Physics Wallah is an Indian edtech platform that provides accessible & comprehensive learning experiences to students from Class 6th to postgraduate level. We also provide extensive NCERT solutions, sample paper, NEET, JEE Mains, BITSAT previous year papers & more such resources to students. Physics Wallah also caters to over 3.5 million registered students and over 78 lakh+ Youtube subscribers with 4.8 rating on its app.
We Stand Out because
We provide students with intensive courses with India’s qualified & experienced faculties & mentors. PW strives to make the learning experience comprehensive and accessible for students of all sections of society. We believe in empowering every single student who couldn't dream of a good career in engineering and medical field earlier.
Our Key Focus Areas
Physics Wallah's main focus is to make the learning experience as economical as possible for all students. With our affordable courses like Lakshya, Udaan and Arjuna and many others, we have been able to provide a platform for lakhs of aspirants. From providing Chemistry, Maths, Physics formula to giving e-books of eminent authors like RD Sharma, RS Aggarwal and Lakhmir Singh, PW focuses on every single student's need for preparation.
What Makes Us Different
Physics Wallah strives to develop a comprehensive pedagogical structure for students, where they get a state-of-the-art learning experience with study material and resources. Apart from catering students preparing for JEE Mains and NEET, PW also provides study material for each state board like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and others
What is the Myths About Public Speaking passage in IELTS about?
The myth about public speaking passage explains the common misconceptions about public speaking. These include the belief that it requires special talent or is only for formal occasions.
How do myths about public speaking passage benefit IELTS candidates?
This passage sharpens analytical reading skills and familiarises candidates with IELTS reading language. Additionally, solving the questions under timed conditions helps students improve their problem-solving skills.
What question types are used in IELTS reading answers passage?
IELTS reading answer passages include multiple question types. These include matching headings, true/false, short answer questions, and summary completion.
Can we learn and improve public speaking?
Yes, public speaking is a learnable skill and not limited to those with innate talent. With regular practice, one can improve public speaking skills.
Myths About Public Speaking Reading Answers with IELTS Passage
Tabassum Mustafa28 Jul, 2025
Share
Myths About Public Speaking Reading Answers: The IELTS reading passage on Myths about public speaking is crucial both for exam preparation and real-world communication. Public speaking is considered a challenging task, even among professionals. However, there are many myths surrounding them, and this passage explores these myths.
For IELTS candidates, going through this passage can be helpful in improving reading skills and understanding IELTS reading explanations for public speaking anxiety. Those aiming for a high band score must master topics like this as they often appear in the Academic Reading Module of IELTS.
Myths About Public Speaking Reading Answers IELTS Passage
Here is the IELTS passage for Myths about public speaking. Candidates must aim to read the passage and solve the related question within 20 minutes. This strategic approach is crucial to improve problem solving and time management skills.
Myths about Public Speaking
Our fears of public speaking result not only from what we do not know or understand about public communication but also from misconceptions and myths about public encounters. These misconceptions and myths persist among professional people as well as the general public. Let us examine these persistent myths about public communication, which, like our ignorance and misunderstandings of the fundamental assumptions and requirements of public speaking, exacerbate our fears and prevent our development as competent public persons.
A) Perhaps the most dogged and persistent myth about public communication is that it is a "special" activity reserved for unusual occasions. After all, how often do you make a public speech? There are only a few special occasions during the year when even an outgoing professional person will step behind a podium to give a public speech, and many professional people can count on one hand the number of public speeches given in a career. Surely, then, public communication is a rare activity reserved for especially important occasions.
This argument, of course, ignores the true nature of public communication and the nature of the occasions in which it occurs. When we engage with people we do not know well to solve problems, share understanding and perspectives, advocate points of view, or seek stimulation, we are engaged in public speaking. Public communication is a familiar, daily activity that occurs in the streets, in restaurants, in boardrooms, courtrooms, parks, offices, factories, and meetings.
Is public speaking an unusual activity reserved for special occasions and restricted to the lectern or the platform? Hardly. Rather it is and should be developed as, an everyday activity occurring in any location where people come together.
B) A related misconception about public communication is the belief that the public speaker is a specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. While most professional people would reject the idea that public speakers are born, not made, they nevertheless often feel that the effective public communicator has developed unusual personal talents to a remarkable degree. At the heart of this misconception like the myth of public speaking as a "special" activity—is an overly narrow view of what a public person is and does.
Development as an effective public communicator begins with the understanding that you need not be a nationally-known, speak-for-pay, professional platform speaker to be a competent public person. A public speaker is an ordinary person who confronts the necessity of being a public person and uses common abilities to meet the fundamental assumptions and requirements of daily public encounters.
C) A less widespread but serious misconception of public speaking is reflected in the belief that public speeches are "made for the ages". A public speech is something viewed as a historical event that will be part of a continuing and generally available public record. Some public speeches are faithfully recorded, transcribed, reproduced, and made part of broadly available historical records. Those instances are rare compared to the thousands of unrecorded public speeches made every day.
Public communication is usually situation-specific and ephemeral. Most audiences do well if they remember as much as 40 percent of what a speaker says immediately after the speaker concludes; even less is retained as time goes by. This fact is both reassuring and challenging to the public communicator. On the one hand, it suggests that there is room for human error in making public pronouncements; on the other hand, it challenges the public speaker to be as informed as possible and to strive to defeat the poor listening habits of most public audiences.
D) Finally, professional people perhaps more than other groups often subscribe to the misconception that public communication must be an exact science and that if it is done properly it will succeed. The troublesome corollary to this reasoning is that if public communication fails, it is because it was improperly prepared or executed. This argument blithely ignores the vagaries of human interaction. Public speakers achieve their goals through their listeners, and the only truly predictable aspect of human listeners is their unpredictability. Further, public messages may succeed despite inadequate preparation and dreadful delivery.
Professional people often mismanage their fears of public communication. Once we understand what public encounters assume and demand, once we unburden ourselves of the myths that handicap our growth as public persons, we can properly begin to develop as competent public communicators.
Myths About Public Speaking Reading Answers IELTS Questions
Here is the set of practice questions for the IELTS reading passage on Myths about public speaking. Students should read the question carefully to understand their requirements and answer them accurately.
Questions 1 to 4: Matching Headings
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph (A–D) from the list of headings below.
List of Headings:
A. The belief that public speaking needs special talent
B. The misconception that public speaking is a rare activity
C. A view that all public speeches are preserved for history
D. Public speaking is entirely predictable if done properly
E. How to become a paid speaker
F. The myth of structured perfection in communication
1. Paragraph A -
2. Paragraph B -
3. Paragraph C -
4. Paragraph D -
Questions 5 to 10: Yes, No, Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage?
Write:
Yes - if the statement agrees with the information
No - if it contradicts the information
Not Given - if there is no information
5. Most people give public speeches several times a month.
6. Speaking to strangers in a restaurant can be considered public speaking.
7. Most public speakers are naturally born with special skills.
8. Many speeches are remembered and referred to for years.
9. Public speakers should never make mistakes.
10. A speech’s success can depend on the audience’s unpredictability.
Questions 11–14: Short Answer Questions
Answer the following questions using three or less words .
11. What do myths and misconceptions increase regarding public speaking?
12. Where do public speaking events commonly take place besides formal settings?
13. How do most listeners behave after a speech?
14. What must public speakers understand to overcome fear?
What are the IELTS Reading Answers for Myths of Public Speaking?
Here are the IELTS reading answers for communication skills. After completing the above questions, candidates must analyse their performance by referring to the answers provided here.
Answers - Matching Headings (1 to 4)
B - Paragraph A discusses the myth that public speaking is rare.
A - Paragraph B talks about the false belief in “natural” talent.
C - Paragraph C explains the idea that speeches are preserved like historical records.
D - Paragraph D addresses the idea that perfect preparation guarantees success.
Answers - Yes, No, Not Given (5 to 10)
No (Passage states that most professionals rarely give public speeches.)
Yes ( It is mentioned that talking to strangers to share views is considered public communication.)
No (The passage argues public speakers are not born, but made.)
No (It is mentioned that only a few speeches are recorded; most are forgotten.)
No (It is written that mistakes are acceptable due to human unpredictability.)
Yes (The passage states unpredictability of the audience impacts results.)
Answers - Short Answer Questions (11 to 14)
Our fears
Any location
Forget quickly
Public assumptions
How to approach the IELTS Reading on Presentation skills?
To achieve success in the IELTS reading test, candidates must follow a strategic approach for reading the passage and solving the questions. Here are the recommended tips for how to solve IELTS reading passage on speech myths:
Read the introduction and topic sentences to understand the main point about public speaking myths.
Look for transition words such as "Perhaps," "A related misconception," and "Finally" to understand paragraph structure. These words also provide a better understanding of the passage's meaning.
IELTS often uses synonyms for various words in the passages. When reading the question, students should pay attention to these synonyms and aim to relate them to the passage.
Allocate around 3-4 minutes for reading and 13-15 minutes for answering questions.
To answer matching heading questions, students should try to summarise the main idea of each paragraph in a point.
