Public Speaking module 1

The most successful model for teaching public speaking (and the one this class follows) relies on a mix of instruction, imitation, and practice

Explain the three

Instruction

reinforces the lessons learned from the history of public speaking study. The instruction in this class draws most explicitly from the rhetorical tradition. We will study principles of argumentation, arrangement, and style.

Imitation

means that when studying a performance skill like speaking, we benefit by identifying and imitating the best practices of skilled speakers. I don’t mean stealing or plagiarizing, I mean trying to link phrases together in a manner similar to a speaker we think sounds good. There are a number of speeches that you will watch this quarter (online and in class). The intent of these speeches is to show you some best practices. You shouldn’t simply watch a speech like you would a television show; you should look to find some verbal or nonverbal behaviors that you would like to be able to imitate.

Practice

is the most obvious leg of public speaking study. If you are going to get better at public speaking, you must be able to apply the lessons of instruction and imitation by practicing your speeches. The nice thing about public speaking is that you can practice it almost anywhere. However, your practice time is best spent by speaking in situations where you have an attentive audience (as opposed to a curious dog or a sleeping roommate)

Background on Rhetoric

The word rhetoric is often used to indicate that the speaker is lying (“his record doesn’t match his rhetoric”) or that the speaker is filling air with meaningless talk (“let’s move past all the rhetoric and get down to business”).

DEFINITIONS OF RHETORIC

Aristotle defined rhetoric as “the faculty of discovering in any particular case the available means of persuasion.”

DEFINITIONS OF RHETORIC

Plato held that rhetoric is “the art of winning the soul by discourse.”

DEFINITIONS OF RHETORIC

The Roman thinker Quintilian suggested simply that rhetoric is the art of speaking well.

DEFINITIONS OF RHETORIC

John Locke however held a dimmer view of the art and wrote that rhetoric is a “powerful instrument of error and deceit.”

DEFINITIONS OF RHETORIC

The contemporary writer Gerard Hauser suggests, “Rhetoric is communication that attempts to coordinate social action. For this reason, rhetorical communication is explicitly pragmatic. Its goal is to influence human choices on specific matters that require immediate attention.”

For the purposes of this class, we will define rhetoric as “the study and art of effective speaking.”

This doesn’t begin to capture all the ways in which rhetoric could be (and has been) defined, but it does focus our study on the aspects of rhetoric most relevant to our present concern.

5 MAIN PARTS OF RHETORIC/PUBLIC SPEAKING

Invention, Arrangement, style, memory, delivery

Invention

Artistic and inartistic ethos pathos logos