Joshua Tahinduka’s journey into public speaking has been quite fascinating. One step out of his shell led to a milestone. Having been shy way back in school, his fret was standing before large crowds. At times, he hid behind tall people during school presentations, but now, all that is history. Luck knocked at his door in 2011 when he joined 1Toastmasters club, an international organisation that executes activities in small clubs, with the sole purpose of developing their communication and leadership skills. It was through the club’s training that he mastered the art of public speaking, to the extent of winning the first Best Overall Toastmasters East Africa (BOTEA) public speech contest in Nairobi in 2016. He said goodbye to his teaching and engineering professions to follow his public speaking passion. He has coached a number of youth to be confident, express themselves, gain great communication skills, and many other things. Boosting skills “I guide people on how to write and deliver a speech, from the introduction, body, and conclusion. They rehearse before the presentation and I give them feedback. The purpose of this, is to help them be eloquent and most importantly, boost their confidence,” he says. Tahinduka tutors people in leadership skills, achieving a competitive lead at their workplace, networking, building self-awareness, personal growth, and handiness to exploit potential. He noted that confidence and public speaking are key in every profession. The biggest role he plays is building people’s self-esteem. Confidence is basically knowing that one knows what they need to know. The public speaking coach also does public practical training. He believes that public speaking is like swimming, it requires practicing, confronting one’s fears, having people to provide support, hence turning into a seasoned pro. The training can be both short or long term depending on the need, and what the client wishes. He has trained people on all kinds of speeches, for instance, fundraising speeches, event speeches, organisational speeches, job speeches, presentations, policy speeches, informative speeches, persuasive speeches, demonstrative speeches, among others. He says that many people fail to give public speaking a shot due to fear. What causes fear is the lack of confidence, experience, and people’s judgment. “Usually, people wonder whether they have enough information to tell, how they would express themselves and impress others. Sometimes fear arises due to some speech disorders or illnesses,” Tahinduka says. Requirements of good public speaking The public speaking enthusiast notes that passion and determination are crucial. One needs to accept that they need training and practice. The trick to getting there is to practice, practice, and more practice. He explains that public speaking is just like any art, one needs to own it to get better. For instance, there is no harm in watching tutorials or asking people that are good at it. Someone can be good at one aspect and fail at another. There are people that are good at preparing the message before the presentation, but fail to communicate effectively and vice versa, he says. Tahinduka adds that whenever a person learns and adapts, they can acquire any skill. He says that a person has to have the right attitude to learn and listen to others. People who are more successful have great listening skills. Challenges “People fear to make mistakes. Society judges mistakes yet it is supposed to celebrate them as it is part of success. Others don’t actually think they need public speaking skills. Yet these are skills that are necessary while communicating with friends, families, and clients,” he says. Everyone desires to hang around a person that is verbal, funny, full of life, can connect with others freely, and emotionally intelligent. These are unique aspects of public speakers, the 32-year-old says. He adds that one of the ways to check how intelligent a person is, is how much one listens and how much they communicate with other people. Advantages of public speaking Tahinduka says that a public speaker has more social capital, they attract and connect with people easily. They also get jobs effortlessly, as most job advertisers search for good speakers, listeners, who can represent the company or organisation well. The beauty of communication is that it attracts all other social skills, he says. He adds that leadership and public speaking go hand in hand, it is a disaster to be a good public speaker who lacks leadership skills or a good leader with poor public speaking skills. Tahinduka highlights that a good public speaker is easily promoted at their job, since they have the potential to communicate better. He also says that those who own businesses, with great communication skills, make more sales because it not about what one says, rather, how they say it. Public speaking has positive, social, and financial impacts. He says that public speaking is like a two-edged sword, if one lacks something good to say, then they should keep quiet.
