Neil: I'm Neil.
Sam: And I'm Sam.
Neil: 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!'
Do you know where these famous words are from, Sam?
Sam: I think that's a speech by Marc Antony in William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar.
Neil: Wow, I'm impressed!
Caesar has been assassinated
and Marc Antony tries to persuade the crowd to find his killers.
Sam: Using words to persuade people,
giving them a good reason to do what you say,
or to accept your argument, is known as 'rhetoric'.
In this programme, we'll be hearing all about rhetoric
and of course learning some related vocabulary as well.
Neil: The art of rhetoric started with the ancient Greek philosophers.
Later, during the Roman republic,
politicians and statesmen used rhetoric in speeches
given to crowds in the public square.
Sam: Although technology has transformed the way we communicate since then,
the art of rhetoric is still alive today.
Modern politicians may prefer Twitter to the public square,