40. Public Speaking Basics: 3 Steps to Above Average Public Speaking: 1. Introduction and Objectives

Hello everyone! Happy New Year 2018!

Welcome to the 4th series of my weekly blog posts here at my website: www.johncheah.my

My 1st series touched on Essentials in Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), a topic I cover at work.
My 2nd series chronicled my personal journey in public speaking, covering 5 and a half years of my life from 2007 onwards, living the life of a Toastmaster from new member to achieving the level of Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).
My 3rd series focused on the area of personal finances. I hope it has been useful.

I have decided to devote this 4th series to looking at the area of public speaking, and specifically on how we can use this skill effectively in our daily lives, be it at work or at home.

Over the past 2 decades of my working career and life, I have been hearing people say that public speaking was an essential skill to have, especially at the workplace. True enough, I have seen its importance grow and cover many areas of worklife, and into the personal life as well.

Even as we currently rely more on technology and devices for communication and sharing of information, the need for public speaking has not diminished. In fact, as we continue to develop as a human race/society, how well you speak and carry yourself in the public and even private spheres in life actually do matter!

Public speaking, I believe is not for the select few. In fact, having been in the Toastmasters movement and community for over 10 years now make me realise that public speaking is for everyone. Proficiency in public speaking can be developed, and I want to share my 2 cents on how we can do it.

You might be thinking, " Do I have the time and energy and money to invest to become a successful public speaker?"

My answer is this: While aspiring to be the best or perfect public speaker is a noble aim, it is unnecessary for most of us. While a select few may pursue the goal to be the top of the league, my premise is this: Let us aim to be Above Average Public Speakers.

As the term itself suggests, above average is above average. Since being effective in life is not a competition, and we have many other priorities that need our time, energy and resources, let us strive to be above average and let that first step add fulfilment to our lives.

In the next few weeks, I will share a basic set of guidance that I have found useful, which if applied generously in life and work, will help in raising us a notch above the average person. I will run through some steps to:

Answer some core questions like Who, What, How, Why, Where and When;
Look at some basic skills we can master easily to build a strong foundation in public speaking that can help is throughout our lives;
Introduce the 3 Steps to lock in the skills so that what we do will then be 2nd nature; and
Explore some actions and activities that can fine tune ourselves to equip us in more specific ways in the life of a public speaker