ESSENTIALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING INTRODUCTION Elocution is the science and art of expression by voice and action. As a science it treats of the elements or principles underlying all expression; as an art it embodies the correct use of these principles in the particular phase of expression demanded of the reader or speaker. Just as the musician must master the technique and principles of music before he can attain the highest skill in his art, or as the civil engineer must know the science of mathematics before he can succeed in the art of calculation, so the speaker must understand the elements of elocution and become skilled in their use if he would pass beyond the point of accidental success in the art of public speaking. True, a person may sing without a technical knowledge of music, or speak reasonably well in imitation of a favorite speaker, but he can never rise to the highest plane except through the study and practice of correct expression. The purpose of training in elocution is to develop individuality so that the speaker may be original and not imitative in his methods, to correct his bad habits of speech and gesture by fixing good habits in their stead, and to make the body a responsive instrument to obey the activities of the mind and the impulses of the heart. Skill in the use of the principles of expression is an accomplishment in ordinary conversation. Exercises in articulation, voice and action necessary to the highest perfection in public speaking have an agreeable effect upon the conversational voice I |
