2,500 Years Ago, the Ancient Greeks Believed Every Great Speech Must Contain 3 Elements. It’s Still True Today
If you’re looking for advice on how to become a great public speaker, there are plenty of people you can go to. Speaking coaches, VCs, Hollywood directors, jazz musicians, and MIT professors have all offered worthy tips and suggestions.
But perhaps the most compelling advice of all comes from the most unlikely source — ancient Greek philosophers. Before you groan and click away, hear me out.
Much has changed in the 2,500 or so years since Aristotle and Plato were walking around an agora discussing their ideas. Our lifestyles, tech, and understanding of the world are wildly different. But human beings themselves haven’t changed much.
Evolution is slow. Our brains are basically wired the same way then as now. And what worked in ancient Athens — before speakers had the advantage of fancy slides and eye-catching graphics — will almost certainly work now. Plus, these ideas have withstood millennia. They must be pretty worthwhile.
You could, of course, take whole college courses on what the Greeks had to say about what they called rhetoric and what most modern entrepreneurs would call delivering a great speech or presentation. But for time-pressed professionals, let’s start with the…
