History
Greeks were among the first to use speech to argue and persuade with varying degree of success
Rhetoric really picked up after the establishment of Democracy where decisions were no longer made by one powerful leader
In order to accomplish something you had to convince a whole bunch of people to vote for your idea and it suddenly became one of the most prized skills so people could persuade people on their ideas
One of the most famous of these was the philosopher Aristole and he wrote the most influential text on Rhetoric
Rhetoric experienced a rebirth in 17th and 18th centuries, dozens of treatises (a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject) and textbooks of rhetoric were produced
Modern use cases
- In the age of mass media, the ability to communicate your message and to interpret message of others is more important than ever
- Whether we’re at work, in school, or on social media we are constantly participating in a Civil Discussion and finding ourselves in situation where it’s important to articulate (having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently) our thoughts