Introduction
Rhetorist is a pioneering AI-driven project designed to transform how individuals prepare and deliver impactful speeches. Inspired by iconic orators such as Greta Thunberg, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King Jr., and others, the project was developed to uncover the rhetorical DNA of the world’s most influential speakers. By deeply analyzing the patterns, phrasing, emotional structure, and delivery techniques used by these leaders, we created a sophisticated speech coaching tool that offers detailed feedback and guidance on any speech submitted to it.
As the lead architect and designer of Rhetorist, I oversaw the development of a platform that analyzes user-provided speeches, breaks down their rhetorical structure, and generates tailored speaking notes — not only to improve content but to assist speakers in real-time delivery. The system is grounded in the rhetorical wisdom of history’s greatest communicators and equipped with an intelligent assistant that helps users craft, refine, and perform speeches that leave lasting impact.
Target Group
Primary: Professionals, keynote speakers, students, NGO representatives, and startup founders preparing for public speaking events.
Secondary: Teachers, trainers, political activists, motivational speakers, and communication coaches.
Project Objectives
Democratize Great Speaking
To make high-quality public speaking training accessible to anyone — without needing years of professional coaching — by digitizing and automating best practices from history’s greatest speakers.
Personalized Speech Feedback
To provide AI-powered feedback tailored to each user’s content, purpose, tone, and target audience — helping them improve clarity, impact, and emotional resonance.
Performance Optimization
To support live delivery by generating intelligent speaking notes — not just prompts, but reminders based on rhetorical techniques to guide pacing, emphasis, tone, and gesture.
What We Did for the User
Analysis of Iconic Speech Patterns
Scope of Work: We selected 15 of the world’s most effective orators across contexts such as activism, politics, entrepreneurship, and philosophy. Using qualitative coding and linguistic analysis, we identified over 80 rhetorical techniques they employed.
Output: A taxonomy of speech patterns and rhetorical techniques, categorized by speaker style (e.g., Martin Luther King’s use of moral framing and crescendo structure, Greta Thunberg’s use of direct emotional appeal and data-driven indictment, or Steve Jobs’ storytelling structure).
Speech Understanding and Personalization Engine
AI Engine: We built a modular NLP system that:
- Analyzes a user’s speech
- Determines structure, tone, goals, and audience
- Matches it to appropriate rhetorical archetypes
- Provides suggestions for improving persuasiveness, clarity, and emotional impact
Templates: Each speaker model is backed by a dynamic speech template that guides users through:
- Structure (e.g., Jobs' 3-story arc or King’s dream-repetition structure)
- Tone alignment
- Vocabulary and rhythm matching
Interactive Speaking Notes Generator
Real-Time Guidance: The final layer of the product is a speaking assistant, which:
- Produces a clean, minimalistic speaking note sheet based on the speech
- Highlights emphasis points, pause cues, and rhetorical hooks
- Adapts the note layout to user preferences (number of minutes, whether they prefer full phrases or single keywords, etc.)
Key Innovation: The system suggests "rhetorical reminders" at key points in the speaking notes. For example:
“Remind yourself here to make eye contact and raise your voice — this is the moment of emotional peak.”
Client-Facing Use Cases
- Students: Preparing powerful graduation or competition speeches
- Startup Founders: Pitching in demo days with Steve Jobs-like charisma
- Climate Activists: Adopting Greta Thunberg’s morally urgent tone
- Teachers: Modeling lessons on historical rhetoric
- Politicians & Community Leaders: Crafting clear, memorable messaging with MLK-like cadence
Key Challenges
Modeling Diverse Speech Archetypes
Matching users to archetypes based on subtle differences in content, audience, and goals required fine-tuned semantic classification and tone detection.
Balancing Depth and Usability
While the tool is deeply research-backed, the user interface needed to remain simple enough for non-technical users. Designing UI that surfaces rhetorical insight in plain language was key.
Real-Time Support Without Distraction
Creating speaking notes that help during live delivery without overwhelming the speaker or acting like a teleprompter required extensive testing and human-centered design.
Outcomes and Impact
- Thousands of Users: Rhetorist has been used in educational settings, pitch events, and personal development contexts.
- High Satisfaction: 90% of users reported feeling more confident and better prepared.
- Use in Public Speaking Courses: Several educators have adopted Rhetorist into their curriculum to teach effective communication through AI support.
Conclusion
Rhetorist bridges ancient wisdom and modern technology, reviving the rhetorical traditions of history’s greatest speakers while making them accessible through AI. The platform empowers users to speak not just with clarity, but with power — channeling the resonance of leaders like Jobs, Thunberg, King, and Mandela into their own authentic voices. It is not merely a speech generator. It is a rhetorical companion, designed to help everyone — from founders to students — create speeches that move minds and inspire action.
