Sunday Feature: Let Her Speak

Emily Maitlis considers the history of women and public speaking. With Fiona Shaw, Patsy Rodenberg and Professor Emma Smith talking about how women were characterised by the ancient Greeks as well as Shakespeare, and what it is to 'inhabit' these voices. Emily asks Lissa Muscatine, Hillary Clinton's chief of speechwriting for more than 20 years, if the first female presidential candidate needs to 'address her femininity' head on. With speechwriter Martha Leyton, Emily tests Aristotle's rhetorical principles: logos, pathos and ethos. She also considers how the female voice is heard and perceived, in addition to physical considerations such as vocal folds, the importance of free breath and the constraints of being corseted or wearing high heels. With early recordings of the arguing and entreating, persuading and encouraging voices of women through the 20th century around the world. Contributors also include Professors Richard Toye, Valerie Hazan, Ruth Perry and Michael Graves