Oratory is described in general terms as the art of speaking eloquently, that is, in simple terms it is the ability that someone has to speak and present a point of view before the public in a clear, attractive and understandable way. The word 'oratory' comes from the Latin term I will pray which means 'to speak or exhibit in public'. The oratorical skills of a person are extremely important when convincing, persuading or attracting the public, and that is why they are especially worked by politicians, publicists, business leaders, public and entertainment figures, teachers, etc.
For example, it is the purpose of persuasion of the addressee, to convince him of something, to do or think such a thing that distinguishes oratory and differentiates it from other oral communication procedures, such as didactics, which focuses on teaching, or poetics, whose goal is to cause pleasure and admiration in the recipient.
Persuasion
Persuasion is the ability that someone has to convince another of something or to induce him to think like him and as indicated above lines is one of the great allies of oratorito. Using certain words and combining them in a given way, persuasion is able to make a person modify their attitude or behavior towards an event, an idea, a person, an object, among others.
Meanwhile, it can make use of various methods of proven solvency and effectiveness such as: reciprocity (because people tend to return favors), commitment (When a person commits himself to something in writing or orally, he almost always tends to respect it by honoring his word), social proof (people usually do what we see that others also do), authority (Generally, people tend to trust what figures who have social recognition propose to us, even in those situations that do not propose something that is so pleasant for us), taste (When someone feels comfortable with another, it is very rare that they do not convince them of something) and shortage (When it is perceived that something may be missing, it will generate an automatic demand in the public).
Technique and use of oratory
To achieve the expected purpose, oratory bases its work on the development of the message to be communicated, on argumentative strategies and on calling attention to a specific audience. This is why many times the oratory may not mean saying something true but attractive to the recipients of the message. Finding a way to say the things that the public wants to hear and organizing them through understandable and appropriate discursive structures for that specific audience are precisely the most important tasks of public speaking.
The art of public speaking can occur in various situations and spaces. While it is normal to find people with ease of speech in scheduled events such as exhibitions, debates and talks, such situations can be given to themselves spontaneously and on a daily basis when the people who are included in the talk have such argumentative capacities.
Some tips to become a good speaker
In addition to the desire, it is important that whoever wants to become a good speaker in front of the public respects some questions and follows some rules when taking the microphone and speaking, among them: privilege the appearance of the smile, not exaggerate in movements and gestures that cause attention to be lost in what is said and that it goes to gestures, use non-verbal language in a measured way, have a tone of voice that is clear and that emphasizes those parts of the speech that you want to highlight, use examples and anecdotes during the presentation in order to add to the understanding on the part of the reader or listener, nothing better than a good example, ask questions so that the public can carry out their own reasoning on the subject .
The importance of oratory in ancient times
The birth of oratory goes back far in time and is located at Sicily as her crib, however, it would be the classical greek culture the one that would attribute prestige and political power to him. The Greek philosopher Socrates founded a school of oratory in the Greek city of Athens that it was proposed to train men and guide them to pursue ethical goals that guarantee the progress of the state.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were aware of the importance of oratory and the oral transmission of information and knowledge. Public speaking was not understood as a capacity with which some gifted individuals were born, but rather it was something that had to be studied and perfected permanently. To achieve this, active participation in speeches, dialogues and exhibitions was essential. Both Aristotle and Cicero are remembered as key examples of this type of Greek and Roman communication respectively.
