The orators in ancient Greece and Rome recognized the magic of rhythm. They noticed that the cadence of an expression could have a huge influence on an audience[. Cicero was especially fond of one of the more powerful rhythms, the paean. We think of the paean today as a song or poem that praises, gives thanks, or celebrates a triumph. But it first meant words that heal.

In any story—the narration part of a speech, or a fictional tale, or the proofs in an essay—you want to put the scene right before the audience’s very eyes. Ancient rhetoricians called this quality enargeia. While the word literally translates as “visibility,” I prefer “before their very eyes.”