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Why is the current level of pulpit discourse (both local and General) in the Church not what it used to be?
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My own experience with the Brethren in smaller, private settings proves many of them to be excellent orators-- employing a masterful combination of wit, energy, insight, emotion, analogy, manipulation of cadence, physical motion, gesticulation, and other rhetorical techniques.
Perhaps there are other considerations when it comes to General Conference, or other presentations with multiple speakers and a large, heterogeneous audience, that are masked by a blind readiness to criticize. For instance, the talks must be given in a way that facilitates dubbing over with a translation into multiple other languages. Concern for different meanings of gesticulation across cultures may require deliberate motion and restraint to avoid accidental offense. Good oratory does not always translate well into print, but conference talks must.
In my experience, it not uncommon for those who readily criticize the rhetorical skill of the members and the Brethren to have a much higher opinion of their own oratory abilities than listening to them speak honestly warrants. They mock and mock, but of themselves can't talk the talk.
In the world at large, oratory skill is often a compensatory substitute for the Holy Spirit. I would much rather hear a humble member of my ward fumble over the words of his truth-laden talk accompanied by the Holy Ghost, than an expert orator without the Spirit.
Opposed.
Interesting. This is how many feel when a general authority is speaking.