Curious Worldview Sam Leith | De-Coding The Worlds Best Speeches & World’s Greatest Talkers... It’s Rhetoric All The Way Down…
Apr 30, 2024
In this engaging discussion, Sam Leith, literary editor at The Spectator and a seasoned author, delves into the art of rhetoric from Aristotle to modern figures like Obama and Trump. He highlights how Obama revived eloquent speech while Trump capitalizes on a raw, anti-rhetorical style. Leith also explores the significance of delivery over text, comparing historical greats like Churchill and Hitchens. He discusses how social media reshapes rhetoric and the democratization of speech, while offering insights on storytelling’s power in persuasion.
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Obama Versus Trump Rhetorical Styles
- Barack Obama intentionally used classical rhetorical techniques and inspired Sam Leith to write about rhetoric.
- Donald Trump practices an effective but opposite "anti-rhetorical" style that still persuades via emotion and identity.
Rhetoric Is Both Instinctive And Teachable
- Many rhetorical devices are learned unconsciously because we use language to persuade from early on.
- Aristotle saw rhetoric as a teachable craft, but most speakers internalize its techniques by practice.
Anti-Rhetoric Is Still Rhetoric
- Claiming not to use rhetoric is itself rhetorical; presenting honesty can be a deliberate strategy.
- Every communicative act tied to power falls under rhetoric by this broad definition.
