What are Elocution Lessons?- How are they helpful?

Who wouldn’t be in complete awe of a powerful speaker? A speaker who is well versed with what they are trying to convey and who has all their facts sorted well enough to get their audience to realize that they are listening to someone who is potentially going to make a difference or is making a difference at that moment itself, standing at that position before an audience that looks up to them. Here, let’s see What are Elocution Lessons?

Elocution is a method of speech where you are taught how to hold a conversation in a formal or well informal setting. It not just teaches you ‘how to talk but ‘what’ to talk, ‘where’ and ‘when’ to talk; The Beauty of the subject is in its learning; It helps an individual figure where they stand and how they can constantly improve at being a better orator, presentation artist, speaker or just normally how to speak. 

This article is going to further talk about how elocution lessons are extremely helpful and relevant to study. 

How are elocution lessons helpful? 

• First Impressions: As they say, ‘the first impression is the last impression,’ Elocution helps individuals hold their conversation more confidently and keep the flow intact, however difficult the situation might be. The fact of the matter is that many people think you need to be a naturally gifted person and that elocution lessons are just based on monetary profits and are thus useless, which is a myth and an incredibly useless one at that. In fact, if you invest in a good course on Elocution, you can actually get something out of it. 

• When you converse with someone new, it barely takes three seconds for them to judge you head to toe. The way you are standing, the way you are talking, the way you are engaging, and the kind of attire you are wearing and another four seconds to gaze at the kind of individual you are, by your tone, your choice of words, and the way you say these words, totaling to a crisp seven seconds. This is the amount of time you have to stand out and drop the kind of impression you desire for them to make of you.

• Elocution helps an individual to conceal the kinds of topics they shouldn’t touch in certain situations and the kind of ones that are safe. It helps you deal with uncalled circumstances (if ever any) through speech and thus potentially helps you make a difference.

• Attention Span: The next thing that Elocution helps you with is your behavior in social situations and otherwise. It also teaches an individual how to be polite in any kind of setting and how effective that can be when you’re addressing an actual audience or august house anyhow. 

• Let us consider an example: You’re an intern at a business firm and are expected to present something before a table of twenty other individuals. Each one of them is your senior, and your instant reaction to that would be to panic because, come on, the situation is PRETTY intimidating. You’re scared that at that point, you’d give anything to rocket out of that room. However, if you’re someone who is used to such meetings and presentations, it would hardly be a big deal for you. Elocution helps with just that. It teaches an individual how to have a grip on their emotions, and these emotions could be anything; anger, fear, dread; You’ll be able to handle it with ease and are fairly likely to impress others in the room. 

• The next instance can be when the roles are reversed, and you are the listener, that is to say, the behavior you need to be portraying when you are listening to somebody else speak, while you are waiting for your chance, or if you’re done with your turn. This behavior is important because while you were the speaker, you expected everyone to listen to you, and when you go about empathizing with the person at the podium, it is exactly what they want too.

• Elocution thus is not just about how you speak before an audience or how you have a one-on-one discussion with someone. It is about how patient you are, no matter how restless you might get or wish to give anything to leave the room and walk away when somebody else is speaking. 

• You are expected to give 100% of your attention to the speaker at any point in time and nothing less because you would want to be treated the same way in their place. 

• Professional Opportunities: If you are good at holding conversations with individuals or groups of individuals or an entire audience, you have the upper hand over most of the candidates who’ve applied for the same job as you, if any. On professional grounds, your opportunities increase. Recruiting managers to hunt for people who can converse fluently, and there are not many who are capable enough to do that, probably due to stage fear or simply because they are not as good with Elocution as you may be. Moreover, you also get to have more job opportunities abroad, which again is beneficial to you in terms of career professionalism. 

• Body Language: Th next major category that Elocution helps you with is your body language. It might seem odd, considering the fact that Elocution was supposed to be working with just your speech; however, it is a multilayered subject that is conceptualized and has various sub aspects under it, which can be pretty helpful to the person who has taken up Elocution as a side skill. 

• When we say that Elocution helps an individual with their body language, what it means is that it teaches the person how to behave in a certain way, with respect to the kind of environment that they are a part of at that moment. 

• For instance, you are attending a marriage. It’s an occasion, and you are expected to behave appropriately regarding the atmosphere you are in; in this case, the environment is happy and thrilling, so the persons you are greeting or devoting a speech towards should be accordingly. 

• In another instance, you are at a funeral, and the environment is not particularly the best. The people you are around would expect your condolences. Elocution helps with all of such methods. How to react or overreact or stay put, everything has its segregative aspect. 

• Speech Comprehension: This is the last category under Elocution. Speech comprehension is basically how an individual understands or interprets what another person is saying or informing them. 

• We can consider a scenario wherein you’re attending a seminar where the guest speaker says something in the lines of “you don’t have to care what others say.” Now there can be various ways in which you can interpret this. 

• You may think of this as threatening, where the guest speaker is asking you to NOT listen to anything that anybody says, and he expects you to only listen to him. 

• Another way in which you could interpret the same thing is when you think of his phrase as a warning, to not listen to anybody because anyone else’s opinions simply don’t matter and what he just said is the word of god. 

• Or, you may think of it as a motivational thought, wherein the speaker is asking you not to listen to anyone else because, in the end, what actually matters is what you as an individual have got to say about a particular matter. 

Elocution tries to define these interpretations to some extent by teaching you to understand the kind of situation you are in. The seminar you are attending, for example, what kind of seminar is this? It could be a political agenda that you’ve come to listen to, or you might have been invited to an official job seminar where the guest speaker may be your boss or you’re simply attending a motivational speakers seminar to pick and compose yourself together. 

It teaches an individual how to learn their environment and how one must behave and comprehend the situation, without first assuming why the person speaking is saying the things he’s saying. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can I improve my Elocution in any way? 

A1. Yes, it is possible to improve your Elocution, and with a little effort, you could do a great job giving professional speeches without fear. 

• Articulate your sentences: When you’re speaking to or with someone, you need to make sure that you’ve already given thought to what you’re going to say to them. You cannot just rant without thinking; that’s not just a bad idea; it could even get disrespectful because usually, people don’t think when they are in a heated situation, and they end up saying things they wouldn’t otherwise have said. Articulating your sentences shows the person in front of you that you know what you are speaking and that you are confident about it. 

• Speak Slowly: It is important for you to go slow, especially when you’re presenting something to someone or are giving a speech or when you’re explaining a particular concept. If you rush your matter, nobody would be able to conclude what you said because they simply haven’t understood what you said. When you go slow, people tend to pay more attention to what you’re saying, and it becomes easier for them to interpret things. 

• Pronunciation: Another major aspect to keep in mind while you’re speaking is to pronounce your words correctly. Often, an orator makes a mistake while pronouncing a word, and people paint a picture of them in their head as ‘someone who isn’t smart enough to pronounce a word properly.’ A slip of the tongue or an accent are different things, and pronouncing a word incorrectly is something completely on another ground. 

• Pause: when you’re addressing an audience, try to give pauses wherever necessary. For example, you’re interacting with the audience, and you decide to interrogate them about something mid-speech. Give them time to process what you said and what the question was. Give them time to think and interpret your question. If you rush this, they’ll most definitely get to know that you’re trying to get that speech over with and you’re not particularly interested in interacting with them, or you’re there on the podium just for the sake of being there. Don’t allow them to assume such things, and try to be respectful while you’re there. 

• Fillers: Try as much as you can to avoid fillers. It is important to realize that the fillers. 

( uh, um, aaa) You’re using while addressing somebody or simply speaking with someone gives an impression that you’re either nervous or don’t have your facts sorted, and neither do you feel confident about being there. You cannot allow someone to have that kind of an assumption about you unless you want them to not like you as much. 

• Follow the suggestions mentioned previously, and you’re good to go. 

Q2. Are elocution lessons actually worth it? 

A2. Elocution lessons come as an overall package, and by the time your tenure at learning the subject is over, you will not just be fluent with your speech; you’re also going to gain more confidence in the process. Elocution is something that understands what an individual is capable of if given a little push in the right direction. Many people have the idea that Elocution is a waste of time and money, which is untrue. The fact is, if you enroll yourself at a good elocution school/class, you’re going to be able to gain so much more than you’ve imagined. It is mostly those people who find public speaking difficult or intimidating who join these classes. However, some people simply join these classes to enhance their already flourishing skills because you can always do better. 

Q3. What are the parts of speech, and how can we inculcate them efficiently?

A3. There are three parts of speech: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. To efficiently inculcate these in your speech, you must know how to effectively engage the audience at the beginning itself; you must realize the fact that your body should contain all the relevant matter that you’re going to be emphasizing in your speech, and lastly how to transition from one part of your speech to another to arrive at your conclusion.

• Introduction: The introduction of your speech is one of the most important parts of your speech. This is the part where you try to engage the audience in such a way that they realize that what you are saying is not just true but is also going to help them in some way or the other. 

• Suppose you are not able to begin your speech with an engaging quote or phrase or simply an idea that stands out of the box. In that case, it is pretty likely that the audience is going to build an idea about you and would tend to get disinterested in what you are going to be saying further. 

• Also, in your speech, try to install a part where you talk about how credible you are; you can mention your achievements in this in order to make the audience aware that you can be trusted with what you are saying. 

• Body: The body is that part of your speech where you talk about all the important information that you’ve gathered and that you’re going to be speaking about; these could be quoted resources, credit, and everything in between. 

• Make sure that your body is credible and that what you’re saying actually makes sense; however, avoid making the body too monotonous. The audience wants to relate to what you are saying, and in order for them to feel included, you need to mention things of their interests as well. Otherwise, your speech is only going to be about you and the research that you’ve done. 

• While mentioning pointers, try to balance the whole thing. You cannot describe one point in extreme detail, and by the time you mention your last point, you have nothing to say; that is not exactly how it works. Treat the body just how you treated your introduction; make it effective. 

• Conclusion: This is the last part of your speech, but you do not have to make it obvious when you transition from each part. You need to be able to do it smoothly. Otherwise, the entire speech loses its true essence. The conclusion can be a closing statement. However, that might look too artless, and you cannot afford to end your speech on that kind of a note after you’ve spent hours working.

• The next thing that you must keep in mind is to realize that to be able to give an effective speech; one must be able to make the audience feel included through it all and till the end. 

• You might have heard speakers and motivational ones, particularly how their entire speech does not have one dull moment. They organize activities in between for the people in the audience to be able to participate. These activities are practical and what makes the audience feel included.

• The audience is able to take something home from that seminar, and they would, in fact, encourage more people to attend such events in the future; that’s how much of an impact the speakers have on them. That is the kind of attitude a good speaker has throughout the event, with their concluding apparatus included within all of this.