History of Public

Speaking

CHAPTER 2

“Real people”

use speechmaking skills in

everyday situations.

Modernism

- refers to a style of life found in large cities before the era of globlization and hightech.

We speakers of the present era are so fortunate because of the presence of such materials.

Public speaking found in the marketplace or agora of democratic Athens, Greece and in the public Senate of republican Rome.

Egypt

West Africa

The Maxims

of Ptahhot

ep- recovered for mankind by a

Fench Egyptomologis

t2500 B.C.

The advice given by the Maxims shows some insight into the speech practices usedin the hierarchical society of ancient Egypt.

Ordinary people

mostly unableto write

literacy was nota government

concern

Great masses of people

were unschooled

They used the oral speech to plead their

cases and causesbefore official

magistratewho delivered

judgment.

The advice of Ptah-hotep appears not an easy thing to do.

The Egyptian sage highly recommends deference,

Self- control and humility before one's superiors.

He also counsels gentleness in speaking to inferiors

And recommends avoiding angry quarrelsome

Speech in every occasion.

A person does not need tospeak lengthily to defendhim/herself because theChief magistrate alreadyWould favourably disposedTo the speaker,

One's fast talking opponentWould just plainly showEvil purposes and ignorance

When people know of aPerson's honesty, self- Restraint, keeping cool,

Good judgment & appropriate

Difference & credibilityHis persuasive ability is

Greatly enhanced, a person'sIntegrity has a telling effect

On his speech power.

Yoruba-effective speakers are usually

those who tend to draw wisdom from proverbs and whose speech manifests respect and revenrence and is treated with finality.

-speeches always begin and end with prayers

ASIA

China

Rhetorics of Imperial China were strongly influenced by the atmosphere of the royal court.

-an effective speaker might be the person known for wisdom who was always able to speak with wisdom and profundity

Chinese scholars did not produce works on how to persuade very large audiences of the general public since they assume that the common mass of people lacked wisdom.

Silence was an important tool in Chinese rhetoric because self-assertion by an advocate might imply that the emperor/ other leaders lacked intelligence/ did not deserve absolute obedience.

Japan

-produced a rhetoric style of speaking around a topic-allows the audience to make their own inferences, until harmony is attained-advocates usually relied less on explicit assertion of an argument and more on the intuitive ability of the audience to recognize what was really intended

-speakers have the propensity to hold back from revealing their emotions-ritual statements, metaphorical comparisons, and allegorical folktales often comprised the whole body of the speech

India

- tended to focus on the speaker's invocation of cultural truths while seeking to attain harmony and consensus- truthful speech was thought to be that which revealed aspects of the greater cosmic, ontic and social order of things-way of speaking flows from their own philosophy-believed that forked speech could bring about ill fortune and bad omen for the speaker

Athens

- supply us with the largest store of early texts explicitly devoted to speech in public settings

- ulitimate objective of Athenian rhetoric was to prepare members of the middle class that include farmers, shopkeepers and trades people, for participation in public debate in competition with the traditional aristocracy of the city

- Roman rhetoric, circulated among the Latin politicians and lawyers and among students as well who aspired to these professions

PURPOSE

a. how to prevail in the Roman Senate, the elite body

b. how to participate in the popular assembly

c. how to behave in the courts of law

In short, Athenian and Roman rhetorics were designed for societies similar to our own.

Rhetoric and Democracy

-participation in debates was restricted to the members of the traditional aristocracy

-men of the middle class claimed the right to participate in the popular assembly because they comprised the heavily armed infantry, membership in which also required some wealth and leisure time

-when the navy became the most important component of the Athenian military machine, the day laborers of Athens, who owned little properly but predominated among the oarsmen, gained the righ to speak

Rome

- political speechmaking most often took place when leaders addressed either the first citizens of the city/ members of the Seanate/ the common people who comprised the assembly