the best speech writers website ca

the best speech writers website ca

The Art of Persuasion: A Comprehensive Guide to Speechwriting

1. Introduction to Speechwriting

No form of communication is more memorable or has the potential to effect change quite like rhetoric. At its simplest, rhetoric is the art of persuasion; a speechwriter needs to be able to read an audience, find places of agreement with them, and ultimately encourage them to act. Knowing what makes an effective speech is not the same as knowing what makes good writing. In this long-form guide, we wanted to create a compendium for rhetoric, speechwriting, and persuasion. Written in three sections, it provides a speechwriter’s guide to modes, genres, ethos, logos, pathos, and all five canons of rhetoric. Industry-specific guides to speechwriting are products in and of themselves; we find them more immediately practical than guides of contextual study, as reading about the context of a politician’s speech may not help you to effectively write the speech itself, but if you’d like to learn to fish, look no further than our guide to rhetoric below.

Welcome to ‘The Art of Persuasion: A Comprehensive Guide to Speechwriting’. In this three-part guide, we will provide you with an in-depth look at the world of speechwriting. Why do leaders need to tell stories and share ideology with others? Fortunately, leaders no longer govern by divine right, and we gave up on bloodlines generations ago. So why do people lead now? Because the people they seek to lead say so. The charismatic leader still holds sway in the public sphere in many instances, and persuasion is key for politicians, CEOs, union heads, and teachers in trying to win followers to their camp.

2. Understanding the Audience: Tailoring Your Message

Secondly, the speaker should know the truisms, religious and political beliefs, and values of the audience. For immigrants, the audience should be given an understanding of the history of the immigrants’ country, as well as the reasons for why they are here in New Zealand. The speaker should take all this into account when creating their arguments and some (or all) of this should be included (in a reasonable way) when making a persuasive speech. In this way, you are taking the audience into account – showing some sympathy or empathy for them. Finally, the speaker should consider the attitudes of the audience to both the speaker and the other side of the argument. Are they hostile? friendly? doubtful? undecided? Or maybe not even listening?

First, age, gender, marital status, occupation, and social class. In more recent times, psychologists have added lifestyle and personality type. In rhetorical theory, these considerations were subsumed under the terms “character”, “background”, and “world view”. There are also “special interests” to be considered. All of these factors can affect how your message will be received, and so must be considered.

Karl Rove, former advisor to President George W. Bush, famously said, “An effective speech has two important parts. The first is content. The second is content.” Indeed, the most important thing when preparing a speech is understanding the people who will be listening to it. It’s also the essence of Aristotle’s argument in the first of his three books on rhetoric. What are the important elements of the audience to know?

In his masterpiece Rhetoric, Aristotle observes that one of the branches of oratory, called “deliberative”, has for its aim to persuade and dissuade. What, then, is the purpose of “persuading”?

3. Structuring Your Speech for Impact

A 15-minute talk of the most effective kind certainly has time for a short narrative within it. The technique of breaking the speech into four segments or subtopics that circle back to the main topic or question helps to maintain coherence and unity of ideas. For speeches delivered in contexts in which metaphors may reinforce the key message and create an impression, the pyramid may be a useful structure. It is a method for making each unit in a speech or paper smoothly shift from one to the next, thus facilitating the movement of a listener’s (or reader’s) attention from one point to the next. In a 20-minute oral communication, you would need to make approximately three oral transitions.

According to Mark Forsyth’s book, “The Elements of Eloquence,” “A beautifully turned phrase means nothing if it is not a part of speech capable of persuading.” Perhaps you could think of it this way: get your one right idea, express it in a simple statement, expand it in three changes of idea, and then express the one right idea again from a new angle. A principal benefit of narratives is that they have the capacity to draw the listener in. People naturally like to follow a story, and a well-constructed narrative can create an emotional response in a listener.

4. Crafting Powerful and Memorable Openings and Closings

Closings left human grease stains on classical Greece and continue to be the most fondly remembered part of any information presented in public today. Most fumbling speakers don’t know how to make a closing, to the many who retain their wits during their speeches know that the most important thing is to stick to what you want to say, and say them in somewhat short of glaring nonsense. It can help to give your thoughts a persuasive punch by tying your closing sentences back to your opening. Note, by the way, that a closing should be a pleasure to hear. It might even be a thrill to hear on the radio, the real secrets of television. If it’s not a pleasure to hear on the radio, make it one. This is accomplished, literally, with your choice of words. But it is really another way to look at the point of view.

The beginning and end of speeches are rather like the leaps for a ballet, especially if you do them with style. A fantastic beginning and a fine ending make the ballet master look good. As a speechwriter, this is your gift, your territory. They require your imagination, your flair, your complete understanding of the subject at hand, and the audience that will listen to your Master’s voice. A good speech starts well with the sort of “Come, come, come everybody… we would be wise to listen to this man” predisposed state of mind. It ends with that sort of fist-to-the-chest response of a karate expert. In between the first and last paragraph, there are the pithy observations that you have structured so well to keep the soup of your argument simmering and about to boil over.

5. Incorporating Rhetorical Devices and Persuasive Techniques

C. Pathos Ethos includes pathos, which is the use of emotion in oratory. Pathos establishes a link between speaker and audience, capturing the audience’s attention, keeping them in admiration of the speaker, increasing the persuasiveness of the argument, and creating a memorable experience for the audience. In summary, it makes the material (the content, the argument) convincing for the audience and ensures that these listeners walk away with a sincere passion for the subject. A speech which uses pathos will make use of: tone, hyperbole, “imaginative painting,” depersonification, parraisia, aphorism, parable, metaphor, rhetorical question, emotive language, listing, inclusive pronouns.

B. Ethos Ethos, according to Aristotle, is a quality character – speaking honestly and passionately as well as demonstrating expertise in the subject of choice. To demonstrate the strength of ethos in one’s speech, the speaker should display knowledge in the speaking points and represent “the good sense, good moral character, and goodwill of the speaker”. The speaker should also treat the audience with respect, demonstrate that they have the best interest for the audience in mind, and ultimately make themselves appear credible and trustworthy. An ethos-laden speech may also have: a preamble to the audience, emotional narrative, success stories, praise of the audience, synonym (or definition), accent on patriotism, disclaimers (conflict of interest), the credentials of the speaker, strategy (plan of attack), a rhetoric of integrity, cause and effect, present-tense historical narrative.

A. Making Use of Rhetorical Strategies In order to persuade, we must appeal to the principles of logic, offer substantial evidence, and establish the speaker as a reliable source of information and values. There are three rhetorical strategies which provide such substantiation, and they are as follows: ethos, pathos, and logos.