 
|  |
Public Speaking Tips
Rhetorical devices are arrangements of words that add interest to a speech and make the words more poetic while challenging the listener to associate the abstract with concrete. There are several different kinds of devices that a speaker should become familiar with and use in speeches.. This is an abbreviated list but is enough to get you started.
1. ANALOGY. This device uses a likeness between two things to explain to an audience something unfamiliar in terms of something familiar. It can be used to explain an abstract thought or concept in terms of a concrete idea.
2. METAPHOR makes a comparison directly as an equation, by talking about one thing as if it were another. For example, “An aged man is but a …tattered coat upon a stick.”
3. SIMILE is almost the same a metaphor but the key words that distinguish a simile are “like” or “as.” For example, This speaker is like a breath of fresh air.
4. PERSONIFICATION is a figure of speech that attributes human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or ideas. For example, “The chair groaned with the weight of the man.”
5. REPETITION is the technique of using the same phrase over and over, or of restating the same idea in more than one way. This is a powerful device that is often used by preachers, but is just as appropriate in other kinds of speeches. Remember Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech. Probably most people cannot remember much of the speech, but the recurring phrase, I HAVE A DREAM still resonates in the minds of most people still today.
6. PARALLELISM means to use identical sentence or phrase patterns to express ideas that are closely related. Parallel construction is always a vital and powerful tool of oral communication; it makes your random ideas fit together better in the minds of your listeners.
Numbering is a way of using parallelism. This is a good device to lead the audience down the path to your destiny. However, if you introduce a numbered list of ideas, be sure to identify all items in your list as you talk. For instance, don’t say Number 1, Number 2 and then forget to number the rest of the ideas. Your listeners will wonder what number you are on and become distracted because you set them up to listen for numbers.
7. ANTITHESIS is a rhetorical balancing or contrast of one item against another. Since antithesis can be so effective, speakers use this device to capture memorable ideas in their speeches. You can use antithesis to bring force and clarity to your own talks. Consider the quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” (John Kennedy)
8. HYPERBOLE is intentional overstatement for the sake of emphasis. We often use hyperbole in everyday speech by making statements similar to the following; “That would never happen in a million years.” Or, “I’ll die if I don’t get that promotion.”
9. APOSTROPHE is the digression from a discourse. It is turning aside from an audience, to speak to an imaginary or absent person, an attribute, or God. I would not recommend this device as it usually comes across rather theatrical or staged.
10. IRONY is the use of words or statements carrying the opposite of their literal or intended meaning, such as in sarcasm, which is an everyday form of Irony. “Oh, sure, we’d love to work overtime, Martha.” We sometimes call this being facetious.
11. RHETORICAL QUESTIONS are questions posed for the audience to think about, but not to answer out loud. Questions can be an excellent way to structure your talk, as well as to provoke thoughts and stimulate audience involvement. Since the answer to a rhetorical question is assumed to speak for itself, the speaker normally lets each listener answer it silently for impact. However, sometimes a speaker may answer the question herself. Rhetorical questions are often used as an opening to gain the audience’s attention.
12. CLIMAX is the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in a sequence of increasing impact, with the strongest element (the climax) coming last. Climax is powerful; it builds in rising intensity with a “punch line” effect at the end.
A good speaker will master some or all of these techniques and use them appropriately to add impact, interest and poetic beauty to their messages.
| |