Ronald Reagan didn’t set out with the intention to motivate or inspire people to serve their country as Jack Kennedy had done in the early sixties. He did not speak the language of idealism that Kennedy had done. He set out, I believe, to persuade people to accept his neo-conservative message which was based on […]
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.