In what way is public speaking and everyday conversation similar and require similar skills?

In learning to speak English, it is essential to develop both conversation and public speaking skills. They are crucially needed when you want to deliver your idea orally. Conversation skills will be needed when you want to exchange ideas with another person in your daily life, for example, when you meet someone from another country. On the other hand, public speaking skills will be needed if you want to deliver some ideas to a larger number of audiences. Thus, this article will cover the differences between public speaking and conversation.

The Definition of Public Speaking and Conversation

Before jumping onto the main topic of this article, it is necessary to have the same understanding of what it means by public speaking and conversation.

Public speaking can be defined as the process of delivering messages orally to a group of people in a structured and purposeful manner to inform, influence, or entertain them. What should be highlighted here is that public speaking is performed by a person and the other people act as the listener. 

On the other hand, a conversation is defined as the process of interactive and spontaneous dialogue between people to exchange ideas. It means that there are certain rules to be followed in order for the ideas to be successfully exchanged in the conversation. These rules are called the hidden rules of conversation. 

The Similarities between Public Speaking and Conversation

Now that we are on the same page about public speaking and conversation, let's move on to learn the common things both of them have. 

The most important thing both of them have is that they are purposeful, and the purpose is delivering ideas to the audience(s). Thus, the similarities covered in this article will focus more on what both of them need to achieve this purpose. 

Communication

Firstly, both public speaking and conversation require communication. Communication itself can be understood as the process of using languages both verbally and nonverbally to express or exchange information. Communication is like the pizza delivery address. If there is a mistake in the address, the pizza will not be delivered. Thus, without proper verbal and nonverbal communication, the initial purpose of public speaking and conversation will not be achieved. 

Speakers and Audiences

The second common thing in both public speaking and conversation is that they involve both speakers and audiences. If one of them is missing, the information delivery will not be possible. Doing public speaking or conversation without audiences is as if you are delivering pizza to an empty house. The pizza will be cold and wasted away. You might find yourself delivering ideas, but there is no one who will receive them. 

Engagement

Thirdly, both of them require engagement with the audience(s). The more engaged the other parties are, the more successful the public speaking or conversation will become. Maintaining engagement is like keeping a house owner from shutting the door when the pizza is going inside a house. If it is failed, the pizza will be stuck between the door. You wouldn't want that, would you?

The Differences between Public Speaking and Conversation

After learning that the purpose of both public speaking and conversation is delivering information, we are going to talk about the differences between public speaking and conversation. To put it in a simple way, the main differences between both of them are mostly how the information is delivered.

Structured Vs Unstructured

In public speaking, the information is usually structured and organized according to a certain theme or topic. Usually, the thoughts will be organized using three basic organizational structures:

• Introduction
  The introduction is used to gain the attention of the audience and let them know what will be talked about
• Body
  The body contains the main ideas of the speech. Public speakers should maintain engagement with audiences so that they will not put their attention away from the speech.
• Conclusion
  At the end of the speech, public speakers should finish the speech by wrapping up the main ideas.

On the contrary, daily conversations do not need any structure. Conversations can wander from one idea to another without being planned, or without even coming to a point. For example, you can start a conversation by talking about the weather, and then the other party can suddenly talk about their family vacation. 

Formal Vs Informal

Public speaking requires a certain amount of formality in its delivery. We cannot freely use slang, profanity, or incorrect grammar. Even though in some contexts, the use of informal language is permitted to engage more to the audience, the language is still more refined than everyday conversation.

Conversations, on the other hand, are more informal and borderless. However, it doesn't mean that we can use any form of language towards any people. The formality of a conversation depends on the context in which it takes place. For example, we can use informal language with our friends, but we should use more formal language with a professor.

Prepared Vs Unprepared

To deliver effective public speaking, thorough preparation and rehearsal are needed. The speaker can deliver it by reading a script, reciting a memorized script, or using the extemporaneous method. Although in some contexts, public speakers can do a speech spontaneously, they are still obligated to deliberately choose their words to deliver the school of thoughts. In other words, even spontaneous speeches need rehearsal and preparation.

On the other hand, we can start a conversation spontaneously without any preparation and rehearsal. You can strike up a conversation without worrying about anything to prepare.

Scheduled Vs Unscheduled

The time and location in which a public speaking will take place are usually set beforehand. It requires events where people gather, expecting to listen to a certain topic. Some events even have a time limit for each speaker. 

On contrary, the conversation can take place anytime and anywhere. If public speaking needs events to take place, conversations need channels, such as face-to-face, phone, or online meeting platforms. The time limit usually has not been set. You can end a conversation whenever you need to.

Are We Required to Learn Both of Them Differently?

We have found out that even though public speaking and conversation have some similarities, they differ much more in terms of delivery. Both of them require us to speak English fluently. However, aside from that, they require different skills to be mastered.

Learning to Master Public Speaking

As we've already known, public speaking requires a lot of preparation. The responsibility to deliver the idea is concentrated only on the public speaker themselves. Because the audience is the public, only a few mistakes are allowed. Thus, in improving our public speaking, we need to look into the things we should master:

• Speaking and listening skills
• Thinking in English
• Topic and purpose selection
• Analyzing the audience
• Gathering materials
• Supporting ideas
• Organizing and outlining the speech
• Language use
• Speech delivery
• Using visual aids

Learning to Master Conversation

In conversation, the responsibility to deliver ideas is distributed between two or more people. In other words, sometimes you can act as the speaker, and later you can act as a listener. Thus, skills to interact are needed in order to maintain a good conversation. There are some hidden rules called Grice's maxims of conversation to prevent miscommunication in your conversation.

• Maxims of quantity (be as informative as you can, and do not add unnecessary information)
• Maxims of quality (be truthful, and do not share false information or those with no/little evidence)
• Maxims of relation (be relevant)
• Maxims of manner (be clear, brief, orderly, and avoid ambiguity)

In this article, we have covered the definition of public speaking and conversation, their similarities, their differences, and how they are learned differently. Learning all of the skills required in public speaking and conversation cannot be done in one night. Therefore, in order to improve your public speaking and conversation skills in English, you must also know how to learn English effectively.

In what way is public speaking similar to conversation?

What are the similarities and differences between conversation and public speaking?

Is public speaking and communication skills same?

What are the four major similarities between conversation and public speaking?