The Wordsmith's Forge

I'll bet the Prof is a student of Demosthenes, considered to be the mightiest speech-giver in Athens (and possibly Greece). But I wouldn't be stuffing anyone's mouth full of rocks, just helping them understand their own ability to lead others. After all, if you already have a sense of how people tick and what makes them go, a bit of study to the art will give you the ability to make fire where you only had a spark.