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Concept
Public speaking
Summary
Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant speaking in person to a live audience. Today it includes speaking, formally or informally, to an audience through technology - live, pre-recorded, or at a distance.
Confucius, the philosopher and public speaking scholar, thought a good speech should impact individual lives, regardless of whether they were in the audience. He believed that someone of power could influence the world with words and actions.
Public speaking has many purposes, usually mixing teaching, persuasion, and entertainment. Each purpose calls on slightly different approaches and techniques.
Public speaking was studied in Ancient Greece and Rome, where prominent thinkers analyzed it as a central part of rhetoric. Today, the art of public speaking has been transformed by technology, such as videoconferencing, multimedia presentations, and other non-traditional forms of presentation.
The function of public speaking is determined by the speaker's intent when addressing a particular audience. It is possible for the same speaker, with the same intent, to deliver substantially different speeches to two different audiences. The main objective is to evoke a change in the audience, whether in their hearts, minds, or actions.
Although the name suggests otherwise, public speaking is often delivered to a closed, limited audience who share a common outlook. This audience can be composed of fervent supporters of the speaker, antagonistic individuals attending the event unwillingly or out of spite, or strangers with no particular interest in the speaker. However, effective speakers understand that even a small audience is not a homogeneous mass with a single point of view but rather a collection of diverse individuals.
Broadly speaking, public speaking aims either to reassure an anxious audience or to alert a complacent audience to something important. Once the speaker has determined which of these approaches is required, they will use a combination of storytelling and information delivery to achieve their goals.
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