Getting up on stage is either someone’s dream or someone’s nightmare, but should this be required? For a decent amount of jobs, public speaking is not needed.
In fact, 59.1% of office jobs are desk jobs, and the labor force grew 0.6 percent, annually, on average 8.5 million from 2014- 2024 in America. The growth of the other industries, and modern technology provides a new interpretation as to why public speaking may not be needed and should not be inflicted or taught.
Another reason is if you have seen another person about to give a speech, most are not usually calm. Why is that? Speech anxiety is a cause of the panic shown before public speaking, whether observable or not. Speech anxiety is the criticism upon one’s self to perform bad that generates the nerves into a panic creating the anxiety that one may feel. When speaking to crowds, 75% of people experience discomfort or anxiety.
Glossophobia is a type of social phobia caused by anxiety, where the person fears being judged or watched by others and social settings. This condition takes over, impacting the person through fears: judgment, laughed at, embarrassing yourself, forgetting words, vomiting, people looking at you, failure, and more. Social phobias get worse over time with progression in reactions from random events and triggers fears. Thus, the public speaking skill should not be a skill taught because social phobias like glossophobia might get worse.
Anxiety of any form can cause physical reactions: a churning in the stomach, the feeling dizzy/ light headed, pins and needles, feeling restless, headaches and other aches, faster breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, hot flashes, and nausea. The effects on the mind are: feeling tense, a sense of dread, worrying about anxiety itself, low mood and depression, depersonalization, and derealization.
Why is public speaking a good thing?
There are different types of speaking that contribute to positive outcomes of win over a crowd, motivating others, and can inform people. Informative speaking gives a report or analysis or presentation to an audience. Persuasive speaking is to mostly use to prove a point and used in jobs for business and law. Entertaining speaking is to entertain the audience and to inform, and is used for award ceremonies, wedding speeches, comedy specials, poetry reading, etc. Some benefits are sales, career advancement, stand out in the workforce, bring people together, become a leader, and create new social connections.
The self inverted benefits are boost confidence, personal satisfaction, critical thinking, improved communication skills, learn to argue, and to become a better listener. Public speaking overtime and history has driven change, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech and filibusters.
Furthermore, is public speaking a needed skill or is it not? Do the pros outweigh the cons? I say it is no longer necessary.
