When an artist showcases their painting or sculptures or performs a song or a dance routine to the public, art transcends from just being a form of communication; it becomes a form of public communication.

But how is art even a form of communication?

Painting, dancing, singing, sculpting. Those are commonly known artforms. But do people sing, dance, or just make art in general for no reason? Do they just do it without any purpose? Not really…

In the professional world, art is meant to convey a message, communicate a story through art.

Have you ever taken an Art Theory class before? Or maybe picked up an art textbook or watch videos in Youtube intended to teach art for all skill levels from beginner to advanced?

If you’ve ever even just picked up, you may begin to realize one thing in particular. Every single thing that an artist paints, draws, or sculpts is entirely intentional. Everything an artist does has a meaning, even if it was up to the viewers to interpret. From the positioning of the subjects, the color or color palettes they choose, each individual brushstroke that an artist puts is intentionally done that way for one reason; to convey a message and to tell a story.

It is so important to understand that even a seemingly simple portrait or life drawing is painted to convey a message. So much so that in the book Portraiture, you’ll immediately be captivated by a portrait of Hans Holbein in his office which is then analyzed. It was explained that the workspace was painted to be extremely messy instead of well organized and dark to describe that Hans Holbein was a busy and melancholic man.

You may even notice the same thing in videos explaining theories in ballet or song analysis videos.

Let’s take a look on a such a song analysis of one of the most well-known songs Welcome to the Black Parade. The song is performed by an American Rock Band My Chemical Romance.  A YouTuber by the name of 12tone. The video breaks down the song and to every last bit through music theory and explains what effect each and every small thing gives. From the solo piano conveying solitude, the beat of the drums that resembles that of a marching band drumming to emphasize the “Black Parade” element of the song to why the song is in G major instead of any other scale. It becomes evident after 12tone breaks down the song, that, just like a painting and just like a speech, everything in the song is arranged to convey the message they try to send through the song.

Even artforms that don’t seem to convey a message, such as abstract art, actually exist to present a message. Even though it just looks like meaningless splashes of paint, or lines, the painting can still evoke emotion in the audience; which is the message

Now, let’s look at the meaning of public speaking. As Dirish Morhan defines it, public speaking is the art of giving power to words – to influence, inspire and transform lives.

Notice how he used the word “art” to define public speaking? Because truly, public speaking and art are very similar to each other. A speech, for example, is worded carefully to create an impact the speaker desires. The tone that the speaker uses to deliver the speech can also create a greater influence on those who hear it.

The best kind of speech is the one that can create a great impact and influence the speaker as desired by the speaker. And so it is the same with art. The similarities between art and public speaking are always overlooked but correlating the two things, it can help you improve your public speaking skills and your art skills as you will be more mindful about the message by picturing yourself doing one or the other.