‘Knowing how to make a group presentation is the most important skill for anyone in the world of work today.’ How important are presentation and public speaking skills, compared to various other work skills? Which skill is the most important ability for most peoplethese days?

Success at work these days requires a wide range of skills, of which presentation ability is certainly among the most important.

However

, there are two other skills which appear to be more useful, which we will evaluate now. Possibly the key skill in professional life today is in fact the ability to handle a high workload, Including the methods of prioritising tasks and managing one’s time in an effective way. In most professions,

this

skill has grown in importance hugely over recent years, while the need for public speaking has probably remained static.

For example

, in the medical field, doctors attend increasingly fewer conferences and seminars, Because these events are perceived as time-consuming and less productive than they used to be due to the ease of exchanging information remotely. The

second

most important skill is probably the capacity to manage teams of people, including the techniques of setting and monitoring team objectives.

This

ability is fundamental to modern organisations in both business and the public sector, and success in

this

area virtually guarantees a person's professional advancement, even if their public speaking skills are less developed. We see

this

in the way in which finance or consumer goods companies promote effective team managers, but rarely require them to address large groups of people. The same trend can be seen in the civil administration and public services, where public speaking has, to some extent been replaced by the use of social media. For these reasons, I would evaluate presentation skills as a tertiary dexterity, which is important but Increasingly less useful than in the past, due to the radical changes in the way we work together and communicate with each other professionally. Overall, it is true that professional people should not neglect or underestimate the usefulness of Speaking skills.

However

, the skills of workload management and team direction appear to be more relevant and decisive in today’s rapidly evolving workplace.