ABSTRACT
While tens of thousands of students enroll in public speaking classes around the country, most are probably unaware that learners just like them have been studying public speaking since antiquity. From the Sophists, through training in the Middle Ages, to contemporary basic courses, students have learned about public speaking during virtually every generation. More importantly, most public speaking students as well as their instructors are typically unaware of the techniques and principles used to learn public speaking throughout the centuries. This oversight is more than simply an exercise of the past—many of the historical methods provide unique insight into the rationale of teaching public speaking as well as offer useful approaches to learning oral communication in the contemporary era. By reviewing the classical Greek and Roman traditions, methods used during the Middle Ages, and pre-Enlightenment practices, this chapter explores these techniques, including the curricula of progymnasmata, topoi, and the utility of argumentation for oratory.
