Gone are the times when public speaking skill was considered a soft skill. Today, it is key to your success in every walk of life.
According to LinkedIn’s, most demanded skills in 2019, including “soft” skills, Persuasion holds the top most important and is in high demand. Persuading others and becoming a thought leader, analyzing advanced consumer behavior, and inspiring them to achieve their goals are the most important attributes of public speaking skills.
Another way to look into the importance of public speaking is, A website or a software coder that draws between $40k to $80k in Silicon Valley but the same coder with amazing business development skills, the one who can also speak to the client can command $120k and higher.
Decision-making on the client’s end is not easy and it requires persuasion, and compulsion to convince them to pay you higher. This requires changing their thought process, and a different perspective to look at things, from a different angle.
Those who have the ability to speak well, and deliver statistical facts with a bit of history get promoted in their field of work much more quickly than those who lack this soft skill in the first place. The good thing is public speaking, the art of persuasion is a skill anyone can build.
Warren Buffett has one diploma on display in his office and surprisingly, it’s not his college degree. It’s a certificate Warren earned after participating in and completing a public speaking course and Warren cherishes this certificate a lot. This does not undermine the importance of public speaking, especially coming from someone, who’s worth $80 billion.
Overall, while public speaking is an essential skill in some contexts, it is not the only key to success. Developing a range of skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and adaptability, is important for achieving success in various fields and industries.