Aristotle (aka, the King of Rhetoric), defined a rhetorician as someone who can see the entire menu of persuasive options, and unerringly choose the right one for the right target in the right situation.
The problem for most humans? They don’t know the entire persuasion menu. So they stay in one area, fighting and losing. And losing. And, of course, losing.
Why? Why lose when you can choose other battlegrounds? If you can't persuade someone using one set of rules and weapons, switch to a new arena. Where you can actually affect someone. And win.
In 21 Coliseums, I lay out the entire menu of persuasion. Or, what I call the coliseums of persuasion. I talk through all the major forms of influence, including arenas like logic (logos), story (mythos), and emotionality (pathos).
When you know all the options, when you're willing to learn it all, and are committed to following not what you want to do, but what your targets need you to do, you basically never lose at persuasion.
And that’s what a rhetorician is really after. Zero losses. A perfect record.
