Speak up: Why public speaking should be taught in our high schools

Published : Friday, 9 September, 2022 at 12:00 AM  C

Sakir Mohammad

In Bangladesh, public speaking is not a common skill that is taught in schools. As a result, students realize the importance of public speaking when they struggle to give a simple class presentation at the university or during a job interview.

Nowadays, it is difficult for students to secure a job or a career, even with prestigious university degrees. Amongst all the skills that recruiters search for in candidates, public speaking is one of the most sought-after skills. 

According to a 2018 research paper by James K Arnold, there is a strong relationship between public speaking skills and progression toward top leadership positions. 

Even if you think empirically, there is hardly any good leader without excellent public speaking skills. 

There are a multitude of reasons for public speaking being a crucial skill for students. Whether for pitches, presentations, or communication with colleagues, every workspace requires you to present yourself. Effective communication and developing the ability to establish connections are key requirements in the corporate world. 

Students with public speaking skills have the upper hand in job-seeking or entrepreneurial advent. Not only does public speaking help students in a professional setting, but it also enables them to have a better social life from a personal perspective.

Moreover, public speaking enables students to empower themselves and lead events. As a community, we are striving to bring about social reforms and changes. This means that future generations require the enthusiasm of oration to propel any social change or movements. 

Hence, making public speaking mandatory might be the right step in discovering future leaders. 

Even on a smaller scale, public speaking can enable individuals to be more confident in their abilities through civic engagement and leading events. Most importantly, public speaking boosts personal growth for individuals by boosting one's self-esteem. 

This allows individuals to believe that they have the power to make changes through their words and actions; as public speaking requires students to think on their own, their critical thinking ability increases. 

This promotes self expression among students resulting in meaningful discourse. As a result, the future generation would be more aware and vocal about their rights and would be equipped with skills for formulating better policies.

Whilst the benefits of public speaking know no bounds, integrating public speaking into the curriculum might be challenging. 

Using a peer learning approach where students are encouraged to work in teams with regularly scheduled presentations might be an effective way of integrating this approach. Many countries across the world have been shifting to this approach to learning. 

While some might argue that the introduction of public speaking at the school level is too early, young people are better at learning skills such as public speaking as they are less susceptible to the fear of judgment. 

They are usually better learners because they are less likely to have an egoistic personality and they do not fear failure. This is particularly important in public speaking because children care less about what the audience thinks, allowing them to speak with greater spontaneity.

Recently, a team of university students from Bangladesh won the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC). They became the first-ever team in Asia to win this award by defeating prestigious institutions like Oxford, Harvard, etc. 

While this success is inspirational for many, the sad truth is that extracurricular activities that promote public speaking are confined mainly to elite schools and university circles in the country. 

With an immense lack of resources and funding, students find it quite challenging to embark on the journey of public speaking. 

While efforts are being made to increase accessibility, extended support from the government may allow more talented leaders of our country to emerge. 

Currently, many students in Bangladesh only have the opportunity to develop their public speaking skills if they attend private schools or universities. This means that a large section of the population is being left behind. 

Introducing a public speaking course at the high school level would be a major step forward for education in Bangladesh as education moves away from textbook-based learning to a more interactive learning environment. 

This step aligns with the goals of the 2010 Education Policy of Bangladesh, as one of the aims of the developed curriculum was to improve speaking ability among children and increasing access to extracurricular activities that promote public speaking can immensely help students. 

The reality of our education system is that it completely discourages students from speaking about themselves; instead, students are pushed towards memorizing and regurgitating information rather than using their own thoughts and ideas. 

We want children to grow up with speaking abilities that enable them to share their ideas, thoughts, and world views. We want them to practice their creativity and show off their personality. Therefore, I believe it's high time that we prepare our future generation with practical communication skills by introducing public speaking at the high school level. 

Sakir Mohammad is a Research Associate of South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University.