Life’s Grand Mosaic

by hiddedevries

There are many rhetorical techniques for public speakers. The following are amongst the easiest to understand and will immediately add to the power and influence of your speeches.

Rule of Three – a powerful technique that can be used in many ways including repeating a word or phrase three times or repeating an idea in three different ways.

We are influenced more by an idea that is repeated three times, rather than twice or four times. People also have better recall of the ideas repeated three times.

Examples of this technique by great speakers include:

• “Humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.” – Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech
• “Our priorities are Education, Education, Education” – Tony Blair
• “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” – Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
• “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many, to so few” – Sir Winston Churchill

Alliteration – several words in sequence that begin with the same sound or letter.

Alliteration will emphasise your ideas and can help people remember them.  As any good poet knows, it can also be used to create rhythm that is pleasant to the listener.

Examples of this technique by great speakers include:

• “Let us go forth to lead the land we love” – J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural Speech
• “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.” – Barack Obama, election victory speech
• “Veni, vidi, vinci” – Julius Caesar
• “We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will” – Sir Winston Churchill
• “That power … which derives strength and perverted pleasure from persecution” – Sir Winston Churchill

Allusion – a short reference to a famous person or event (e.g. history, Greek myth, song lyrics or the Bible) that the audience will recognize and which explains or enhances your subject.

An allusion will bring ideas and feelings into the mind of the listener, such as patriotism, love or justice. Because of these ideas and feelings, and a sense off history that the allusion creates, appropriate allusions can give your ideas instant credibility.

Examples of this technique by great speakers include:

• “Unalienable rights” (Declaration of Independence), “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Bible) – Martin Luther King Jr, ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech
• “I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth.” (Superman) – Barack Obama, 2008 fund-raising speech
• “Drive the money changers from the temple” (Bible) Franklin D Roosevelt, Inaugural Speech

Repetition – the same word or words repeated at the beginning (anaphora) or end (antistrophe) of successive phrases or sentences.

A word or phrase repeated in this way is greatly emphasised in the mind of the listener. This technique is often used to inspire and convince an audience.  One of the greatest speeches, ‘I Have a Dream’ by Martin Luther King Jr is filled with powerful repetition.

Examples of this technique by great speakers include:

• “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land” – Martin Luther King, Jnr, ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech
• “We shall go on to the end, 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 landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” – Sir Winston Churchill, We Shall Fight on the Beaches speech
• “In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo — without warning . In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia — without warning . In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria — without warning . In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia — without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland — without warning . And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand — and the United States — without warning” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

For analysis of how a number of great speakers use rhetorical techniques check out:

• Barack Obama – Rhetoric & imagery in Obama’s victory speech by Max Atkinson
• Winston Churchill – Seven Lessons in Speechmaking From One of the Greatest Orators of All Time by Thomas Montalbo, DTM
• Martin Luther King Jr. – Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream by Six Minutes Public Speaking and Presentations Skills Blog