Antony loved Caesar and is devastated by his death. But he has been granted permission to speak on the condition that he does not blame the conspirators.
He begins with words that have echoed through the centuries and will continue to echo for centuries to come:
“Friends, Romans, countrymen,
lend me your ears.”
Antony begins building a connection with his very first word: “Friends.”
He addresses the crowd as friends, suggesting that he stands among them as an equal, rather than above them.
Then, “lend me your ears” suggests to the crowd that he is asking them to listen, rather than demanding that they do, as Brutus had done.
And listen, they surely did!
Words gain power when actions reinforce them. Antony keeps calling the conspirators ‘honourable men’, then brings Caesar’s body before the crowd and pauses while he wipes tears away from his eyes. He then invites them up the steps to gather around it with him. He lets them see the consequences for themselves.
What follows is a masterful combination of words, actions and timing. When an NLP practitioner brings these elements together as Mark Antony does, it shows persuasion at its most powerful.
And turn them he did!
The crowd that had applauded Brutus now turns against him!
