I agree, Brady. Just like pretty much everything in life, there are those who possess a natural ability to speak in front of an audience and those who don't. Like you, I fall into the second category as well. Perhaps experience will school me, or perhaps I will just avoid public speaking the rest of my life. Either way, Isocrates called it.

From Against the Sophists

One of the first things Isocrates states in this piece that makes complete sense to me is found on the first page at the very bottom. He says, "Abilities both of speech and of all other activities occur in those well endowed by nature and those schooled by experience" (266-267).  His first point here about those endowed by nature is a very valid point. I believe some people were gifted with the ability to speak while others must work very hard at it which speaks to his second point and that those that have been schooled by experience.  I believe most of us fall into that second category requiring a lot of hard work and schooling to be able to stand in front of a group of people and present a topic.

General Introduction

Overall I found the article very interesting. One part I found particularly interesting was on page three when the topic is discussed on The Preparation of a Speech. These classical methods for breaking down a speech to insure everything is covered are still used today, I'm sure.  Invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery are very important aspects of any speech given today, well almost any speech today. The memorization part doesn't seem so prevalent with the use of a teleprompter finding its way into many speeches today.