I write and I speak. I speak and I write.

I had a conversation with my sibling who happens to be a teacher in a primary school. She remarked that while children nowadays are more intelligent and speak better than previous cohorts, however, speaking prowess does not always translate into academic success. While some of the children in her class speak well, they may not do well in school work because speaking well does not always translate to writing well.

Why speaking and writing well are important

I always write out my speeches for contests because when you write out your speech, you are able to structure sentences and paragraphs using language tools and other rhetorical devices which take more time and effort to craft. Doing it off-the-cuff from a speech outline doesn't make the cut.

Your speech is only as good as your writing abilities because both are related to your language skills. A good public speaker needs to have a firm foundation of English in order to express himself well to others. Poor, ungrammatical and wrong use of english mangles your speech content and makes it difficult for the audience to understand what you are trying to say.

You can be a good speaker with a very basic standard of english but it takes a lot of effort to overcome issues or grammar, proununication and expression.

Does that mean only those who are good in English can improve?

No, everyone can improve their public speaking skills from your original level. But it would be unrealistic to expect to speak as well as Barack Obama if you started from a low base.

Writing well and speaking well in today's world are critical lifeskills especially if you are a knowledge worker. Increasingly, many of us work in an office capacity pushing paper. In order to push paper effectively, we need to communicate, interact and connect with our customers and colleagues.

How can toastmasters help you

Toastmasters provides a supportive and encouraging environment for those interested to improve their public speaking. The program is a tried and tested approach learning by doing. It works only if you put in effort and energy into doing your projects and investing face-time with your fellow club mates.

Speaking well is only one aspect of the public speaking. The ability to think, organise your thoughts in a coherent manner that is easy to understand and compelling comprises the other aspects.

I encourage those who are in the toastmasters movement to pursue your advanced projects even as you complete your basic communication and leadership manual. The advanced projects teach you higher-order communication skills in different types of scenarios.

I encourage those who are not yet in the toastmasters movement to give it a try IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT IMPROVING YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS. Anything worth doing requires time, effort and energy.

Speak well. Live well.