Vital.  If you sound stupid, the furthest you may get is well, President of The United States.

(Whatever president you wish to use is fine.)

This is a must if you want people to understand what you're saying.

IF no one can understand you how are you going to get anywhere.

Speaking is something people do every day. It's hard to get by when you cannot do it well, especially when it comes to work and school.

When person knows what he/she is talking about - it sounds great, but if that person can serve what he /she's talking about with wit, charm, and knowledge - it sounds even better. For someone like me, an ability to talk with knowledge, wit, sarcasm, charm, and charisma is a gretest turn on. Good speaking skills somewhat unmasking and revealing and tell me something about you and you can have a killer face and body to die for, but without having an ability to speak, it's all meaningless and unimportant.

You will never move ahead in your career without being able to speak in front of large groups of people.

This is important, especially if you are applying for a job or performing some other professional function where it is essential to make a good impression. Generally, this is a useful skill to have, though I agree that not all of us have to be superb public speakers to make a good living. However, it is important to be able to communicate effectively with people, regardless of whether it is in a personal or professional capacity. Effective communication is a must.

Of course, it all depends on the words that are being spoken and whether those words are backed by positive action. That is what separates the true leader from the charlatan. The ability to express yourself clearly is very important in today's world. A good communicator always leaves an indeliable impression on their audience.

If you want the respect of people around you then you need to speak well. You can be the most intellegent and educated person on the planet, but if you speak badly, no one will ever know it. Now that I live in the south I see people get really lazy here. Wben adults speak poorly to children then they learn to speak that way too.

This is gold among, and even outside of, the white collar, college-educated world. People make all sorts of evaluations of you, your abilities and "station in life" based upon what words you choose when you communicate.

Those who can't express themselves are at a great disadvantage.Let's not forget,however,that UNDERSTANDING and COMPREHENSION should round out the package.

What you say and how you're able to say it is important in the Professional world. In that sense it is not only useful , but essential. Outside of work, you dont need to have good speaking skills, but you will be prejudged by some by how well you speak. People tend to use this ability as an indicator of your education, intelligence and upbringing.

You can always tell the difference between an eloquent person and someone whose just trying to force their "word of the day" into conversation. The former knows how to express himself in a way where he can effectively get across his message through proper diction and pronounciation. The latter ends up looking like an idiot.

Good grammar is a necessity. If you don't get too arrogant about it, it's also not bad to show of ones vocabulary either.

Good speaking skills are very helpful, although probably not essential, to improving or maintaining your ability to earn a decent living. Being articulate does get people to listen to what you have to say - if you can't properly explain the thoughts or concepts you are trying to convey, no matter how intelligent you are, many people will just dismiss your thoughts. I agree with other raters who essentially said that you have to be able to tailor your speaking to your particular audience - the ability to adapt your way of talking is in itself a speaking skill.

Absolutley but Donovan brought up a good point. You must know who you are talking to and not come over as arrogant or know it all.

There are many ways to communicate effectively and not every person on the planet needs to be a public speaker. Many of us do quite well honing other skills and manage to live our lives without ever having to stand behind a podium, thank you very much. Though I enjoyed the few times I was involved in any kind of performing/acting while in school (National Forensics, etc.) this was only true as long as I was playing a part and able to block out the audience. Ask me to stand face to face with a crowd and give a speech and you may quickly begin to think that English is a second language for me (and I that I really suck at it). Luckily, I am among the millions out there who have never been attracted to the kind of work that requires speaking and nor have I ever sought out any opportunity to do so in my spare time. Therefore, I feel that having to spend a semester in high school and another in college trying to fake that ability or desire was a humongous waste of time that could have been better spent doing almost anything else. So, if you enjoy doing this well, - bully for you - feel free to yap your head off whenever you feel the need. As for me, well, I'll continue to communicate quite effectively in my own way. After all, if everyone had a lust for the white hot spot the audience would soon grow a bit sparse, don't you think?

If a person can't communicate, then all of these others skills probably won't help that person too much.

The ability to speak well will obviously help you advance in life. Some people are very articulate but then when they get in front of more than a handful of people they freeze. The ability to speak well and continue to speak well in front of a large group of people is a learned talent. I do some public speaking and I have some radio broadcasting experience in my background. When speaking to groups there may be hundreds of people in the audience, but when on the radio there are thousands. People would tend to be more nervous when talking to the group of one hundred because they actually see the faces even though more people are actually hearing them on the radio. I say that to say this, its all a mental thing. There are a few things to remember when speaking to groups: 1. Always be prepared, if your not the audience will know and you will lose credibility (like on RIA) 2. Think before you speak, it is better to pause than to stammer with your words or to continually say ummm and 3. Relax, the people listening realize that you are human and if you make a mistake it helps to make you more real, just admit it, laugh and move on.

The way a person is able to present himself/herself in private, public, and business/professional settings is very important. What you say and the way in which way you say it demonstrates everything about who you are. And it directly affects the way you're perceived and judged. That being said, however, I've gotten by quite well without using a spoken language for many years now.

Along with knowing how to dress, this will get people's attention and get you respect.

There are people that have complete command of the written and spoken language and everyone else who works for them. . .

You've gotta be able to talk to people!

Good grammer is necessary. Speaking in ebonics will get you no where in real life.