well, being able to talk helps a lot. i can say "i'll have a diet coke, please," and, if i say it to the right person, i'll get something i wanted.
but that's probably not exactly the kind of speaking skills you meant.
in truth, though, the principle is the same. being able to communicate effectively and present yourself well is the key to a lot of important situations.
interviews are the most obvious case. there, speaking skills can help you get into a good school or get a job or just get something you need.
now, you're probably still sitting there thinking that i'm talking about the wrong kind of speaking skills. you're asking about the ability to stand up in front of a group of people and deliver a speech.
the thing is, it's all connected. being able to stand up in a group and give a speech can help give you the confidence you need to be more effective in other situations with a smaller audience (and vica versa). whether you're talking to one person or a thousand, you need to be able to be articulate and you need to have enough self-confidence to be comfortable with your audience.
once you develop that confidence, you find yourself doing better in a wide variety of situations -- speaking up in class, walking up and making new friends, being willing to ask someone out, moving away from the wall at parties, going for an interview, giving a presentation (whether for a job, a class, a club, or anything else), and just about any other situation that requires the courage to go up and talk to someone.
it's not the only thing you need, by a long shot, but it does make things a lot easier.
that's my take on it, anyway. i didn't mean to make it sound so much like a speech. i just thought about how much things changed for me when, thanks to a certain small physics class, i really learned to get past my shyness and speak up. carried through to a lot of places i hadn't really expected, and even made things better for me in other classes. i was often one of the few people willing to ask questions in a 200 person class, and (most of) my teachers liked me for it.
i've been home sick for 2 years now, and my psych professor, who teaches every term in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus and often goes out to lecture elsewhere, still remembers me because i was willing to speak up in class and even come up to talk to him after class sometimes.
hope this helps you, nqoire.
Paul
p.s. for the record, i tend to be a lot more shy in person than i am when typing into a text box.
