Oral expression that is done in public can be called declamation.
Derived from the Latin declamatĭo , the concept of declamation revolves around the act of declaiming . This verb, according to its theoretical definition, describes the action of speaking in public or reciting with appropriate intonation, mimicry and gestures.
In this sense, we can announce that worldwide there are various contests and declamation contests that attempt to recognize the oratory and speech qualities that some people have. Thus, for example, we can cite the “Diego Granados Jiménez” National Declamation Contest, which has been held and held in the Almeria town of Albox for more than ten years.
Declamation techniques and tactics
There are several techniques that must be strictly followed by anyone who is interested in being characterized by their exquisite and praised declamation. In this case, the first golden rule is that you must be a good reader and that also means knowing how to understand everything you are reading.
The second vital tactic is to take appropriate and necessary breaks. Thus, every reciter must know and be perfectly aware of the amount of pause time he or she must take depending on the various punctuation marks that appear in the text he or she is reading. And the fact is that both the comma, the period, the semicolon or the ellipsis differ in terms of silence time.
In this sense, it must also be emphasized that it is very important, in order to make a good recitation, to know the pause and intonation that the colon brings with it. And both must be achieved to achieve the public's attention at that moment.
The third key of every good declaimer, as it could not be otherwise, is to have exquisite diction because it is the way for his listeners to receive with total clarity what he is exposing.
There are techniques and resources that allow you to improve declamation.
The art of reciting
When talking about declamation, however, one can also refer to the art of reciting in the context of a theater , to speech delivered in a vehement manner or to speech in general.
The concept of declamation, then, can refer to performing art in general , such as dance or theater. It implies the existence of an audience that remains attentive and observes the actions represented by the artists.
As an artistic discipline, declamation constitutes an interpretation that seeks harmony between the voice, the meaning of the words, music , gestures and body movement.
Declamation and rhetoric
Declamation appears linked to rhetoric , a discipline that studies the procedures and techniques used in language, especially those that are used for aesthetic or persuasive purposes as well as communicative ones.
In this sense, rhetoric is presented as a set of resources and rules that operate at different levels during the construction of discourse. For rhetoric, a speech is composed of a linguistic structure that includes the inventio , the dispositio and the elocutio ), just as for oral activity it uses memory and the actio .
It should be noted that rhetoric and declamation can transcend the field of arts and aesthetics. They are used, for example, in presenting arguments and defending positions during judicial proceedings. Likewise, they can be present in the educational field, when students must present their knowledge in front of teachers.