Who am I and why should you care?
I write books and teach about rhetoric, the 3,000-year-old art of persuasion. You might care if you want to get your persuasion on, or need to motivate yourself, or share my deep abiding passion for the Oxford English Dictionary. Oh, and if you want to enjoy the most horrible discourse and manipulative tactics being used out there in this shaky world, this is the place for you.
What’s in the newsletter?
Here are some of the topics that will hit your inbox…
ETHOS: Character, roles, and lovable crooks.
PATHOS: Emotions, and the rhetorical dials to control them.
LOGOS: Framing and useful fallacies. Please speeches, presentations, and the dreaded wedding toast.
CHARMS AND MAGIC: Tropes, figures, idioms, and lexicographical psychoactivators. (I just made up that term, and it’s changing my brain already!)
SOUL CHEESE: Habits, motivation, and the noble art of napping.
STORYTELLING: Journeys, beats, inspiration, and the over-creative memory.
THE MEDIA: Tricks and pratfalls in politics, movies, social media, and (oh how I love them) song lyrics.
ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS: My wife tells me my talks and workshops don’t really get going until the Q&A. So, because she’s smart and I do everything she says, I do everything I can to get people to ask questions. And now I’m asking you: please, please, tell me your persuasion problems. Or ask me about an idiom, or a weird phrase, or why some jokes aren’t funny.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives. Every new post gets sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app. I use it daily.
Join the happy band of soul benders
Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, ask me questions, and…no, I won’t ask you to pay. Not yet, and maybe not ever. Rhetoric is a cause for me. It lets people disagree without killing each other. Its tools and tactics informed every one of America’s founders, not to mention Shakespeare. And just maybe one of you will use rhetoric to save this overheated world.
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