A study of rhetoric begins with the Ancient Greeks.  Most of the basics of public speaking were figured out thousands of years ago by these early democrats. 

The Ancient Greeks were the first society to have public trials for their citizens accused of a crime where the two sides, accuser and accused, were expected to argue on their own behalf.  And speakers today complain of nervousness!  Soon those who could afford them hired rhetors — eloquent speakers who would argue the case for them and significantly increase the chances of the desired outcome.  Out of these beginnings came both rhetoric and lawyers. 

Modern rhetoric can still learn from the Greeks.  No one has improved upon their analyses of tropes or turns of phrase that will move and inspire listeners.  A standard history of Greek rhetoric logs more than 70 figures of speech, including paronomasia (words that sound alike but have different meanings), antithesis (joining together of opposites), and periphrasis (the substitution of a word or phrase for a proper name) — all of which are still widely used today. 

The Greeks also helped us spot logical flaws in arguments, and that is particularly helpful in a primary season that seems to go on forever.  Arguments ad hominem abound — that is, rather than addressing the issue, you attack the person making the argument.  It is a particularly low form of argument that both parties use when they want to distract our attention from the issues themselves. 

And the Greeks most importantly taught us to structure speeches beginning with the problem and moving to the solution.  That’s a logical flow for an oral argument, and it hasn’t been significantly improved upon these 3,000 years.  For those interested in improving their public speaking, a study of the Ancient Greeks still yields good dividends.