http://ebookbrowse.com/gdoc.php?

id=255495478&url=050dd294f3ffe552162969bff3abf99c

Nine Rhetorical Techniques for Memorability and Persuasiveness (Cook 176-183)

1. Alliteration A poetic device which works with any audience to ease the injection of notions not now in their noggins. It is the repetition of the same sound at the start of two or more words in the same phrase to create melody. Spiro Agnew, former VP of US: nattering nabobs of negativism Reverend Jesse Jackson said at the 1984 Democratic national convention, If in my low moments, in word, deed, or attitude, through some error of temper, taste, or tone, I have caused anyone discomfort, created pain, or revived someones fears, that was not my truest self he used alliteration (and tricolon, as described next) (Cook 176) 2. Tricolon: The Rule of Three Descriptive phrases, lists, and adjectives are more memorable when they travel in threes. The first two set the pace, the last rings them home. . . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth. --Abraham Lincoln, address at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863 (Cook 176) Our evidence is direct. It is precise. It is irrefutable. --President Ronald Reagan regarding Libyan Terrorism, April 14, 1986 So great is the ears affection for triplets, that it altered Winston Churchills most famous line. People remember Churchill as having said blood, sweat, and tears. But he didnt. He actually said, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. (Cook 177) 3. Ellipsis Note that Lincoln left out the AND before the third phrase, for the people. The technique is called ellipsis, omitting words to achieve speed and establish cadence. We must resist the temptations to train [students] only for an ever-longer list of specialties. We must teach reasons as well as answers . . . questions as well as techniques . . . values as well as methods. Joseph Curtis, on being installed chairman of the board of regents, Seattle University, September 25, 1981. (Cook 177) 4. Asyndeton This odd word (pronounced eh-sin-deh-tun) refers to the use of sentence fragments to quicken the pace. The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward, to his objectthis is eloquence, or rather it is something greater and higher than all eloquenceit is action, noble, sublime, godlike actions. (Cook 177) The spoken word is governed by different rules of syntax than written language. What a speech looks like on paper is largely irrelevant to its value. What matters is how it sounds.

Asyndeton is often paired with ellipsis. A more modern use of ellipsis turns a list into a trend. It took a century to develop photography . . . a half century to develop the telephone . . . a fifth of a century for commercial flight . . . a tenth of a century for television . . . a twentieth of a century to develop the atom bomb. The pattern is clear. The question is what next . . . and how soon? Frank G. Wells, president of the Disney Company, in a speech to the annual convention of the American Travel Industry Association, October 29, 1987. (Cook 178) 5. Anaphora Anaphora is the grand dame of political rhetoric. Successive sentences are begun with the same word or group of words. The effect is as familiar as the classic example: We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the land grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. --Winston Churchill to the House of Commons, June 4, 1940 Though often running as a racehorse for politicians, anaphora is also a study workhorse, easily harnessed to the purpose of commerce. (Cook 178) It doesnt matter if we can communicate faster and cheaper than ever beforeif we keep on communicating the same old message. It doesnt matter if we can design and plan by computerif it allows us to make the same mistakes more quickly. It doesnt matter if technology can provide us new products and servicesif we cant apply them to our needs. --Robert Anderson, chairman, Rockwell International, in a speech to the Cal Tech Executive Forum in 1982. (Cook 179) 6. Balance A balanced phrase opposes two elements, the first usually spoken with pitch going up, the second with pitch going down. It is effective in moderation only. Using it too often produces a sing-song effect. I look forward to a great future for Americaa future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. --John F. Kennedy, Amherst College, October 26, 1963 Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. --Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964 presidential campaign. Conquer, or die. --Hannibal to his troops, 218 N. V. After all is said and done, more is said than done. --Anonymous (Cook 179) 7. The Rhetorical Question Questions serve many purposed in speech. Common parlance calls them rhetorical when they are used primarily for effect. To Issue a Challenge

Where is the economic recovery for those who are sleeping in the snow and the cold of our streets? --Senator Edward M. Kennedy, at the Alf Landon lecture series, Manhattan, Kansas, January 30, 1984 To Introduce an Idea for Discussion The speaker asks a question only as a pretext for answering it. Very handy for moving a speech along. Why did a speech at a small Midwestern college by a seventy-two-year-old former British prime minister who had been overwhelmingly defeated at the polls just six months before have such an impact? --Former President Richard Nixon (referring to Winston Churchills iron Curtain speech given at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946), to the Lost Angeles World Affairs Council, March 6, 1986. (Cook 180) To Indicate Misunderstanding, Real or Feigned A speaker may ask a question in such a way as to imply that any answer to it is either trivial or misguided. (Cook 180) How is Moscow threatened if the capitals of other nations are protected? We do not ask the Soviet leaderswhose country has suffered so much from warto leave their people defenseless against foreign attack. Why then do they insist that we remain undefended? --President Ronald Reagan, for the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, October 24, 1985 To Make an Accusation or Introduce an Idea as Fact When, O Cataline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of ours to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? --Cicero, One of the greatest orators of any age, 63 B.C. This technique is used fairly when evidence abounds that the assumption is true; unfairly when the questioner has little or no evidence, seeking to injure by implication. Hence, the classic, When did you stop beating your wife? (Cook 181) 8. Hyperbole An exaggeration used to emphasize a point, though not prove it, is called hyperbole. There are mild exaggerations and there are whoppers. There are exaggerations to increase the value of something, and those to denigrate it. But remember that when a person is denigrated though hyperbole, it can be construed as character assassination. There are exaggerations to make something seem more urgent, or less so. Those just say no [to sex] messages are about as effective at preventing [teen] pregnancy as saying have a nice day prevents chronic depression. --Faye Wattleton, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a speech in Seattle, October 21, 1988. (Cook 181) Eighty percent of success is showing up. --Woody Allen, Comic Our stock is going down like Niagara Falls. --William M. Jenkins, former chairman, Seafirst Corporation, 1982 (Cook 182) 9. Repetition

A thematic phrase or word is repeated through a passage or, for that matter, the entire speech. Repetition is the oldest device known for getting something into memory. It has the effect of unifying long blocks of spoken words. The chosen phrase itself serves as a focal point for the audiences approval and, if appropriate, applause. (Cook 183)

Special Methods in Persuasion 1. COMMON GROUND is the attempt on the part of the speaker to connect his subject, purpose, points, support, and language (Zelko 109) to the listeners interests, experiences, and beliefs. A common tie is exceedingly important in the Introduction of a speech to arouse the listeners interest and have him feel that the speaker is concerned with himuse the YOU-centered approach in starting a speech and continue it throughout. Utilize the factors of attention that are familiar, close, and vital to the listener and point out ideas and opinions which both you, as speaker, and the listener share. 2. INDIRECTNESS is coupled with suggestion as a primary method of gaining favorable listener response if the point may not be accepted by proof. The best persuasion occurs when the listener himself arrives at the belief or feeling that the speaker wants him to have. It is then HIS idea . . . not just the speakers. And when such a conclusion is reached by a listener HIMSELF he will feel or believe it much more strongly. A good rule of thumb is to use this indirect method when the point is controversial. 3. EXAGGERATION OR OVERSATEMENT may sometimes be effective for gaining attention and interest, or even motivating the listener. But use it cautiously and not in such a way that the listener will think the speaker to be unreliable or unethical. 4. POLARIZING an audience occurs when an attempt is made to arouse uniform strong emotional response among everyone present. (Zelko 110) 5. QUIET AND SUBDUED CONCILIATION may be more effective in small groups where logical thought can prevail. Here a soft conciliatory manner, some making of concessions, narrowing of points of differences, use of common ground, indirect method or direct method used without dogmatism, and a pleasant use of voice all may combine to achieve the maximum persuasion. 6. YES-RESPONSE is the technique of arranging the sequence of points, their introduction into the speech, and method of development in such a way that the listener will always be responding yes. He will continue this response all the way to the speakers ultimate proposal or purpose. (Zelko 111)