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[Name] [Teachers name] English 112-85 23 March 2014 TED Talk An Analysis on Introversion Susan Cain, in her much acclaimed TED Talk, The Power of Introverts, demonstrates a distinguished usage of the rhetorical situation. Uploaded in February of 2012, this speech has surpassed over seven million views and in turn inspired many to reflect on the importance of the introverted personality. Being an introvert herself, Cain uses this rhetoric to call to mind the difficulty of being an introvert in a world where personality is put on a pedestal. However, rather than defending her approach by bashing extroverts, she argues for both sides in her thesis stating, what Im saying is that culturally we need a much better balance. We need more of a yin and yang between these two types. Through her emphasis on the ideal world where introverts and extroverts can create, innovate, and work together, Susan Cain is able to effectively captivate her audience and prevail by using the rhetorical situation to her advantage. Susan Cain opens up her speech with a story about a childhood experience she had going to camp for the first time. As a timid nine year old whose family often read together, she brought a bag full of books along expecting to meet other girls who enjoyed the same activity. Instead what she found was a boisterous group of girls her age and a camp counselor who taught them a cheer which encouraged them to be R-O-W-D-I-E. This was the first time Cain was exposed to being outside her comfort zone, but certainly not the last. She laments, I got the message that somehow my quiet and introverted style of being was not necessarily the right way to go, that I should be trying to pass as more of an extrovert. And I always sensed deep down that this was

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wrong and that introverts were pretty excellent just as they were. By telling this story she appeals to pathos by appearing as the isolated and strange one out of the group. The audience is typically expected to sympathize with an misfit, especially in Cains case where as a young girl she did not know any better. The death of her grandfather, who was a significant figure in her life, also expresses pathos as she recalls the crowds of people coming to pay their respect at his funeral. As a reknown grandfatherly rabbi to his congregation, Cain uses him to influence feelings as she considers him to be an inspiration of modesty and shape her into the introvert she is today. It is clear that through her family and experience, Cain utilizes each to conduct empathy and earn favor from her audience so that they may better understand the false stereotyping of introverts and see them as down-to-earth, amiable and reserved people. For lots of introverts who dislike large amounts of stimulation, public speaking can be an unpleasant experience. Someone like Susan Cain would probably much prefer sitting at home, snuggled up with a good book than trying to convince an audience to accept her argument. As a viewer, she expressed positive body language making motions with her hands and regularly walking the stage. However, one could not help but notice a sense of awkwardness in some of her word choice and verbal presentation. Especially with repetitive pauses after she finished a passage in her speech and appeared to shakily collect her thoughts for the next part. After explaining that a large number of historical leaders have been described as introverts, Cain quotes, They all took the spotlight, even though every bone in their bodies was telling them not to. . . they were driven to do what they thought was right. Despite pertaining to historical figures, this could also be interpreted as an analogy describing herself. Even so, later in her speech she confesses that public speaking is not her natural milieu and that she has been practising for a year to perfect her performance in order to effectively change the public attitude

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towards introversion and solitude. This emphasizes ethos despite conveying hesitance and reluctance at first, Cain now accepts her new role as the leader of a new kind of revolution. The purpose of Susan Cains argument is for a nationwide acceptance for introverts. Her first call to action appeals to schools and workplaces to end the continuous group work. Although she supports the collaboration between the two places, she rebukes both for invading the typical introverts comfort zone. Introvert children need their space to effectively flourish in academics while extroverted kids should learn to think independently on their own without letting others dominant an idea. In workplaces, Cain suggests they offer chatty cafe-style types of interactions and for extroverted managers to be more open to other opinions or ideas. In a study at the Wharton School conducted by Adam Grant, Cain uses this study to apply logos by saying that introverts make better leaders than extroverts because they allow their employees to propose their solutions to a problem instead of some extroverts who may only listen to his own reasoning and neglect what others might have to say. You might be following the person with the best ideas, but you might not. And do you really want to leave it up to chance? she asks while presenting the audience with a rhetorical question. Susan Cains second call to action is to encourage people to unplug and get inside our own heads a little more often. She believes that both the traditional introvert and extrovert should find a comfortable place away from the hustle bustle of the world and revert to their own ideas. Solitude being a major factor for many innovators, she uses Charles Darwin, Dr. Seuss and Steve Wozniak as examples of how isolation can open the mind to creativity. The third and final call to action is based on a metaphor Cain creates with her black bag to signify a personalities journey through life. Take a good look at what's inside your own suitcase and why you put it there she brings to mind. While extroverts may carry more flamboyant items, Cain counters that introverts bring a part of themselves that is

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unique and in which sometimes makes them too shy to share. I hope you will open up your suitcases for other people to see, because the world needs you and it needs the things you carry, she says metaphorically imploring all introverts to bravely share their ideas with the rest of the world. One repetitive trait in Susan Cains speech is the repetition of unity which makes her argument so appealing to viewers. She directly implies that introverts should be recognized as the brilliant contributors that they are and when it comes to creativity and to leadership, we need introverts doing what they do best. However, she does not just harken on how introverts make the world go round, but rather suggests that working together and letting other peoples ideas be heard may help us progress efficiently as a team and not prevented by an indifference of personalities. By supporting introversion awareness while balancing out the two, Cain suggests that our society could achieve a great deal. With careers in science and economics being perplexing subjects, both could prove to be more efficient if both personalities were proportionately encouraged in a workplace. The more freedom that we give introverts to be themselves, the more likely that they are to come up with their own unique solutions to these problems, Cain implies. In conclusion, Susan Cain was able to effectively make an argument by successfully using the rhetorical situation correctly. By displaying logos, pathos, ethos and other strategies, she was able to communicate on an emotional and logical level and efficiently persuade her audience to adopt her idea. Despite speaking to a room with a variety of different opinions and ideas, Cains speech proved to be a success on both sides of the issue. The response as she finished her speech was met with an unforeseen end as the audience gave her a much elated standing ovation. This proves how successfully thought provoking Cain was in persuading her

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audience. More importantly, by displaying a theme of unity and changing the personality bias toward introverts, Cain was able to not only convince a room full of diverse individuals, but also inspire a new kind of revolution in obliterating the oppression against the quiet.

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Works Cited Cain, Susan. "The Power of Introverts." TED2012. Long Beach, California. Feb. 2012. Speech.