By Paul Carroll, London Athenians
Oratory is back! Millions of electors have been impressed by Barack Obama's moving oratory. His skill in articulating his message was a decisive - perhaps the decisive - factor in his victory, according to Charlotte Higgins author of Its All Greek to me: From Homer to the Hippocratic Oath, How Ancient Greece Has Shaped Our World.
In today's Guardian Higgins gives a thumbnail sketch analysing the classical rhetorical devices which Obama used and continues to use to persuade people to support him.
"The sheer numbers of people who have heard him speak live set him apart from his rivals - and, indeed, recall the politics of ancient Athens, where the public speech given to ordinary voters was the motor of politics, and where the art of rhetoric matured alongside democracy." The New Cicero, Charlotte Higgins.
You can read Higgins's full article online here. For a handy summary of rhetorical devices to use in your Toastmasters speeches click here.
image credit ra-photos
