The Ancient Way to Speak With Power

The first time he spoke in public, the crowd laughed at him. Then Demosthenes trained his weak voice with stones in his mouth, in a room under the ground, and against the roar of the sea, and became the greatest speaker of ancient Greece. The four ancient rules of speaking with power, and a simple 10-minute drill you can start today. 0:00 The laughter 1:20 A boy with nothing 3:34 The first rule: train your weakness on purpose 5:05 The second rule: delivery is everything 6:20 The third rule: never speak unprepared 7:29 The fourth rule: say less 8:44 Your first drill 9:44 The weapon SOURCES Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes Plutarch, Life of Phocion Plutarch, On Talkativeness Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Books X and XI Lucian, The Ignorant Book-Collector Schroeder & Epley, The Sound of Intellect, Psychological Science (2015) PICTURES Artist, Title (year), Museum #speaking #demosthenes #philosophy