Rules for Reading Out Loud

I came across this list of rules for reading out loud, written by one Worthy Putnam, in The Science & Art of Elocution and Oratory, (1874.) I share it here for those who might be called upon to read something - be it that "greatest of these is love" Biblical passage at a wedding, the location of portable amenities at the elementary school picnic, or the narration for a family slide show ("I'd have to say, our favorite part of the trip to Europe was meeting the little Greek boy who said, 'Someday I go America and be cowboy!' ")

The rules:

1. Give good articulation.
2. Correct pronunciation.
3. Mind the Sense.
4. Read like Talking.
5. Be in Earnest.

So - no mumbling, learn how to say the words you're going to read, sense out where in the sentences to emphasize certain words so it flows, make it conversational, and be for real.

I am willing to bet that Mr. Obama incorporated every one of these tenets in his inaugural address. I hope I was right.

Thank you, Worthy Putnam. Don't you love it when parents hang on their kids a moniker that the kid really has to live up to?