Public speaking skills critical to career, business success – Communication experts

Public speaking is a critical skill for turning ideas into economic opportunities and strengthening social cohesion, experts at the inaugural Eloquence Unfiltered 2026, a public speaking and communication masterclass, have said.

Akin Akingbogun, a communication expert and co-convener of the programme, said the inability to communicate knowledge and ideas effectively could limit the extent to which individuals are recognised and taken seriously, regardless of their technical competence.

Speaking at the event on Saturday, Akingbogun said the masterclass was designed to help participants overcome the fear of public speaking and develop practical communication skills that could improve their professional and personal prospects.

Akingbogun delivered a lecture on the psychology of fear, particularly how the brain responds to unfamiliar situations, with participants taught how to condition their minds and bodies to manage anxiety and take control of presentations and conversations.

“Typically, a lot of people fear speaking in public and prefer to rather die than speak in public. And what we’re trying to do here is to debunk that fear, to show them that the fear is a natural response from the brain,” he said.

According to him, public speaking is not an innate ability reserved for a select group of people but a skill that can be developed through learning and practice.

He said the programme would focus on areas including body language, voice control, articulation and the management of public-speaking mistakes, particularly among young Nigerians.

Akingbogun said Eloquence Unfiltered would not be limited to a one-day masterclass, as participants would remain on a platform where they would receive coaching and further training over a year.

Also speaking, Mo’ Olumide Obidiran, co-convener of the programme, said effective communication had economic value because many ideas fail to progress beyond conception because their originators cannot properly package and present them.

“The economic importance of public speaking is truly endless. A lot of ideas, for example, are trapped in the idea stage. The inability to be able to put them together, package, propose, and then further those ideas,” she said.

Obidiran said public speaking could help individuals move ideas from conception to implementation while also promoting understanding and cohesion in society.

She also stressed the importance of communication skills to businesses, saying companies would benefit when their employees become better managers and more capable of representing their organisations.

The communication specialist added that employees’ communication abilities could influence how organisations are perceived because people effectively represent the brands they work for.

The organisers said the initiative was intended to build a generation of Nigerians who could communicate ideas effectively, connect with audiences and develop confidence in professional and public settings.