Great writers are seldom great speakers….. What do you think?

Having spent last Saturday in Bristol attending the AGM of the English Speaking Board (ESB)**, an accreditation body for a range of courses with emphasis on English as a spoken language, I dedicated the return journey to reading previous issues of the ESB newsletter -a semiannual publication.

And, it was there that I stumbled on the statement that formed the title of today’s blog. In reporting about a previous ESB conference, there it was “..writers are seldom great speakers”. Well I was gob smack. I had not thought about this previously. Then, I began thinking about writers I know who are entrepreneurs also. Two immediately came to mind, both very experienced and skilled in their craft. But then I realised that the statement was applicable to them, skilled writers they were but skilled in public speaking they were not, as I recalled their rambling speeches and ones in which the introduction was lengthy and the conclusion not readily evident.

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They were unable to organise their speeches and other presentations and to engage with their audiences during delivery. One had in fact related an earlier negative experience of speaking in front of her primary school class having this debilitating effect whenever required to speak. The other although use to and comfortable speaking before various audiences had not made the mental adjustment required to move from the written form to having a conversation with the audience, condensing the content so as to gain the attention and maintain the interest of the audience.

However, even as I recalled those two, I then thought of a third writer who took time out to develop her speaking skills and had sought membership of an organisation devoted to public speaking and effective communication and who had the benefit of evaluations of her presentations and it showed in the quality of her presentations.

So, even as two of the writers I know sought peer and professional help to improve the quality of presentations and another choose ‘to wing it’ as the need for training in speech craft remains unacknowledged.

Although my ‘straw poll reflection’ suggest there is merit in the statement “… writers are seldom great speakers”, my years as a researcher did not allow me to arrive at that conclusion as a three-person sample did not form the basis of a scientific study.

Yes, I hear you say, “one or two swans don’t make a summer”. However, anecdotally, it seem there is merit in the writer’s assertion that “….great writers seldom make great speakers”. What do you think?

Best,

Veronica

** Executive Solutions (Training) Ltd is a member of the English Speaking Board, an accreditation body recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), now replaced by the new regulator Ofqual.