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Natalie Schulte

Professor Furaha Henry-Jones

English Composition 1101.229

17 November, 2016

Seeing Verbal Communication as an Artform

I wager that I can remove you from your comfort zone with a few, simple words:

religion, race, class, sexual orientation, war, politics. And that, my friends, is the art of

communications. It is not only an art in respect of the years it takes to simply learn your

language, but your word choice, tone, and the structure. It contains the phenomenal power to

elicit emotional responses and logical reasoning. In the past, many have thought that verbal

communication was just a tool for bringing people together, and failed to see the artform

underneath, but we must put this way of thinking behind us and accept communication as the

beautiful and powerful art it truly is.

Throughout the beginning of history, stories, songs, and tales have been passed down

from generation to generation by folklore, or history spread through spoken words (What is

Folklore). Most of these were told before many could even read and write, which made them

more effective and stuck more in memory. These stories have shaped our society and the modern

world. Many consider folklore as a dead art, but an art nonetheless. However, these same people

fail to consider how our modern verbal communications is the expansion of this old world art.

As a Communication major, I understand the importance of speech. Also, after growing

up with speech impediments, dyslexia, and auditory processing disorder, I have a deeper

understanding of the art behind it all. Though you might not hear it still, I struggled to convey

my own feelings and ideas verbally. With each passing year, the passion and craving for spoken
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words grew stronger within me. Not a day passes that I do not think of art that I had to train and

retrain myself in the search of a flawless performance. And this is exactly what an art is; more

often than not, a now famous painter did not wake up one morning and start making

masterpieces, nor does the author immediately write the New York Times Bestseller their first try.

Effective and beautiful speaking does not form overnight, but rather over several years.

Most famous actors started in small, elementary stage plays that were often disregarded

after a year or two, save the pictures their mothers took using a Kodak film camera from

Walgreens. But, after years of training in the art of verbal communications, they learned how to

control their audience. They learned how to draw them in, bring them to their level of conscious

awareness, and then slam them down with the raw emotions only communicated through,

perhaps, a monologue, sentence, a word. In that shining, glorious moment, they present the still

inequivalent beauty of language and the spoken word.

However, with all the evidence, some in the art community still elect to ignore this and

simply put it as a human tool which makes us the superior species, or choose to add this to a box

that written or nonverbal communications are already residing happily. Even though these are

ways to convey emotions, reasoning, and ideas, they are completely separated and superior in

their own ways. They are interdependent with one another, but shine in their own strengths. They

can strengthen one another, but as painter must start with a rough sketch of what he chooses to

paint.

The art of verbal communications is first heard with the words chosen by the speaker.

You could say pretty, or you could choose to say exquisite. You could say smart or you could

say knowledgable. The word choice you make also makes the reader feel what you feel and

know what you know. That is the insurmountable beauty of language. Words do not simply
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transmit knowledge, but evoke specific emotions. The article, The Art of Communication and

Communication as an Art Form, writes on the idea of the logical and emotional appeals,

Communication can be both an art form and a science, but there could be no technological

collaboration in any science without the artful interactions of interpersonal communication.

Communication allows us to solve problems, so in that sense, it is a true science. But there is

also art in virtually every aspect of communication science, including the art of listening, the art

of self expression, the art of interpretation, and the art of collaboration.

The second part of the artform that is communications would be tone of voice. One who

says I love you with a monotone, unemotional voice will most likely be passed off as sarcastic

and, perhaps, a bit condescending. However, if the same person says I love you with a more

passionate and caring voice, they will be perceived as more honest and loving. The tone of voice

is the type of brush you paint your picture with. There are sponges, fans, egberts, filberts,

stipples, riggers, angles, liners, and many more types of brushes that are used for different parts

of the painting. Likewise, theres varying tones for different conversations.

Finally, the structure of the argument. Yes, one could throw clay together and call it a

sculpture, but that is not what makes it an art; the art comes from molding and actual sculpting.

Much like this artform, speaking also needs to be sculpted and formed. That is why pauses,

tones, word choices, presentation, introductions, separate parts within the body, and conclusions

are so important in a speech. These add structure and texture to the speech which is being given.

So while one can throw large, uncommon words, and unlinked phrases at the listener, they will

not be as receptive to the points and ideas than if they had been more careful when they prepared

it.
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In conclusion, I implore you to see verbal communication as an artform which stands on

its own platform. This type of communications deserves to be in its own category within the art

world and not added to a preexisting box. Also, please do not brush this off as something you

already agree with or something that is unimportant because this is something that we have

devoted our lives to learning and should pursue seeing it as a truly beautiful, yet useful art.

Bibliography

"The Art of Communication and Communication as an Art Form." The Art of Communication

and Communication as an Art Form. The Brothers Media, 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
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"What Is Folklore." What Is Folklore? American Folklore Society, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.