, comfortable and confident speaker, communicator or leader.

Workouts consist of doing things repetitively --- more laps, more weight, more reps. The more dedication, drive and enthusiasm we put into it, the better we become and the easier it gets. We consistently improve our skills by practicing them over and over. We might even hire a coach to increase our effectiveness.

This model -- of learning to do something, practicing, getting coached and practicing again, and again and again -- is how we learn all athletic skills. It is universal. Whatever the sport or athletic skill, everyone learns, develops and increases competence, comfort and confidence in pretty much the same way.

This same model, in effect, is true for all other skills that we learn, too. It applies to all academic and artistic skills. The coach is called a teacher. The practice field is called a classroom, dance studio or art room. The game in which we demonstrate our skills is called a test, recital or show.

In learning to read, write or do math, we are still using this same model. Our parents teach us to count. From teachers, we learn addition and subtraction, algebra, geometry and calculus. We learn, we're tested and we're taught more. In effect, we learn, get coached and practice. Our performance is evaluated through quizzes, tests and exams. Our parents, our peers and our culture expect this of us. We all must learn our academic skills to prepare for our futures.

We also learn business and career skills the same way. An entry level clerk becomes a management trainee, a team leader, a manager and eventually an executive. The coach and teacher are now called boss. The field and the classroom are called your office. The game is now your job and the tests are your yearly performance reviews.

All of our skills are developed using this same model --- with one striking exception. How do we learn our public speaking skills?

Most of us experienced 'show and tell' in first and second grade. Do you remember your performance being evaluated? Were you coached and given a chance to do it again and again to improve your skills and increase your confidence? If you weren't, welcome to the club. No one else was either. This lack of learning and training set us up for fear and failure in third, fifth or seventh grade when 'Sister Mary Atilla the Hun' made us get up in front of the class and speak about, "What I did on my summer vacation." Do you remember the fear, the butterflies, the sweats, fidgeting, worrying, nervousness and ... the embarrassment?

As peer pressure grew in middle school, did you learn that you should have this fear because everyone else does? When you had to read a poem in English class, give a history report, a science report or a speech at a scout meeting, did you get any coaching or practice then? Did you not run for a club or class office because you had to speak in front of an audience?

Did it get any better in high school where the peer pressure was even stronger and there were more speaking and leadership opportunities? Did you not step forward to be a leader in school, on your team or in clubs and groups that you joined?

Finally, you made it to college where even more speaking and leadership opportunities were available for you to grow and accomplish. Did Speech 101 save you? What?

You didn't take it either? Four years of college and two years of graduate school and you never took a public speaking class? Most of us didn't.

Congratulations! You graduated. Now you have a job, a career and responsibilities. With your knowledge, training, credentials and experience, you can confidently compete with the best of the best in your field. You dream of advancing in leadership to management and some day being an executive. Maybe you'll even become CEO or a successful entrepreneur---

Have you discovered the fatal flaw in your dream, the missing piece, the one skill that you never learned, studied or practiced? It is the one skill that you were never coached on, were never encouraged to develop and were never told would be a "game maker or game breaker" in your career.

Oh, Oh!!!
Your boss has just asked you to give a speech at the conference.
Or, is it a demonstration at the big meeting?
Or, do you have to lead a meeting or teach a class to your team?
What do you do now?