Mrs Oloyede made the assertion while giving a lecture titled ‘Good Speech a Prerequisite for Success’ at a recent Town and Gown Seminar of the Departments of Mass Communication and Languages and General Studies in Covenant University.

According to Mrs Oloyede, the CEO, Strictly Speaking Academy, the importance of good speech, as a prerequisite to success, could not be overemphasized. She said a craftsman was one who selected his speech by choosing the appropriate words; and he was one who attained a position of advantage by using appropriate words.

“We can’t understand what you’re saying if you do not use words properly. Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity. Good speech is to our advantage. It eliminates class biases and attracts and maintains favourable attention,” she explained.

Mrs Oloyede decried what she described as the negative effects of the declining standards of speech. She stated that one could have brilliant ideas, but if the ideas could not be properly articulated in order to get them across, the ideas won’t get one anywhere. She noted that the general decline in the standard of written and spoken English was adversely affecting every facet of people’s daily lives.

While citing the example of an inscription on a 3000-year-old Egyptian tomb, “Make thyself a craftsman in speech, for thereby thou shalt gain the upper hand,” she said a good speaker was one who performed with skill and dexterity and one that spoke effectively, using appropriate words. She added that a good speaker was one who was a wordsmith and attained a position of advantage by being an expert user of words.

She listed some elements of good speech as vocabulary, diction, content, confidence, audibility and intonation. She said that people must deliberately work on their speech in order to master the art of good speech to sustain saner social and formal interactions.

Earlier in her opening remarks, the Head, Department of Mass Communication, Dr Kehinde Oyesomi, welcomed the participants and appreciated the Guest Speaker for honouring the invitation from the Department. She also thanked the University Management for the great insight in putting together the awesome industry and academia interactive platform that had been a continuous blessing to the students.

Dr Oyesomi stated that the issue of the day was very topical. “I believe this will be a very productive session, and good speech is a necessary component of a Public Relations professional. As a PR professional, you are the mouthpiece of the organization and must be able to express yourself properly,” she said.
In his remarks at the event, the Head, Department of Languages and General Studies, Professor Innocent Chiluwa, appreciated the Guest Speaker and expressed his joy in having the privilege to meet her after a long period of seeing her on the screen.

He stated the importance of the day’s lecture and stressed that “one must not only speak English; one must speak good English”.

A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, now a senior faculty of the Department of Languages and General Studies, Professor Charles Ogbulogo, later presented gifts to the Guest Speaker on behalf of the University.

Also at the event were other senior faculty members of the two Departments.