With the US presidential campaign under way once again, we are about to hear, see, and read in our media what central figures like Hillary Clinton say to motivate and inspire the electorate to support them. Today, as in other times, there are many great speakers both inside and outside the United States, but we have […]
Deliberative rhetoric: an Introduction
Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, tends to give the ‘grand’ style the edge over the more ‘forensic’ approach in deliberate communication. Cicero’s genius was that he could use both styles effectively. He knew when and where to change his style, and as a result he was just as successful in the political arena as he was […]
Styles of Oratory
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.