Show yourself to be an equal, in oratory (6)
I believe the answer is:
appear
'show' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for appear that I've seen before include "Arrive" , "Come into sight, materialise" , "Become visible or seem" , "Seem - come into view" , "Seem, look" .)