Less than one percent of Ghana’s business community has gone through training in public speaking, says Samuel Jonathan, President of the Centre for Public Speaking, an organization committed to empowering men and women with presentation mastery. Jonathan has observed with worry the absence of the art of public speaking in the country’s educational curricula – from the basic to the tertiary educational level – inspite of its relevance to personal and professional success. According to him, possession of brand mastery and good communication skills are critical to selling a business and his organization is coaching Ghanaians on how to communicate with clarity, charisma and precision. “It’s not all about what you know, but how to articulate yourself and present or share your ideas in signs and illustrations…it’s very important that one should not just speak to the audience but you’ve got to connect with the audience” noted Jonathan. The Centre to partnering with Luv Fm to run a coaching seminar on public speaking in Kumasi, dubbed “Speaking Project 2012”. The hands-on interactive training will involve topics such as ‘how to connect with the audience’ and ‘courting audience through ice-breaking approaches’. The project is targeted at sales persons, marketing executives, business development personnel, public relations practitioners and other business and corporate professionals. Jonathan believes “you can propel your business career by availing yourself for teachable opportunities and learning moments such as the Speaking Project 2012”. “The ability to get your audience to buy into your message starts with you being able to connect with your audience”, he stated.