Is properly speaking an art form?

Question

Is properly speaking an art form?

Answer 1

Absolutely.  It's called rhetorical speaking.

I studied English Rhetoric at the University of Arizona.

Basically, it is the elegant, artistic use of the English language, both written and spoken.

Answer 2

I'd say construably, as the English language is a beautiful thing.

However, I also feel it's everybody's responsibility to do so, and am saddened by most people's inability to even use an apostrophe correctly.

Answer 3

sometimes it can be..

sometimes its not..

Answer 4

YES!  And sadly a dying one.

Answer 5

Yes, I would say it is. At my school foreign language classes are under the art category. Weird huh? But in my opinion art is a skill that is attained by study, practice, or some people just have natural talent. But then again everyone's definition of art is different.

Answer 6

Depends on who's doing the defining.

A hundred years ago or so, the academics who were in charge of such definitions decreed that the fine arts included only those that worked directly on one of the five senses.  Thus, visual arts (painting, architecture, sculpture, etc.), music, dance, poetry, mimesis, and combined forms like song, theatre, or ballet were considered "fine" arts, while prose literature (novels, short stories), crafts (pottery, floral arranging, interior design), pop art (popular music, comic books, photography) were considered inferior.

In that old system, public speaking was considered as not art, but its own domain--rhetoric and elocution.  Not a fine art per se, but equally admirable in its own sense.

In the years since WWII, with scholars like Roland Barthes, the definition of "arts" has been broadened in a more egalitarian way.  Now, few academics would deny that it's legitimate to regard pop music, graphic novels, computer games, and other modes of human expression as "art".

So, at present, it's certainly possible to view public speaking as an art form.  Unfortunately, the scholars most concerned with public speaking--represented by the National Communication Association--are generally completely unconcerned with analysis of speaking as an art form, dedicating themselves either to studying it as a scientific phenomenon via quasi-empirical research, or as a social science phenomenon to be viewed through the lenses of postmodernist philosophy.  So while it can be viewed as an art form, it rarely is.

Answer 7

I am sure a lot consider it classy.

Are you sure your question wouldn't be more proper written:'

Is speaking properly an art form?

Answer 8

Yes as well as the long forgoten art of Listening