How to Apologise for Killing a Cat: Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion

When Winston Churchill spoke in Parliament he convinced an empire to go to war. When Martin Luther King spoke in Washington he convinced millions to open their hearts to change. When Oprah Winfrey said: 'Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do, ' she, too, was using rhetoric. As we have here, by deploying the rule of three (tricolon) to stress a point.

Rhetoric - the art of persuasive speaking and writing - often gets a bad rap. It's called out for being glib and insincere. In this dazzling, fast-paced guide, speechwriter Guy Doza rescues rhetoric from the shadows and thrusts its immense power into the spotlight. Delving into compelling sayings from Ancient Rome to 21st Century adverts, he shows how leaders, businesses and even our own friends wield rhetorical devices such as logos and pathos every day, even if we don't know it.

What's more, this book will show you how to learn to use this persuasive language in your own life. How to convince an investor to back your venture. What to say to a potential lover in a bar. And, the six rules of apology you should use if you ever accidentally run over the next-door neighbor's cat...