LECTURE 2

HISTORY
OF PUBLIC
SPEAKING
The history of public speaking dates back to the time when ancient
Greeks considered it imperative to facilitate political debate and
participation in assemblies, so as to persuade the people (rhetoric.)
 1) The Classical Period (500
BCE – 400 BCE)

Although public speaking training first started

in Egypt, the written piece regarding the
oratory came from Ancient Greece. Public
speaking emerged as a crucial tool because
the Greeks highly valued public political
participation. 
The Fantastic Four.
Aspasia of Miletus
Aristotle
Socrat
Classic period
 During the classical period, Rhetoric (a
tool to persuade the listeners) was
considered to be the main component of
speech delivery or discourse.
 Plato defined the scope of rhetoric in terms
of his negative opinions about the art,
 Aristotle defined its scope by the three
means of persuasion i.e. Ethos, Logos and
Pathos
The Romans
The Roman culture of
public speaking is highly
inspired by the Greek
culture of training. The
Roman orators developed
and modified the Greek
techniques of public
speaking.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Five Canons of Rhetoric
 i) Invention- refers to coming up with an idea in
order to make your speech interesting. It is
basically a brainstorming period.
 ii) Arrangement-arrange that data in an organized
manner.
 iii) Style-make choices that would help you to
create an impact, so as to persuade your audience.
This would include your tone of voice, word
choice, etc.
Five Canons of Rhetoric
 iv) Memory - here refers to the content you know
about your topic. The more you research the more you
will know about it and gain in-depth knowledge
regarding the same.
 v) Delivery-refers to the way you actually present
your information. It involves your body language, tone
of voice, eye contact, and much more.
The Medieval Period (400 CE -1400 CE)