An Interview: The Art Of Public Speaking With Ajith Ram

1. How did you become a public speaker?
Both my parents are in the teaching profession and they were good public speakers right from their childhood. My father used to frequently give speeches on radio, TV channels as a hobby. This quality of them made them bring me up as a good public speaker along with imparting good education. And often they used to give speeches on my school’s annual days and other such occasions and this inspired me much.

2. Hi, Public speaking is a nightmare for most people and that too on a special occasion like this, there would be much pressure. How do you pull through?
Like the saying “Thottil pazhakkam, sudukaadu mattum”, I’ve never feared public speaking. Right from kindergarten, I’ve won prizes in similar events. This helped me chase out the element of fear during talks. Public speaking is not an easy feat. To pull these talks off, I am devoted 24×7. I start panning for these events and start preparing well ahead in advance.

3. And also tell us about your past experiences (places you have done talks like these)
I’ve spoken at many stages like political gatherings, roteract clubs, and near the collectorate on general awareness topics. Also, GCT gave me a good spotlight – Tamil mandram, Muthamizh Vizha, Sangamam – in Pattimandram.

4. What was your childhood inspiration to do talks like these, what inspired you to do these?
Pa. Vijay is my role model, inspiration and the guru to my skills. Also, Kamarajar features more in my speeches and always the prize is won when the speech is about him. I was motivated by all the books about tamil writers and the freedom fighters.

5. Tell us your most proud instance (where and why) of public speech and your worst disaster during the past times
Extraordinary speakers never come prepared for the occasion. But I always prepare on the topic beforehand. On one occasion, in the roteract club, I was asked to speak on “Tamil” & “Amma”. Usually I never try that but on that day I did speak well and won the 1st prize and received a huge applause. That was one of the notable moments where I superseded my expectations. Continuous victories made me build little lethargies that I was being overconfident for every occasion. There was this one occasion where I had to speak at a Tamil mandram session. Me being overconfident, never prepared for that and when I was to deliver the speech, I stopped at the second line. That day, I felt bad and that incident taught me a lot in life.

6. What are your future plans as a public speaker? What are you trying to impart on the society through your skill?
Even though my field of study is engineering, my ambition in life is to be a great debater. I never miss any chance to watch Pattimandrams on TV during festivals. My parents actually encouraged this habit of mine. In every stage of life there were a few limitations in these kinds of talks. Like, we shouldn’t debate on vulgar topics in schools, political topics and naming other institutions were not allowed in colleges, so there was no full right for debaters like us to speak our mind. Only in the corporate front could we be free to express these emotions. That is why I intend on continuing my ambition once I finish my B.E. degree and after that I plan to help the society through my speeches.