The Need for Oratory Skills in the Digital Age. A Phenomenological Approach to Teaching Speech Today

Abstract

Personal skills in rhetoric and face-to-face communication are not outdated by the development of modern media—on the contrary, the potential power of the efficient speaker is as evident today as it was in ancient Greece or Rome, be it a student at an oral exam, an applicant at a job interview or an upcoming politician on social media. Becoming a good speaker is not just a matter of good luck and talent; it can be taught and developed. The article presents a phenomenological approach to understanding and developing competence in live rhetorical performance, and highlights the didactic benefits of a collaborative, corporeal, and visually oriented perspective on speech and oratory in the digital age.

Keywords

• oratory
• actio
• being-in-the-world
• collaborative
• corporeal
• didactics
• mood
• phenomenology
• rhetoric
• speech-line