Public speaking. Two words that can strike fear into the hearts of brave men and make their blood run cold. For many, it is regarded as one of the most unsettling experiences a man can endure. We watch great orators with a mixture of admiration and envy, wondering how on earth they manage to stay so serene. Their words pour like honey, smoothly and effortlessly, as they influence and persuade us with ease.
But for those of us who don’t perceive ourselves as a Winston Churchill orJFK, there are some useful clues that we can take from the great speech-makers that will enhance our own presentations. One of the biggest tools in our armory is rhetoric, the art of using language to influence others. Rhetoric has retained its place as a cornerstone of great speeches for thousands of years, and the techniques have not changed. The great speeches through history consistently bear the same hallmarks, returning to these devices time and time again. So here are some of the key elements that you can start to incorporate into your own speeches, elevating them from the average into something special.
A brief history of rhetoricWhile rhetoric has a history that is many thousands of years old, it was not really until the great thinker Aristotle wrote The Art of Rhetoric that its rules were defined. He spoke of the three appeals — logos (logic), pathos (emotion) and ethos (reputation of the speaker). This was developed by the Romans, including the famed politician Cicero, who wrote of the five canons of rhetoric. These incorporated invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. These were particularly influential thinkers, and the teaching of rhetoric was a component of any classical education from Ancient Greece, right through to the modern era. Anyone who had a good education would have encountered rhetoric, which may in part explain why so many successful men were also great orators.
In its purest form, rhetoric was seen as a civic art and as a means of persuasion. Being capable in this particular skill still resonates today, and anyone in a position that requires the support of other people would do well to consider the use of rhetoric as part of their toolkit.
Three-part listsThree-part lists are one of the most prevalent, potent and persuasive of the rhetorical devices. It is also known as a tricolon. It is a device that can be seen in numerous examples — the Lord’s Prayer, for instance: "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory." Julius Caesar used it when he said "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Abraham Lincoln used it to great effect in his celebrated Gettysburg address, as well: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people." And Barack Obama used three-part lists 29 times during his victory speech in Chicago. Even the Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." By using three points to augment a single argument, it makes it memorable for the audience without trying to bludgeon them into submission by making too many points. It is also the earliest point at which a list can become unequivocal — essentially, the third point can be used to support either of the previous two, making the overall argument stronger.
ContrastsContrasts are another extremely effective rhetorical device, in which the audience is presented with two ideas that are usually (although not always) diametrically opposed. It is also known as antithesis, and by placing the opposites in close proximity, it draws an audience’s attention to their differences in a much stronger way than if they are separated by several sentences. JFK famously used this device when he said, in a speech to the UN, "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." He used it repeatedly in the first minute of his inauguration speech, and around 20 times in total in that 13-minute speech. Winston Churchill, another famed orator, used contrasts to great effect in his speech to parliament on August 20, 1940. In it, he states, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Sonic rhetorical devicesThis is an umbrella term for a range of rhetorical techniques that are also frequently used in poetry. Perhaps the best known of these is alliteration.
Using alliteration helps to emphasise something in a simple way, using repeated similar sounds to attract the ears of an audience. Examples are common in tongue twisters like, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
Linked to alliteration are assonance and consonance. While alliteration focuses on sounds at the beginning of each word, assonance focuses on internal vowels and consonance on internal consonants. These are slightly harder to spot, but nevertheless can be effective in conveying a message. A simple example is, “I baked a cake beside a lake,” where the strong sounds of the “a” and the “k” draw the attention of the listener.
Imagery and metaphorCultivating memorable images in the minds of your audience can be an extremely potent weapon in the rhetorical armory. JFK spoke of “casting off the chains of poverty.” This works by creating associations, and its primary mechanism is by directly stating that something is something else. Metaphor has been found in the oldest surviving language in the world, Sumerian. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, metaphor is used to compare a person to an animal: “My friend, swift stallion, wild deer, leopard ranging in the wilderness.” Martin Luther King Jr., in one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, talked of those who were “battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” For many people, images are far more memorable than words alone, so this technique can help you reach audiences who might otherwise become bored by presenting with a much more visceral turn of phrase.
Speak with a silver tongueSo there you have it. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the rhetorical devices you could use, but it does represent a number of the most prevalent and effective. So the next time you are thinking of how to convey a message, be it a Best Man’s speech, a lecture or a business presentation, consider how some of these techniques might help you reach your audience more effectively. Try and incorporate them into passages that you feel might be a bit dull, and see where it takes you.
But for those of us who don’t perceive ourselves as a Winston Churchill orJFK, there are some useful clues that we can take from the great speech-makers that will enhance our own presentations. One of the biggest tools in our armory is rhetoric, the art of using language to influence others. Rhetoric has retained its place as a cornerstone of great speeches for thousands of years, and the techniques have not changed. The great speeches through history consistently bear the same hallmarks, returning to these devices time and time again. So here are some of the key elements that you can start to incorporate into your own speeches, elevating them from the average into something special.
A brief history of rhetoricWhile rhetoric has a history that is many thousands of years old, it was not really until the great thinker Aristotle wrote The Art of Rhetoric that its rules were defined. He spoke of the three appeals — logos (logic), pathos (emotion) and ethos (reputation of the speaker). This was developed by the Romans, including the famed politician Cicero, who wrote of the five canons of rhetoric. These incorporated invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. These were particularly influential thinkers, and the teaching of rhetoric was a component of any classical education from Ancient Greece, right through to the modern era. Anyone who had a good education would have encountered rhetoric, which may in part explain why so many successful men were also great orators.
In its purest form, rhetoric was seen as a civic art and as a means of persuasion. Being capable in this particular skill still resonates today, and anyone in a position that requires the support of other people would do well to consider the use of rhetoric as part of their toolkit.
Three-part listsThree-part lists are one of the most prevalent, potent and persuasive of the rhetorical devices. It is also known as a tricolon. It is a device that can be seen in numerous examples — the Lord’s Prayer, for instance: "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory." Julius Caesar used it when he said "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Abraham Lincoln used it to great effect in his celebrated Gettysburg address, as well: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people." And Barack Obama used three-part lists 29 times during his victory speech in Chicago. Even the Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." By using three points to augment a single argument, it makes it memorable for the audience without trying to bludgeon them into submission by making too many points. It is also the earliest point at which a list can become unequivocal — essentially, the third point can be used to support either of the previous two, making the overall argument stronger.
ContrastsContrasts are another extremely effective rhetorical device, in which the audience is presented with two ideas that are usually (although not always) diametrically opposed. It is also known as antithesis, and by placing the opposites in close proximity, it draws an audience’s attention to their differences in a much stronger way than if they are separated by several sentences. JFK famously used this device when he said, in a speech to the UN, "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." He used it repeatedly in the first minute of his inauguration speech, and around 20 times in total in that 13-minute speech. Winston Churchill, another famed orator, used contrasts to great effect in his speech to parliament on August 20, 1940. In it, he states, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Sonic rhetorical devicesThis is an umbrella term for a range of rhetorical techniques that are also frequently used in poetry. Perhaps the best known of these is alliteration.
Using alliteration helps to emphasise something in a simple way, using repeated similar sounds to attract the ears of an audience. Examples are common in tongue twisters like, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
Linked to alliteration are assonance and consonance. While alliteration focuses on sounds at the beginning of each word, assonance focuses on internal vowels and consonance on internal consonants. These are slightly harder to spot, but nevertheless can be effective in conveying a message. A simple example is, “I baked a cake beside a lake,” where the strong sounds of the “a” and the “k” draw the attention of the listener.
Imagery and metaphorCultivating memorable images in the minds of your audience can be an extremely potent weapon in the rhetorical armory. JFK spoke of “casting off the chains of poverty.” This works by creating associations, and its primary mechanism is by directly stating that something is something else. Metaphor has been found in the oldest surviving language in the world, Sumerian. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, metaphor is used to compare a person to an animal: “My friend, swift stallion, wild deer, leopard ranging in the wilderness.” Martin Luther King Jr., in one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, talked of those who were “battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” For many people, images are far more memorable than words alone, so this technique can help you reach audiences who might otherwise become bored by presenting with a much more visceral turn of phrase.
Speak with a silver tongueSo there you have it. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the rhetorical devices you could use, but it does represent a number of the most prevalent and effective. So the next time you are thinking of how to convey a message, be it a Best Man’s speech, a lecture or a business presentation, consider how some of these techniques might help you reach your audience more effectively. Try and incorporate them into passages that you feel might be a bit dull, and see where it takes you.
