David Crystal, world expert on language and linguistics, investigates the power of words to persuade, enlighten, influence and coerce. We all recognise eloquence when we hear it, but what exactly is it? Crystal examines each facet of eloquence, from pitch, pace and prosody, to the appropriateness of jokes and even how to wield a microphone, showing us how we might become masters of the art ourselves.

David Crystal is a writer, editor, lecturer, broadcaster and the author of many best-selling and critically acclaimed books. He is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. Crystal’s books are mainly in the field of language, but he is perhaps best known for his two encyclopedias for Cambridge University Press, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Recent books include Making Sense: the Glamorous Story of English Grammar, The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation, The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary and Making a Point: The Pernickety Story of English Punctuation.