Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delivered over great distance by means of technology. Confucius, one of many scholars associated with public speaking, once taught that if a speech was considered to be a good speech, it would impact the individuals' lives whether they listened to it directly or not. His idea was that the words and actions of someone of power can influence the world. Public speaking is used for many different purposes, but usually as some mixture of teaching, persuasion, or entertaining. Each of these calls upon slightly different approaches and techniques. Public speaking was developed as a primary sphere of knowledge in Greece and Rome, where prominent thinkers codified it as a central part of rhetoric. Today, the art of public speaking has been transformed by newly available technology such as videoconferencing, multimedia presentations, and other non-traditional forms. Purpose of public speaking The function of public speaking depends entirely on what effect a speaker intends when addressing a particular audience. The same speaker, with the same strategic intention, might deliver a substantially different speech to two different audiences. The point is to change something, in the hearts, minds, or actions of the audience. Despite its name, public speaking is frequently delivered to a closed, limited audience with a broadly common outlook. Audiences may be ardent fans of the speaker; they may be hostile (attending an event unwillingly, or out of spite); or they may be random strangers (indifferent to a speaker on a soapbox in the street). All the same, effective speakers remember that even a small audience is not one single mass with a single point of view but a variety of individuals. As a broad generalization, public speaking seeks either to reassure a troubled audience, or to awaken a complacent audience to something important. Having decided which of these approaches is needed, a speaker will then combine information and storytelling in the way most likely to achieve it. Persuasion The word persuasion comes from a Latin term “ persuādēre.” The main goal behind a persuasive speech is to change the beliefs of a speaker's audience. Examples of persuasive speaking can be found in any political debate where leaders are trying to persuade their audience,