A politician who speaks daily to thousands of people calls himself an orator. A vegetable seller on the market only talks to a hundred people a day, claiming to be a simple workaholic. In whom of these people is oratory displayed? At first glance, everything is obvious.
However, there is a nuance: the month comes to an end - time to display statistics. The politician was at the end of the election lists. The market trader increased monthly income by 15%. Who seems more eloquent now? What is the real power of public speaking and how can you become a successful speaker from scratch?
What is oratory
Oratory is the art of persuasion, influence on the public. It includes eloquence, acting skills and psychological techniques. The features of such a sphere are studied by rhetoric.
Teaching about oratory began in ancient Greece. They developed in other ancient states - India, Egypt, and China. However, it was Hellas who devoted more time and attention to this topic. In the second place in the degree of study of this area was rightly the Roman Empire.
The main objectives of oratory
- convey information to the audience;
- read out your opinion, idea about the actual problem;
- protect your own opinion;
- to interact with society, to know it;
- to convince in something;
- encourage the audience to take action;
- push yourself.
In many situations, the main key to the success of the speaker is his self-confidence. In order to convince listeners in their own point of view, it is important for the speaker to believe in his own idea or to pretend skillfully. True emotions and impulses, acting or effective self-hypnosis is extremely important for the orator.
Basics of oratory
Radislav Gandapas is a leading specialist in the CIS countries, a speaker, business coach, author of the book “Kama Sutra for the Orator”. In it, he argues that the public pays 60% of its attention to how the speaker is holding, giving himself up, 30% - as he says, and only 10% - about which he speaks. This proves that oratory is a complex technique. It includes many factors. For the success of the performance will need to learn several basics.
Voice and speech
At the successful speaker the voice sounds exactly, in average volume. However, differences in timbre are no less important, since they make speech more interesting, they eliminate monotony. It is important to learn to play with your intonation to match the semantic turns in the speech. A clear, understandable spelling of words is another significant element. How to improve your diction:
- recite poems, excerpts from plays or prose;
- learn tongue twisters (especially “Liguria”);
- apply the method of Demosthenes (coached speech on the seashore with pebbles in the mouth. The stones enhanced the clarity of pronunciation, and the sound of the waves imitated the sounds of the crowd);
- study with a speech therapist;
- use articulation gymnastics;
- train your breath.
The tone of the speaker is one of the main levers of crowd control. The psyche is directly connected with the speech apparatus. If the speaker is not confident, his voice will give it away. The speaker will stumble, stutter, mumble, chew words. However, this connection has a bilateral effect. If the rhetor tries to take control of his tone, he will not have time to notice how confidence will return to him.
Appearance
“They meet each other by their clothes ...” - this saying is especially relevant in the skill of public monologues. However, a business suit is not a universal option. The choice of clothes depends on four features:
- the occasion and theme of the speech;
- social status, mood of students;
- situation, the situation in which the speaker stands;
- ways of presenting information (comic, serious, dramatic).
T-shirt and shorts in business negotiations looks as ridiculous as a strict suit from the promoter, who distributes invitations to the children's party.
However, in any case, it is better to choose a neat, clean, ironed outfit. The same goes for hygiene. Clean teeth, a washed face without any traces of sleep, fights or hangovers, styling, light makeup, well-groomed mustache and beard act on people much better than untidiness.
Language of the body
Facial expressions, gestures, posture - they express the charisma necessary for effective speech. The degree of their expressiveness is selected for each performance individually. At the children's holiday, gestures and the change of facial expressions are most mobile, active. When defending scientific work, the emotional rush will have to be curbed. As for poses, it is highly desirable that they express confidence, perseverance. Some tips:
- follow the posture, keep your back straight;
- control physical stress, so that it is moderate, not clamped in a vice;
- straighten your shoulders;
- keep your head slightly raised;
- choose a good angle in advance, remembering the lighting, acoustics, “working side” of the face;
- keep your hands visible, not hiding them in your pockets or, even worse, behind your back;
- learn to relieve shaking in a static position.
Meaning
Only 10% of attention is paid to the meaning of the speech. However, students pay for seminars to hear useful information, and not a ton of water mixed with emotions. For this reason, the essence also plays a role. This is what the public wants to get:
- clearly formulated thesis;
- the urgency of the problem, its causes;
- possible results of inaction;
- solutions to the difficulty;
- arguments in favor of a particular move;
- grounds for refusing other methods of action;
- results of application of the submitted idea, method.
The speech is thought out taking into account all these points. If at least one of these provisions does not give a meaningful response, failure is possible. Either the speech will be useless to the audience, or the speaker will put himself in an awkward position, not knowing what to answer the questions of the audience after the speech.
Impact on emotions
Just a list of facts is dry. Arguments set up to think, taking thoughts for a few minutes, hours, days. And only information woven with feelings is remembered for weeks, months, years. The information is easier to remember if any feelings are associated with them.
One of the best ways of such influence is intrigue. How to create it:
- unexpectedly tell a provocative fact;
- to voice data that seems impossible (for example, “I am immortal”, explaining this after a pause by leaving a mark on the earth and will now forever be remembered by descendants);
- Make a riddle, but promise to call her answer at the end;
- to say that viewers will be able to get what they want by the end of the event (if it is really possible, at least partially);
- announce the discovery of secrets;
- communicate the statement, ask the public if she agrees with him, and then offer to find out together;
- to intrigue with a surprise;
- organize a rivalry situation.
Interaction with the public
People love to talk and listen about themselves. Even a public admission of one's own mistakes, shortcomings unknowingly causes pleasure. But how can a speaker use this if there are so many listeners and they are different?
The audience is subject to the effect of the crowd, so it acts smoothly and turns into a single mechanism. In addition, all the people who came to the planned seminar are united by an interest in the announced topic. This means that the audience is united. Figuratively speaking, it is united in one person. And she likes to listen about herself too. How to make contact with her:
- ask questions, including - rhetorical;
- give the opportunity to ask;
- show their closeness to the public issue, equality with the audience;
- call someone up on stage to simulate a situation;
- share sincere emotions;
- establish eye contact (mentally divide those present into small groups, hold the eye on each team for a few seconds);
- give souvenirs (notebooks, pens, company attributes);
- thank you for your time;
- make pauses for jokes, distractions from the topic, to give the participants of the meeting a break.
Visibility
In ancient Greece, the speaker needed only his skill and elevation, so that the people around him could see him. Now is another time. Oratory has moved to a new stage of development, technology has improved, and the public has become more capricious. In order to interest the audience, the modern speaker will need more visibility in the form of:
- videos, presentations;
- audio recordings, music;
- charts, tables, graphs;
- case studies;
- models, prototypes, models;
- acting out real situations;
- brochures, flyers, booklets.
Properly using aids, the speaker will achieve a greater effect in his speech.
Oratory requires a wealth of knowledge, honed skills. It does not depend on financial position, social status. If the eloquence was not laid by nature, then this skill is mastered by hard work. But even a person with good skills will have to work. You can collect thousands of listeners who forget about the speech heard within five minutes after its completion. And you can speak in front of eight people and encourage them all to act. And this is precisely the supreme mastery of the speaker.
