“The orator should use the plain style to instruct, the grand style to move, the intermediate style to charm”
Although the quote from Quintilian above gives us three distinct styles, most commentators have rolled them into two: the ‘forensic’ and the ‘grand’ styles. The forensic style gives much of its attention to directness and the particular. Such personalities as Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Schmidt, and Al Gore are modern examples of ‘forensic’ speakers, while Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama represent the more ‘grand’ and engaging style with attention given to the global picture. Both styles can be persuasive according to what the circumstances demand. However, although our personalities may direct us towards one style, we, like Cicero, should master both. We shall look briefly at these two approaches to public discourse, firstly as they emerged in ancient Rome.
These were times turmoil in Rome and public discourse was taken very seriously. It was the age of the Gracchi, Julius Caesar, Cicero, and Hortensius. It was the age of the great senate debates, famous law trials, and mass meetings. It was an age when rhetorical knowledge and oratorical skill were necessary for advancement in public life. It was an age when Roman rhetoric blossomed with the expansion of the Republic. It was also an age when a speaker’s gravitas was of the utmost importance.