Contribution of Aristotle, Cicero & Quintilian in Oral Communication Subject: Oral Communication

Contribution of Aristotle in Oral Communication

Aristotle developed a linear model of communication for oral communication known as

Aristotle Model is mainly focused on speaker and speech. It can be broadly divided into 5
primary elements: Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience and Effect.
Speaker plays an important role in public speaking. He must prepare his speech, analysis
audience needs before coming on stage, his words should influence in audience mind and persuade
their thoughts towards him.
Example: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa gave brave speech to the nation on
“Defense Day of Pakistan” 6th of September for lifting patriotism.

Speaker Speech Occasion Audience Effect

The speech must be clear as well as the speaker must have a very good non-verbal
communication with the audience like eye contact. This example is a classic case of Aristotle
Model of Communication depicting all the elements in the model.

Elements of a Good Communicator

➢ Ethos
Ethos is the characteristic which makes you credible in front of the audience. If there
is no credibility, the audience will not believe in you and will not be persuaded by you. Expertise
and positions also give credibility to a person.
Example: The mass will not listen to the promises of a corrupt politician, but if a politician is
known for his good deeds, there’s a high change his speech will be heard.

Hassan Ali 2K18/BBA/71

➢ Pathos
If what you say matters to them and they can connect with it, then they will be more
interested and they will think you are more credible. Emotional bonds will make the audience
captivated and they feel the speaker is one of their own people.
Example: If people of a village needs water and the politician tells them that he will help in
building roads, the people will not get influenced but might be more influenced if he says he’ll
build a dam for drinking water and irrigation.

➢ Logos
Logos is logic. People believe in you only if they understand what you are trying to
say. People find logic in everything. If there is no logic behind the speaker’s work or time, they do
not want to get involved. Everybody has a sense of reason. You must present facts to the audience
for them to believe in you.
Example: A presenter using factual data in an awareness program will attract the audience’s
attention and will make them believe in the need of awareness in the particular matter.

Contribution of Cicero in Oral Communication

Cicero was a politician of ancient Rome who is widely known for his prowess at public
speaking and rhetoric. Having studied some of the greatest speakers from Greece at the time,
Cicero became a powerful figure largely through his ability to inspire and move his audience. So,
what are some of the keys we can learn from Cicero and his skills of oratory.
Cicero explained that there were five elements important to consider when creating a
speech and making an argument. They are:
1) Invention
2) Arrangement
3) Style
4) Memory
5) Delivery

Let’s go through each one and explore how we can use this system.

➢ Invention:
This is exactly what it sounds like. The first key is to ask yourself the question what
is the goal of your speech? When you create anything, that is a good question to ask. Once you
identify what you want, the next step is to list out all the different ideas or concepts that might help
you make this happen. It is a good idea to figure out what is the message you want to deliver to
the audience.

➢ Arrangement:
This is how you structure your speech. This is broken up into Introduction, Main
Body and Conclusion. Your Introduction should introduce your message, establish your credibility
and connect with the audience. It should also capture their attention from the outset. You main
body should share fact, evidence, stories, examples using both logic and emotion to influence your
audience. You should acknowledge any arguments which counteract your one and dismiss them
using logic and reason. The conclusion should then drill home your message and leave them with
a good feeling connected to it.

Hassan Ali 2K18/BBA/71

➢ Style:
This is how you write or prepare your speech. The words you use must fulfill the
following criteria. They must be simply put, clear, vivid, fit with the expectations of and in the
same language as the audience and lastly, the words must sound good out loud. When you read
out what you have written you will get a good sense of what sounds good and what doesn’t.

➢ Memory:
➢

This reflects how you manage to remember the key concepts. It is a good idea to
practice creating hooks that you attach each idea to. This means try to fit your speech into a story
or connect the main concepts to a mind map or picture. This allows you to use a device to
immediately remind you of what the next part of the speech is. Often PowerPoint or keynote can
suffice here.

➢ Delivery:
➢

This is how you actually deliver the speech. Your facial expressions, eye contact
and use of your voice are key factors in presenting your speech powerfully. When you tell a story
of something that made you cringe, cringe when you talk about it. During your speech keep making
eye contact with the audience and stay a few seconds on each of them. Use variety in your tone of
voice and pace of speech. Make sure that when you make an important point you slow down and
emphasize the point.

Contribution of Quintilian in Oral Communication

Marcus Fabius Quintilian’s “Institutio Oratoria” is the major contribution in the field
of Oral Communication. His work is present in twelve books containing lessons on how to be a n
ideal orator. Overall, it’s just like that, Quintilian was a teacher of Oratory. So, it was his hope to
“educate the perfect Orator” by providing a template of teaching. He had discussed deeply on what
is required for mastering each of the five Canons proposed by Cicero. He emphasized all these
Canons and had worked on clearing the doubts created by this theory in the minds of people.
Furthermore, to show his strong critics to the idea of persuasive speech, he just
extended this line of thinking and argued that public speaking was inherently moral. He started
that the ideal Orator is that “A Good man speaking well”.

Hassan Ali 2K18/BBA/71