What is my definition of Rhetoric?

My definition of rhetoric, would have to be effectiveness. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it gives the definition of rhetoric as speaking or acting effectively. Although the definition I chose is not exactly unique, it does hold true to what I feel rhetoric is. We employ rhetoric and rhetorical devices to write at our best, and to try and communicate our ideas in the most effective way. To be effective, we have to be employing rhetorical strategies. As we continue to develop our thoughts into larger pieces, we use many different strategies to try and accomplish our goals when writing. Things like brainstorming, creating outlines, and writing first drafts, are all ways of thinking and acting rhetorically. In this sense, as trying to be more effective in our writing, we subconsciously apply rhetoric to all of our writing and speaking. Without rhetoric, there would be no world leaders or famous speakers. People like Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler, and Martin Luther King Jr. are all examples of the power rhetoric has to persuade people. Julius Caesar, one of the most remembered rulers of the Roman Empire, was a great speaker. Adolf Hitler, the most infamous person of the 20^th century, was a great speaker. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader who gave one of the best speeches of the century, was a great speaker. They were all great though, not necessarily because of their ideas or beliefs, but because of how effective they were at persuading people and sharing their ideas in the most effective and appealing way. These are a couple examples of how to support the idea that rhetoric could be defined as effectiveness, either in speaking or writing, but more importantly, in the sharing of ideas.