What is Public speaking?
Public speaking is the art of using structured language to teach or inspire an audience to act accordingly. It is a practice that dates back to ancient Greece when Athenians were trained by sophists to participate openly in politics (Sienkewicz, 2007). Rhetoric is undoubtedly one of the most critical elements of public speaking. Rhetoric is the utilization of the various modes of persuasion: it is at the very core of who we are as humans. Aristotle, one of the greatest Greek philosopher, categorized these modes into three types. "Now the proofs furnished by the speech are of three kinds. The first depends upon the moral character of the speaker, the second upon putting the hearer into a certain frame of mind, the third upon the speech, in so far as it proves or seems to prove" (Rhet. 1356a 3). Ethos focuses on the speaker's credibility. His appearance, knowledge, eloquence, and social status affects how his message is received by the audience. The second mode of persuasion (Pathos) deals with the speaker's emotional appeal. Aristotle noted that it was important for the speaker to be able to read and trigger his audience's emotion to persuade them. Logos, the third mode of persuasion, is the speaker's appeal to logic. With this approach, the speaker relies upon natural and technical proofs. Natural proofs are based on information from documents, testimonies, etc., whereas artificial proofs derive from hints and logic (Rh. 1356a 3-7). Although the characteristics and mediums through which this act is practiced has constantly changed from one century to the next, its vitality and fundamentals remain the same. To affect change, a speaker must be logical, credible, and capable of evoking his audience's emotion.
II. Evolution
Over the centuries, humans have practiced and upheld rhetoric alongside the written word. The Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians both valued the ability to speak publicly with wisdom and eloquence. Despite the prominence given to public speaking, it wasn't until the Greek democracy that rhetoric was studied and developed as an art.
A. Roman era rhetoric
In Rome, public speaking developed at a slower pace than in other neighboring empires. It later flourished after the Romans conquered the Greek empire and adopted the traditions of the Greek. They incorporated a variety of Grecian rhetorical elements but also diverged from the traditional ways of the Greeks (Ward & Cox, 2006). For instance, writers and orators in ancient Rome were dependent on riveting stories, stylistic flourishes and compelling metaphors and less on logical reasoning. The Greeks had depended on the latter as a guiding factor in their public speaking.
1. Cicero
The great statesman Cicero was the first master public speaker or rhetorician that Rome ever produced. Throughout his public speaking career, he wrote several articles on rhetoric. Some of his writings include On Oration, Topics and On Invention. His writings acted as ab guiding factor on rhetoric well into the Renaissance period.
Cicero emphasized on the need for liberal education amongst public speakers (Ward & Cox, 2006). He opined that to be persuasive enough, an individual had to be knowledgeable in matters politicos, history, ethics, law literature, art, and medicine. According to Cicero, being liberally educated allowed an individual to connect with any audience.