The textbook outlines a view of rhetoric as the art of practical verbal interaction, which provides the opportunity to skillfully use the word as an instrument of persuasion. Skillful handling of words is not only a person’s professional competence in any field of activity, but also an indicator of a person’s general culture. The author’s position is based on the idea of rhetoric as the science and art of eloquence. The main stages in the history of European rhetoric from antiquity to the present day are described, and its main categories are considered. Methodological recommendations related to the artistic and expressive capabilities of speech action are proposed. The purpose of the workshop is to develop the creative qualities of the individual, cultivate the ability to act expressively with words, and achieve the effectiveness of speech action. Voice-speech training helps to develop the internal elements of psychotechnics: imagination, attention, emotional memory; improve the apparatus of embodiment: voice, intonation, movements; in the unity of internal and external to achieve the effectiveness of the spoken word. The manual is addressed to specialists, as well as a wide range of readers interested in the problems of oratory.