Advocacy is a practical skill. Like acting, dancing and making music it is improved by study and practice. But what sort of study helps to make a speech in court successful? What goes to make it persuasive?
From the fifth century BC onwards the Greeks, and then the Romans, addressed this question by developing the art known as rhetoric. In Shakespeare's time and beyond the teaching of rhetoric was a central part of a Schoolboy's education. No longer. To a great extent, modern advocates formulate their speeches by untrained habit and instinct alone.
This essay argues, and illustrates, that 'rhetoric' is more than just bombast. It clearly demonstrates that the ancients - Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian - articulated with great brilliance what actually goes into making a speech or written submission compelling and persuasive. Their emphasis on the importance of literacy and the good use of language, on the clear structure of arguments and on attractive delivery, has real resonance in the world of today. I would encourage all advocates, and indeed all interested in public speaking, to read and reflect on this essay. It will give them pleasure and profit. - The Right Honourable Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls.
From the fifth century BC onwards the Greeks, and then the Romans, addressed this question by developing the art known as rhetoric. In Shakespeare's time and beyond the teaching of rhetoric was a central part of a Schoolboy's education. No longer. To a great extent, modern advocates formulate their speeches by untrained habit and instinct alone.
This essay argues, and illustrates, that 'rhetoric' is more than just bombast. It clearly demonstrates that the ancients - Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian - articulated with great brilliance what actually goes into making a speech or written submission compelling and persuasive. Their emphasis on the importance of literacy and the good use of language, on the clear structure of arguments and on attractive delivery, has real resonance in the world of today. I would encourage all advocates, and indeed all interested in public speaking, to read and reflect on this essay. It will give them pleasure and profit. - The Right Honourable Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls.
