Rhetorical exercises are used to train students in public speaking, persuasion, and politics. There are two categories: progymnasmata, which familiarize students with rhetoric through written exercises, and gymnasmata, which prepare students for delivering speeches. These exercises aim to equip students with the skills to speak persuasively on any subject and to examine both sides of an issue before delivering a speech.
Rhetorical exercises are forms of training used to prepare students for practical application of rhetorical skills in public speaking, debating, persuasion, politics, or other fields where rhetoric can be useful. Such exercises have been used in a variety of cultures since the late classical period of history, and variations of them are still used in modern education. Rhetorical exercises have traditionally been divided into two main categories: progymnasmata and gymnasmata. The progymnasmata are exercises intended to familiarize the various facets of rhetoric by prompting the student to prepare compositions on various topics. Gymnasmata are practical talks that give students the opportunity to practice giving organized speeches on various topics to audiences.
Progymnasmata are composed of a variety of different categories of written rhetorical exercises through which students are expected to work. These rhetorical exercises include composing narratives, refutations, comparisons, imitations, and many other types of compositions. There are traditionally 14 different progymnasmata which are meant to give a broad overview of different aspects of rhetoric, but different schools of rhetoric will choose to use a different number of exercises. Ideally, such exercises should give students of rhetoric the confidence, knowledge, and experience to use the different discourse methods practiced in their practice writings and, later, in practical rhetoric work.
Gymnasmata, or practice talks, are rhetorical exercises that prepare students for the often dynamic process of actually delivering talks to an audience. Creating a composition is very different from actually delivering a speech to a live audience. Gymnasmata exercises allow students to practice the various elements of rhetoric that extend beyond basic composition, such as body language and tone. Such rhetorical exercises can also give students the ability to respond dynamically to opposition and engage in debates. These situations require the student to be able to think quickly, often without access to notes or other resources, to respond to rhetorical challenges.
An effective course of rhetoric exercises should equip the student of rhetoric with the skills to speak clearly and persuasively on almost any subject. Rhetoricians are, in fact, sometimes criticized for placing skill in persuasion as a serious consideration for the topics under discussion. Many rhetorical exercises require students to argue both sides of a given issue regardless of personal beliefs. This prepares students to discuss assigned topics in formal debates and prompts them to carefully examine both sides of an issue before delivering a serious oration on it.
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