My dear friend, I loved this rich piece on eloquence! As much as I value this skill and would love to master it, I have to admit I find it limited if not backed by being a principled-centered individual. Why is that relevant at all, you may ask? As you have brilliantly stipulated it, some used their eloquence for the greater good while others exploited it for their evil plans. It seems to me that when being a principled servant leader, eloquence is backed by the exquisite emotional intelligence skill, in which case, the speaker aims to influence by talking to the virtuous part of the audiences through reminding them of how smililar we are and that we are all originally here to give back to the world and leave a legacy for the generations unborn. On the other side, when being an ego-driven jerk, eloquence becomes a dangerous arm given that it is used to manipulate and drive chaos... Audiences who are not educated on spotting the red flags of fake charm and whose subconscious program is full of the bad mental patterns the manipulators remorslessly exploit can become a toy to execute on destructive plans that merely serve the villain’s agenda.
Last but not least, I personally have a preference for those authentic principled people who may not be the most eloquent folks but who speak their heart authentically, who pursue noble causes that ho beyond themselves, who can be publicly vulnerable and even silly; thus making everybody relate and be inspired! 💙