Art of “natural” speaking

Is speaking natural? Iam talking about “speaking in general”..A person may be good at constant chit-chat but may not give the same results if he is asked to do the same on a stage and vice versa! On the contrary, a person may be good at both.

My first speech was on “Work is worship” while I was in class five. To the surprise of everyone, I bagged the first prize in the contest. I still remember that my English ma’am walked up to me and said, “I never realized you would speak so well being the most silent student in the class”. I did not even probe her statement due to my sheer excitement at that point in time. I give full credit to my dad who wrote the speech for me. I do remember a few words that said ” For a butcher, the knife he uses to cut is a tool of worship..” My dad has an amazing vocabulary in English/Hindi. His pen is definitely mightier whenever he uses it. And he is, in general a silent person too! After that episode, there was no looking back for me – have been getting prizes in yearly speech contests both in English and Hindi (I wonder how?) till I passed out of my school. My Dad authored all the speeches. That may be the only reason for my winning! Anyways, the fact is till today am not very comfortable in initiating conversations with people whom I know well unless there is a need. It’s coming as a shock as I type those words! Guess that’s coming from my character of being reserved! Though once initiated, ppl cant ask for more! Well, Iam improving there.

Its actually a paradox as I see people around me going to eloquent /public speaking clubs, English vocabulary coaching class etc and still fail to express day to day thoughts clearly to their folks. One of my colleagues got a feedback in the usage of grammar and she is earnestly going to a grammarian to refresh her skills. All these may help in inducing the “natural flare” but may fail to be natural! Cos I guess if any one is good at speaking, it would have a history of reading, writing or usage of vocab behind them. It’s definitely not a few days ordeal. Also, one is successful only if he/she uses the skills in all aspects of speaking!

One can easily differentiate the natural flare and acquired skill of speaking. Acquiring skills of speaking in itself is easy compared to the effort of making it natural!

Kudos to all natural speakers!!!