Advanced Speaking Skills: Why Individual Communication Matters in Groups

a very good morning to one and all listening to online lectures on the course titled soft skills and i am binod mishra delivering these lectures to you friends as you all remember in the previous class we had been discussing group communication skills and while discussing

group communication skills we talked about various communication situations where a desired task could be fill fulfilled with the group members now keeping that in mind i want all of you to think about a group discussion situation and as you all remember in that group discussion

there were certain members but imagine one of the members could not speak anything you come across such a situation most of the tim when one or two members in the group they are totally enert and they do not speak they are actually silent now why i am telling you

all this is when you are in a group you will find that the group members try their level best to persuade or to encourage that silent person to speak because it is a question of group responsibility but then every now and then you will not be in a situation where

you have to do a task in a group there are certain situations where you will find you have to do an individual task also even in a group discussion when you are participating you are participating not as a group member only but as an individual member also so today

we are going to talk about the various benefits or advantages of a speaking individually and which we call advanced speaking skills now if you go back and if you visualize the image of the person who was enert you could have found that other group members they had

very different opinions about that person and such a silent person often becomes a sort of burden but then if you are working in an organization or you are aspiring to work in an organization you will find that every now and then it is not the group task but then

there are many occasions where you have to perform individual tasks also and in the series of [indivi/individual] individual tasks there are times when you have to speak alone that is why today we will be learning how as an individual speaking skills has got importance

now most of us and even most of you rather might be thinking that our speaking skills so important in an organization or in a company in an institute of course the basic difference between a man and an animal is that man has got the capability to express his ideas i

mean speaking is a sort of innate or a natural quality natural quality natural i mean most of us are gifted with the power of speech or the power of speaking but then in an age where most of the tasks are communication oriented or communication

based you have to remember that as a successful professional you have to own all of the skill ah which we had in some of the lectures called lsrw so today we are going to talk on this s part that is speaking part speaking now ah let us see and let us try to understand

why you speak is important why only the written documents cannot work so as a professional ah in an organization situations at times demand you to speak and hence it is not like ah the one speaking that you do at your home in your circle of friends but then it is one

such situation where you are all alone where you have to carry the entire task yourself as a speaker hence speaking is a skill now the question is you can well ask me of course everyone knows that speaking is a skill everyone can speak but you know why

it is a skill is because you can perform a task with the help of speaking for example ah you can have a look at me i have been speaking your teachers have been speaking they have actually a sort of responsibility or they have a task so to speak and speak ah for a

variety of regions going to the class delivering a lecture you as an individual you will also require this speaking to be developed as a skill because as humans not only in your personal but in your professional life also you will realise ah that there are several opportunities

several occasions where you have to express your ideas we have already talked in previous lectures how in a meeting also you have to speak of course there if you are not a good speaker fine so of course the leaders do the entire

job but as an individual member you have also to contribute your might or your share show is in group discussion but then there are several [ocoi/occasions] occasions where you are all alone groups can save you because somebody else will speak on your behalf but

in an organisation when you have to do this task yourself you have to develop these skills because you as an employee you as an assistant manager as a manager as a ceo i mean whenever you enter an organization and as you climb up the ladders you will find that you have

to perform several tasks and all these tasks are in somewhere or the other have one thing where you have to speak in order to convince in order to prove in order to make us satisfy in order to report in order to inform in order to entertain

so we can say that when we talk about speaking skills ah speaking has a greater role and it is very important as an an individual to develop speaking skills on several occasions you you might have felt because you know all of us sometimes or the other we think about

ourselves and then we find how good a speaker we are you sometimes get very much influenced by somebody who stole the soul because of his speaking skills and then on many occasions you also start yearning you also start wishing that if you could also be a good speaker now

the question is how your speaking skills different from the written ones when we talk about the written ones we have already talked a lot about writing skills you you you write things at your leisure know you take more time but there are certain immediate situations where

you need to speak and because the speaking consumes less time you you can express your ideas you can express your desire you can express your needs you can express your own point of view and then there you will find that when you speak it is not only

the words or it is not only your actually you have thoughts they are closed in words so you are speaking sentences fine but then when you speak it is not only the uses of words rather your verbal communication it is actually coupled with your nonverbal communication

we have already ah talked a lot about these nonverbal queues while discussing nonverbal communication or communicating about words so speaking is an ability and this speaking ability can be ah developed as a form of speaking skills where your verbal communication is

coupled with your nonverbal communication now what can be the situations where only speaking is required where where writing work cannot do the entire task so ah suppose in an organization or even in your day to day life also you see man could

not have remained [ma/man] man unless he could have had a company we actually if we do not have friends today you know you are living in an age of computers technology ah internet where you will find that people have a good number of friends why just not only to pass

time but actually to satisfy their needs and for that you need to communicate not only communicate only through written words but also through spoken words and that is why these spoken situations are conversation you actually suppose you are travelling in a train

now how long can you read how long can you write sometimes you want to speak also many people decide to speak over phone but then there are co passengers also sometimes you also decide that you should break the eyes is the other party is not ready

to speak so you have to start a conversation and there have been times where these conversations have resulted in to very beautiful and a lasting friendship so conversation one form of speaking is conversation you know conversation is also art not everyone can speak not everyone can

ah converse beautifully so conversation is an art then meeting you have already seen we have discussed a lot about meeting negotiations we have taught especially meant for our business group discussions you have already seen now there are other situations also which are

debates we will we will discuss how and then there are situations like a giving speeches presentations giving speeches and presentations then there are times when either you have to take an interview or you have to give an interview there are times

when you have to give an oral presentation there are also times when you have to talk to several people either for an mou or for some other regions hence you will realize speaking is a very important ingredient for fulfilling all these tasks now why it is important

because it provides you an opportunity to express your point of view in group discussion what happens you have already ah realised every member ah is expected to present his own point of view in meetings every person is expected whether you do it or not but remember

if a person does not speak or a person does not contribute do you ever realise what is the reaction of the fellow members many of them either think that you are not interested some of them also think that you do not have any content you do not have any points or

you do not have your own share to contribute so in order to save yourself from such ignominies such ah distracting situations it is better to develop ah speaking skills now sometimes you will find in a business world ah you you want you have a point of view you you can

express it through written words also but you will find if you do it in a spoken way ah the impact is better because you know a speaking is a face to face situation it is it is not only verbal as i said but it is also nonverbal moreover it has another facility

and the facilities that you are not only trying to anticipate the reaction of the other person but at the same time you try to gain the feedback as to how this person will react you are actually reading his thoughts if you take reclose to your nonverbal ah say experience you will

find what is there in the mind of the other person is being carefully observed by you because you are able to look at him and when you speak you know speaking also allows us to have certain clarifications also that is why ah dialogues are very important this courses

are very important so somebody has a point of view and you feel that this point of view is not helpful but then you want to put your own point of view and for that you have to convince so speaking allows you to convince others moreover we can read somebodys later

somebodys report somebodys proposal somebodys research paper but what a pressure we derive when we are able to talk to that person it is actually a life you know when when you see me ah delivering a talk you are watching me so this sort of i am able to have a sort

of credibility and able to establish the sort of rapport but when you read my book you might simply be imagining you might simply be thinking there might be a visual image but when you see me or when you see a speaker yourself then perhaps ah you feel more energized

you feel revitalized you feel a new sense of enjoyment and happiness is there so a speaking as a skill is very important it helps you establish a sort of credibility it helps you establish the sort of rapport and why you have so many friends because you are able

to speak unless and [un/until] until people speak to each other they cannot understand them that is why suppose there are two people and they are not in terms of speaking but they have been exchanging fine exchanging words exchanging letters so maybe a sudden

task which was not to be completed will be completed when there is a face to face meeting between the two that is why now it is a speaking is given a lot of credibility a lot of importance and other things since there are certain other facilities involved

with a speaking we say a speaking is natural as we have said it it has a sort of spontaneity a spontaneity you know some people you love why do you love them because of their speech because of the way they throw their words because of the way ah they are present something

because of the way ah uh they emphases on a particular ah phrase or a particular unit of thought because of the a way they feel are that they are able to convince you so you see you are writing something of course ah you can express your views but when because

because uh ah the factor of voice is concerned your voice is concerned here so what happens is when you speak it is actually your voice that has an important role to play in speaking and because of the facility of voice you are able to express your feelings

remember when you are angry or when you are sad when you are happy when you are distracted when you are disappointed when you are frightened when you are energized when you are excited when you are enthusiastic now all these feelings as when we speak you find that they are expressed

not only by words but by a sort of gesture and posture but i mean the emotions are actually displayed better when you speak then when you write so the quality of emotion which is an important ingredient in speaking that actually [spea/that] that speaks volumes that

is why suppose ah ju[st]- imagine a situation you are watching a match a live match now if you simply put your television ah say on a silent mode and of course you are watching all the activities so you are watching the activities you find

everything is well but the moment you add the voice quality it becomes more attractive you know imagine when when ah we didnt have this facility of watching this ah these matches live we actually used to listen to the commentaries and you know the commentator had got that

sort of quality that the moment he started depicting the entire scenario you as a listener also felt charged how the ball was thrown and how the batsman reacted and how the fielders also they became agile so what why was it so important because the speaker or the commentator

was portraying everything with the help of his words and that also with the help of his voice and that is why it has become very attractive it has become become very pleasant now so speaking affects faster because of the emotive quality that is why when you watch

a play and when you read a play there are differences when you watch you actually watch not only are the activities of the person but you also see ah the throw of words the throw of dialogues a speaking is more clear it is more lucid and it is explanatory isnt

it it is explanatory you will find if you are listen to these speeches if you listen to the talk you know speaker tries to put his heart into it whereas as a writer we actually write ah maybe many people do not love reading only because this doesnt have this facility

of emotion involved into it and they want to watch a talk life watch a presentation life so speaking is more clear more lucid more spontaneous more explanatory which is not there in writing now why ca[n]- why do we say ah thats speaking is a spontaneous

if speaking is a spontaneous and not only spontaneous it is actually reliable also when you talk to a person you believe that whatever he says may be correct because you have another aid another help and that is the expressions which are there on his face

now when we talk about a speaking as a skill we also have to see that not only is it explanatory but when it has got a sort of a spontaneity so this spontaneous quality of speaking actually makes you feel throughout that you are engaged you are involved moreover a speaking takes

less time you know you you you write a letter and as we have discussed in our communication in the beginning of these ah lectures that a written message it actually can be delayed but when you speak it is faster moreover you have this vocal quality involved so this vocal

quality helps you with several tones if a person is angry at the tone is heightened if a person is sad it is subdued a person is happy you can feel the vibes if a person is disappointed you can see how the facial expression suddenly ah has got

a sort of sadness or despair if a person is actually while delivering a talk or while speaking something in all less than one he is able to utilize his tone that is why when you want somebody to give you a favour the tone changes you want somebody to instruct

again the tone changes you want somebody to support you will find the tone changes so flexibility not only of tone but of tenor tenor the way you put it and of course response is very fast you ask somebody ah by giving him a message that may be delayed but when

you ask either over telephone again that also may be delayed at times but you when you speak face to face you get the response very easily and well in time but remember this speaking has another important quality to it many people call it quality

some may also call that it has got a disadvantage and that is people can manipulate their voice you will find the actors if you find them they are expert at manipulating their voice likewise you as a speaker also have this facility so this manipulation may be a negative word

but at times in order to get things done you have actually to lessen ah the speed lessen the tenor of what you are speaking so speaking has a facility that you can manipulate your voice now in order to be a good speaker because everyone wants to be a good speaker whether

we are able to be or not but who does not want to be a good speaker as humans we are actually hungry of fame we want people should remember un and people should remember not for wrong regions but for right regions and that is why in that

context people want that they should be remembered for their speaking abilities but in order to be a successful speaker or in order to be effective we are speaking throughout you know their their goals is saying half the world is full of people who have nothing to

say and keep saying on and the other half is full of people who have too much to say yet they cannot say it meaning is that most of us want to speak most of us want to express but then we are not able to that is why in in ah certain group discussions or certain

debates many people say i actually wanted to say but i could not say my dear friend we have to change that attitude could not say we have to change it to that we should be able to say and how is that possible for that we need to understand

what are the components that can make our speaking effective the first is voice which is very important now again when we talk about voice so let us let me tell you ah what are the four things that i consider ah are very important from the point of view of effective

speaking voice suppose i have a voice but i do not have words what will happen even if i have a very good voice i cannot speak so voice is to be followed by vocabulary now can every everyone have a very good vocabulary we want to speak we want to depict the situation

we want to narrate a story we want to share certain things but then and specially in english and then we will find ah that we do not have words for that so it is not only the voice which is important but vocabulary is also important there are several ways we can discuss

sometimes when we have both time how a vocabulary have a good vocabulary ah can help us and how we can enrich our vocabulary dear friends you cannot have a good vocabulary just in one day or one week it actually takes years moths to have a good vocabulary but

then even if somebody has a very good vocabulary but he does not know which words to situate where all is good vocabulary is useless so it is good to have a good vocabulary but at the same time one must know how to use proper words in proper places that is how your your

so if you have a good voice there are different ways of voice and and as i say and as i will continue to say that voice is gods gift to mankind but then ah as we have discussed in some of the lectures ah that our voice has certain qualities every voice is distinct

dont worry if you do not have a good voice but through consistent training and effort you can change the quality of your voice and you can change it to a desired effect then not only the voice and the vocabulary but then the question is audience who is going

to speak to whom and who is listening to whom i mean many of us ah remember when you talk in a group of your friends you do not have any problem you feel it is quite natural to talk but when you are supposed to talk formally you will find that the audience members become

very important because you are speaking for them and how do you know who are the audience sometimes your audiences are well defined i mean you know in advance who will be listening but sometimes you do not know who are the people you are going to talk to so audience

is also very important and then comes the style so these four according to me are the components of effective speaking now when it comes to voice as i said it is of course gods gift but when we do not have a control over our

voice you know the quality of the voice can be changed your voice whether it is cracked whether it is harsh whether it is loud whether ah it has developed ah some sort of stumbling or what so ever i mean there are many people who stammer but then in order to speak you

actually have to change you actually have to bring certain qualities in your voice and is that possible you might be thinking can i change my voice of course you cannot change your voice because that has been granted to you by god but then you can without any doubt

change the way you speak because the main purpose of yours is to convince your audience is to make or is to driven the point that you want and for that you can try different ways a speaking too fast or too slow too slow that totally depends upon you

we will discuss later how when you speak too fast and you feel that you are very confident but when sometimes you will realise later that speaking too fast is also a sort of fright within you a sort of fear within you as we will discuss when we talk about nervousness

but when your voice can be utilized there are nowadays many therapies through which you can utilize you can change ah the quality so through efforts and consistent training also you can you know you singles what what do they do singers also have a voice but then

with consistent training they know ah how they can utilize it sometimes ah they are allowed or they are trained to go high sometimes they are also trained that they can bring down their pitch levels so when you are speaking of course you may not be a singer no problem

but you can be a good speaker by good speaker i mean somebody who is able to express his thoughts clearly because you know even if you have a very good voice but people are not engaged with your talk with your lecture your voice becomes voiceless so in order to

be voice and in order to voice your own opinions please see that your voice has got some amount of clarity and this clarity in order to bring this clarity in order to bring a sort of animation in order to bring a sort of enthusiasm you will have to practice my dear friend because

practice makes a man perfect now when we talk about after voice we talk about vocabulary as we have said that vocabulary takes long to get enriched because you know words are they are scattered here there everywhere this dictionary online websites but when as a speaker

which word you are going to choose that is of course very important words are already spread words are scattered words as i will once again say do not have any meaning it is actually the speakers who will provide meaning to words that is why

i am reminded of what shakespeare says that even if there are people who have got less words or they do not have a good vocabulary fine so men of few words are the best men what actually he intends is it is better to speak less then to speak too much and to mean

nothing so if you think of having a good vocabulary and you want to make proper use of your words or the vocabulary please try to understand please try to learn how to put right words in the right place based on context words are context based isnt it for example now

it is because of the advent of computers and all words have literally changed their meanings you know sometimes you start saying recycle and a computer person the moment he comes to hear this word recycle he will have a different meaning whereas

say a pharmacist will have a different meaning for recycle and again when you use some other word again they will because people try to extract meaning of the words of which they have been trained to use in a particular contexts now what is what is the advice the advice

is use familiar words when speaking as youngsters all of you might with thinking that using big words using long winded words may make you famous as a speaker but no my dear friend it is always better to use words which are familiar because unless and until our audience

members understand there is no meaning of a difficult or a big world next is audience now how can audience affect our speaking i sometimes have observed when i have only few students in my class i lose the enthuse i lose the jill i lose the charm but when

the class is full naturally a sort of animation a sort of enthusiasm comes and then when i know that these are my students and they are young people so why why i am saying all this is your audience actually can change the orientation of your speech of your speaking so you will

have to understand the age background taste sex gender education of audience and that will make your task easier as a speaker you are very comfortable in the house why because all the members in the house are familiar and you are also familiar with them but when

you have to speak to a group of people or to an audience whom you do not know i mean unfamiliarity or familiarity both of these affect our speaking abilities because [ich/it] it helps us the size of your audience will help you the sort of action you will take

as a speaker it helps you decide the selection of words selection of language but on many occasions you do not know the background of your audience so in such a situation imagine visualize think of the audience and it is always bitter you know for for better effect

to think that my audience will be a mix sort of gathering i mean there will be young people adults children and people from all walks of a life so that will allow you ah to make a specific selection of words and that is how you will feel your task becomes easier

so dear friends by this time you might have known that speaking is not only a sort of natural activity but it is actually a sort of art and if it is an art this art can be learned this art can be developed how can you develop by having a sort of style

can speakers have different styles of course every speaker will have a different style because we say a style is a mans inner voice now when we talk about style it is actually a quality you know sometimes you know the content may be very good but these speakers

of style is not good so a well contented subject also will become meaningless so by style i mean the animation and the enthusiasm that i have talked about so enthusiasm when you put enthusiasm in your content in your speech in any form of your speaking your audience

will feel delighted and do you not feel elated delighted when you can find the faces of your audience light up like lamps it actually gives you a lot of satisfaction might different so and then another important feature of your style is

that whatever you speak has to be received well think of the person who is at the last bench or in the last row of an auditorium fine so you have to ensure that you are audible those people in the last rang with last row they can also listen to you how is that possible

of course microphones have done wonders but microphones are microphones only it is actually your voice that is being put in the microphone so you have to check well in advance whether your audibility level is proper and moreover another important quality of a style is you

will find some speakers when [ja/they] they come in the beginning no i have always been saying that every speaker wins or loses in the beginning itself how the speaker stands how the speaker addresses and how he throws his voice if a person speaks only in one tone

only in ah a singular tone of course he will become very boring so with the help of your voice you can bring certain changes you can alter the quality you can ah try to bring certain ups and downs as we have been saying and that will of course make you a better

speaker dear friends a speaking is an art time and again i will be saying but this art has to be developed and how can it be developed it can only be developed by knowing what are the specifics that can make you a better speaker

before i close ah my talk let me repeat what benjamin franklin a famous writer a famous philosopher a famous scientist says remember not only to say the right thing in the right place but far more difficult still to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment

times are tempting but how tempted you are you actually you will find that every now and then there is a sea of audience before you but you have to control them you have to win them to your side and not only at this formal situation

but there are you will come across several situations where with the help of your speaking ability you will win and you will bring wonders not only to yourself but you will help in creating a sort of rapport between the speaker and yourself and you will find that they bring

something back to their homes and there lies your satisfaction as your speaker thank you very much