Comments on: Resurrecting the Lost Art of Oratory

By: Thomas Cunningham

Thomas Cunningham — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 19:02:28 +0000

Thanks for posting this article – this was a skill I have been looking forward to mastering recently.
If there are any more tips on this subject, I’ll read them!

By: Shava Nerad

Shava Nerad — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 14:55:41 +0000

To recall a dialogue with one of our founders — remember the ladies! Not all great orators were men, and those of us of the “fairer sex” have no less grand or delicate a way with words than our brothers.

I’ve made a living as a speech writer and ghost writer for a good slice of my life, much of it as a woman writing for men who were good conceptual thinkers — and poor at putting an idea into words for spoken or written presentation. Coming from generations of ministers, union leaders, political activists, NGO leadership, military leaders and so on, I come by my skills honestly.

Speech writing and ghost writing are one of the havens of oratory in the modern world. I wrote a well-circulated essay in ghosting’s defense which started as a sort of throwaway blog article here:

http://usefularts.us/2010/02/06/ghost-write-blogs-ethics-shava-nerad/

Like oratory itself, speech writing and ghost writing have lost their honor in recent days. But it’s incredibly satisfying work.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:32:17 +0000

Cicero said that to be a great orator, one must have “ingenium” (it is implied that one is born with this trait) in that area. The word we get from that is “genius.” So apparently, to excel in the field of oratory, one must be a genius at oratory. Now that doesn’t really sound fair, does it?

By: Salahuddin

Salahuddin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:51:48 +0000

I consumed the article like a favourate dish as the reason why the world is spiralling into chaos dawned before me. Those with the right frame of mind to take world events into the most rational direction are currently being overpowered by self seeking speech reading destroyers of the human race. People are moved into supporting cooked up wars. Popular perceptions of fundamental concepts such as democracy are daftly twisted to suit whichever murderous activity they plan to undertake. Enough is enough and all yee orators, rise up in this so called civilized age and find ways around information siphoning tactics and be heard. Oratory as is also stated in the article requires wide readership and an insightful grasp of both sides of any story. One should not be found signing songs of praise for Hitler while History spat him like mucus with a pungent smell. Orators, you have all the aspects of eloquence in you, use them for the survival of the humility of man.

By: gaman amy

gaman amy — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:04:20 +0000

this is really interesting, i will really want to be a great orator, thou each step i take as the day goes by takes me ahead of my yesterday. thanks for being part of my trainees. i love your work.

By: Peoples Press Collective | Colorado Politics | People We Would Invite to Dinner… :

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:06:23 +0000

[...] Next up, a call for resurrecting the lost art of oratory. [...]

By: Peoples Press Collective | Colorado Politics | Political Breath :

Peoples Press Collective | Colorado Politics | Political Breath : — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:45:01 +0000

[...] Next up, a call for resurrecting the lost art of oratory. [...]

By: ari-free

ari-free — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:13:35 +0000

I don’t give any points to someone who clings to his teleprompter as if it was his security blanket. A real man has to be able to speak without any written notes.

By: Fuad Ahasan Chowdhury

Fuad Ahasan Chowdhury — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:33:44 +0000

I was expecting Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Mujibur_Rahman ) on the list.. He should listed here.. undoubtedly.

By: Joseph Sanchez

Joseph Sanchez — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:36:17 +0000

@Dlux the light
I was thinking the same thing. The art of spoken word and even emceeing is very similar, yet the purpose and setting is different but the skills are pretty much the same. Interestingly, I would argue that future orators would merge from the culture of Hip Hop and have a background in spoken word, community organizing or facilitation.
This was a very interesting article. I appreciate the insight and look forward to more on the topic.

Peace