The rise of rhetoric is a danger to liberal democracies and a powerful tool for the would-be autocrat. The danger lies in the ease with which sizeable parts of the population are persuaded to adopt the most implausible propositions, on the basis of nothing more than the assertions of a self-interested orator. On a daily basis it is these same techniques that drive all manner of conspiracy theories. The author hopes that by listing and explaining some of these rhetorical devices, the more gullible members of the public may recognise when they are being manipulated and resist it