Elocution from the masters

I have to admit my relative ignorance of rhetoric. After dropping from university corpus's all-star status to secondary subject to now an almost forgotten art, I had very few opportunities to get exposed to it. Yet, we must recognize its historical importance (and, frankly, that it is still relevant today) and power. Indeed, there was a time were rhetoric had center stage among the arts. Sure, you could paint, draw or anything else. But if you could speak, now you stood out. This is why I want to follow a quick course in elocution with you today. You will probably be surprised at how intuitive the material is (as I was).

First, I should summarize the golden rules of elocution. If you want to practice rhetoric you could do far worse than just sticking to these. The “code of law“ below was largely inspired by the teachings of William Scott, a famous English master of rhetoric (and the idol of Abraham Lincoln among others). Listen up and follow:

Always articulate and pronounce clearly and deliberately. Talk slower than you think you should.
To be convincing, look the part. Be active, bold and firm. Those are all signs we intuitively link to conviction.
Learn to control the height of your voice and shape it to what you want your message to focus on.
Emphasize the most significant word in every sentence (as stated above, controlling the height of your voice can be such a way).
Control and vary your timing (play with pauses and your cadence).
And, probably most importantly, match your tone, look and gestures with the emotion you convey. In other words, how YOU act on the stage matters.

And that‘s it. You could leave now and probably become quite a convincing speaker. Of course, like anything else, it also requires extensive practice. You can practice in front of a mirror, in front of people and in any other realistic situation you encounter. Here, William Scott comes to the rescue yet again. I recommend checking out his “Lessons in Elocution“ (1779) which offers a FANTASTIC selection of writings and speeches to practice and learn from.

But that‘s not all for today of course. We encountered the best of 18th-century oratory but we have many other figures we could learn from going back further in time. Let us briefly encounter another famous master of rhetoric: Erasmus of Rotterdam - Renaissance superstar. I expect to go down further on the subject of rhetoric in another post since we have many more figures we could learn from (the Roman Republic alone has plenty of worthy candidates), but Erasmus will suffice for now. Erasmus offers us a great summary of the best rhetorical practices in the Middle Ages in his “On Copia of Words and Ideas“. According to Erasmus, traditional rhetorical theory was split into five subjects:

The methods to generate arguments.
The appropriate arrangement of your arguments in a speech (what he called oratorio).
The rules to cultivate an “admirable style“.
The devices to help memorize.
The ways to deliver effectively.

All these elements are important and frankly demand more space than one post alone can provide. In any case, Erasmus's Copia focuses on the ways to cultivate an admirable style (point 3). I will therefore do the same. Keep in mind that the technical vocabulary used in rhetorical theory during the sixteenth century is much richer and subtle than what we use today. I will therefore regroup some elements Erasmus talks about together according to the broad sense I understand of it. Might not be wholly accurate to his view, but it will have to do.

For Erasmus, elegance in rhetoric requires piling up proper arguments while making sure to avoid excessive repetition in form. In that way, it is all an art in using varied and appropriate words and expressions. Erasmus then lists many (many) ways to do so. Some of these should be familiar to you:

Synonymia: Using synonyms. Do make sure that you master their EXACT meaning. Very few words actually mean the same thing in every situation. Don‘t inadvertently mislead your audience.
Enallage: Using words in the same family but of different form. For example, using the noun drinker, then the verb drink and then the noun drunkard. Vary nouns, adjectives and verbs. Change between passive and active verbs. Change between word number (singular or plural), person, voice, form and so on.
Periphrasis: Use a title instead of the proper name.
Notatio: In the same vein, describe something by its distinctive feature instead of its name.
Metaphor: Deflect or compare characteristics to something else. Often associated with anthropomorphism (giving human characteristics to animals, inanimate objects, etc.).

As I said, Erasmus lists many more including some you know (allegory, metonymy, hyperbole, etc.) But I think you get the point. Let me end things today with the simple way we can embellish our speeches according to Erasmus. Put simply, embellishment is all about treating in detail something that could be expressed much more summarily. Give your argument time to allow its causes and consequences to be absorbed by your audience. Always relate them back to your argument. You will be much more understood in that way. Making things vividly graphic will also help a great deal. As you know, I am a fervent believer in storytelling, and so is Erasmus. Try to also include some stories in your argumentation. Yet, everything must be balanced: don‘t lose your audience in diversions. Stick to the point when necessary.

That‘s it for today. I know that some advice above feels either obvious or contradictory but it is exactly why rhetoric is an art. It‘s all in the execution… and practice. I am sure you can do that.

Until then, see you next time.

References

On Copia of Words and Ideas, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Translated by Donald. B. King, Marquette University Press, 1963.
Lessons in elocution; or, miscellaneous pieces in prose and verse, for the perusal of persons of taste, and the improvement of youth in reading and speaking, William Scott, 1779.