Should I Join a Competition – Bringing Success Through the Competitive Spirit

If you are someone who often shies away from competition, today’s article is for you. Competitive settings can be daunting, especially when the stakes are high and matters of pride come into the picture. For public speaking, competitive settings bring the fear of the stage to a new level, with speakers having to challenge themselves to influence, persuade, or move the audience. We understand the reluctance at times for new speakers to test their skills in such a competitive setting.

However, competitive settings can be the very platform to help you hone your public speaking skills. Aside from the glory of being a champion, such competition settings are often designed as a constructive environment to grow, develop, and master speaking skills. The pressure of the competition setting may distract us from the benefits that such a setting can bring. Understanding the rationale for participation will also help new speakers in goal setting.

Today, we will share three key reasons why competitive settings for public speaking can help you or your child to grow as better speakers/communicators.

High-Stakes, High-Returns

Unlike typical speech/communication settings, public speaking settings stand out as a high-stakes environment. Beyond the prize at stake, competitors are often driven by personal goals, pride, or even an element of ego. The impact of ‘losing’ in a competition can be terrifying with all this on the line. This is why high-stakes settings are often termed high-stress settings as well! However, the high-stakes setting often promises high returns (and no, we are not talking about trophies!).

It is the nature of such a high-stakes setting to bring out the best in us as communicators. We may encounter typical communication settings daily – a conversation, a discussion, or even a brief presentation. However, public speaking competitions often replicate a professional keynote/inspiration setting. Contestants are challenged to inspire their audience within a short speech span (usually 5 to 7 minutes). This unique setting can help a new communicator dive deep into new techniques to engage their audience.

Every Opportunity a Learning Opportunity

Building from a high-stakes setting, a competition Is a valuable learning opportunity for new speakers. The mistake is to treat such competitions as an individual endeavour (i.e., it is all about you as the competitor).  Instead, competitions are a gateway for you to observe and learn new communication techniques that can be gleaned from the other speakers. There are lessons to be gained in content-crafting, delivery elements, or even mental-preparation tips in managing the high-stress setting.

For example, when we organise the National Public Speaking Competition, we take the opportunity to add workshops that helps the contestant in their speech preparation. This helps to reduce the anxiety on stage and ensure the contestants are at their best when they deliver their speeches. If you approach a competitive setting with a humble, learning spirit, the space will offer you lessons you can take in becoming a better speaker.

Be Part of the Winning Community

Finally, a communicator does not progress alone – they rely on feedback, evaluations, or even peers in their growth journey. In the context of a competition, you will join a community of like-minded champion speakers. There is an opportunity to connect and network with speakers of varying experience and expertise. From speaking tips to war stories, these are the community aspects that we tend to forget in a competition.

We have found (in our experience) that the community formed during a competition can be a constructive platform for creativity. For example, competitions at an international level will offer speakers the opportunity to understand contextual techniques for different speeches based on the culture or location. This expands a speaker’s toolkit for a more versatile experience while on stage.

Join in for the Contest!

All that said, competitions remain a challenging setting. When a big prize is on the line, it is easy to get distracted from the main perks of joining such a setting. With the sharing above, we hope you will take the challenge to bring your speaking skills to the next level and present your story on a bigger stage!

WATCH: “2019 National Public Speaking Competition (Primary) | Little Ones With Big Impact!”

WATCH: “National Public Speaking Competition (Secondary) 2018 Highlights – Clash of Wits & Eloquence”

If you are keen to take your public speaking skills & presentation skills (either business/corporate presentation / kids in-class presentation) to the next level so that you may communicate and deliver speeches with greater flair and charisma, feel free to check out our public speaking/ presentation skills course for adults and public speaking course for children below!

We want to help you bring out the best in your team, organization, and company. Public speaking and communication skills for the workplace, such as persuasion, remain a priority for most corporate training out there. We believe in staying ahead of the curve in sharing the contemporary communication skills to help you and your team remain relevant, competitive and nimble. Through our customized corporate training programmes, your team will benefit from an in-depth, hands-on, and potential-maximising public speaking & presentation skills training programme!

Feel free to reach out to us to curate your own public speaking corporate training programme for your team, company, or organization! Let us help you develop them into highly effective public speakers at work, empowered with effective presentation skills & storytelling skills – them giving speeches with charisma, influence and impact is something you can look forward to!