ESL? EFL? Who REALLY cares?

Often times we think that you need to be a native English speaker to make a good speech in English. How can any foreigner compete with someone who has been trained since birth; living and breathing the language? Surely, making a great English speech is an impossible feet. Or is it?

The answer is an emphatic no. No, you don’t need to be a native English speaker to be able to make a good speech in English. Speech making is an art like painting or music. It’s not all about the technicalities or content, it’s also about how you make the audience feel and how you move them. 

Case in point is the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking for 2016 Darren Tay (Feloni). A 27 year old Singaporean Lawyer, Mr. Tay won the audience with humor, vocal variety and gestures. These are all the techniques that we practice every Sunday in Toastmasters. He was able to wow the audience like nobody else could - native English speaker or not. 

Jack Ma is another great example (Tech in Asia). The Chinese billionaire expresses himself purposefully, speaks slowly and deliberately, and he does it even when he is speaking in his native tongue of Chinese.

Not being a native born English speaker should be the last reason that anyone has for not thinking that they could ever give a good speech in English. If you think that being a foreigner is a huge handicap remember that this excuse was not good enough for Darren Tay and Jack Ma. Remember to practice, practice, and PRACTICE!

Sources

Feloni, Richard. "Here's a breakdown of the speech that won the 2016 World Championship of Public 

     Speaking." Business Insider, 23 Aug. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/ 

     toastmasters-public-speaking-champion-darren-tay-2016-8. Accessed 13 Aug. 2017. Article on how 

     Darren Tay won the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking for 2016. 

Tech in Asia. "Here's how one of today's most engaging speakers captures your attention." 

     Facebook, 2 Aug. 2017, 10:20 p.m., www.facebook.com/techinasia/videos/1524030900968651/. 

     A video on how Jack Ma is able to make effective speeches.