Rhetoric: Skillful use of words to persuade.
If you sound like you know what you're talking about, people will assume you do. -- Pug Mahoney
The word rhetoric has acquired a negative connotation, as in the dismissive phrase, "That's just so much rhetoric." In many ways, that reputation is appropriate, because rhetorical skills were used to persuade listeners and readers to agree with positions that were inherently dangerous.
Meanwhile, the word oratory -- derived from the same root as rhetoric -- retains its positive reputation.
This artificial eloquence is used by debaters and politicians to advance their agendas regardless of the dangers they may pose to the traditions of a nation's culture and way of life.
It may even be true that the orators have convinced themselves that the causes they espouse are beneficial to a democratic way of life, even when the reality is that the goal is only to bring victory to the self-appointed leaders, at the expense of everyone else.
Originally, the skills of rhetoric dealt with the way thoughts and ideas are presented. Some debaters, however, became so skillful in this art of persuasion that they could, and did, induce agreement through their eloquence and speechifying.
Advertising writers know this well. Listen closely to TV commercials, with pleasant sounding voices and beautiful images accompanying the message and you will soon realize that while it sounds good and looks good, it doesn't really mean much of anything.
The same applies to political speeches, whether on the campaign trail, in the halls of Congress, or from the Oval Office.
One difference these days, however, is that while lawyer-speak is well organized and sounds good, much of what comes from the guy in the Oval Office is neither.
Listen closely, and ask a grammar teacher to diagram one of his sentences.
The conclusion will often be that the talk is what high school students in Florida have come to recognize as B.S.
And that's what has given rhetoric a bad name.
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