Mass Persuasion: The Power of Public Speaking
One of the most basic forms of human communication, speech, is also one of the most complex and intriguing, both in and of itself and in its uniqueness as what many experts would say is the only solely human trait. Through thousands of years of existence, humans have developed and refined speech skills so as to be able to convey simple thoughts as well as deep emotions. While almost all humans are able to speak, some are naturally more gifted at speaking and are able to not only convey their own thoughts and feelings to others but are also able to impose their ideas and emotions on others so tactfully and decisively that the audience can be convinced of most anything. From Roman times to modern day America, speeches have had the power to motivate and sway their audience in the necessary direction. The heightened skills of speech used to sway audiences are reliant on the skilled use of three basic persuasion techniques: ethos, pathos, and logos, which are appeals to one’s ethics, emotion, and logic, respectively. Only when all three of these techniques are skillfully used can a speaker truly be a great speaker who is able to flourish in the face of tragedy and unrest. Even with these skills, however, managing to speak publicly, especially in tragic situations, can be quite hard and speakers that are able to overcome these obstacles are few and far between, but often rise to great power and fame, such as Brutus and Mark Antony in the times of Ancient Rome, and Ronald Reagan in a more modern American context.
Brutus displayed his poise when speaking directly after the assassination of Julius Caesar performed by him and a small group of conspirators. He spoke to try to convince the Roman...
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...seen that leaders’ ability to speak can often determine their greatness. Public speaking is a functional art form that continues to grow as the culture does, and with the correct use of various strategies it can persuade any amount of people to stay calm in the face of disaster or to uproot traditional societal values to seek horrific ideas and events. In the wrong hands, the skills of public speaking will inspire evil and revolution, but in the right hands, it can take men past tragedy and loss, through the roughest of times and most daunting of challenges, and into the unknown of adventure and exploration into the future.
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In Coercion, Douglas Rushkoff explains how easily people are easily coerced. For example, Rushkoff states that people are convinced by car salesman to pay more for a car than they wanted to. In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony asks to speak at the funeral of his dear friend, Julius Caesar, after one of the murderers, Brutus, speaks. Brutus convinces the Romans that Caesar would be a tyrant if he did not murder him, while Antony convinces the Romans that Caesar is not ambitious and there would never be another ruler like Caesar. The art of public speaking is important in the past and present.
Have you ever listened to a speech after a tragedy that was so good, that it affected you and even though something traumatic happened it helped you feel better? That indeed is a style of speaking called rhetoric. Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing, and the art of persuasion. Many people are not able to speak and convey that art of rhetoric that helps with grief or sentiment. Today, I will show you an example of two different speeches delivered after tragedies, by two of our nation’s presidents. The first, President Obama’s address to the nation after Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting and the other Ronald Reagan’s address after The Space shuttle “Challenger” tragedy.
Through this national address Reagan hopes to reach out to the public and encourage them to keep their faith firm in the American space progra...
Words have power. However, for them to have the desired impact on the audience, some styles have to be incorporated in articulating them out. Orators of the time are best known for their ability to touch people through words. One such person is President Obama. He has a way of making people remember what he has said. This is because; he has styles that he uses in his speech which capture the interest and emotions of the listener. Oppositely, a speaker may want to bring out a certain point, but the choice of technique may impede the passage of such a point to the audience. Basing on this, it is vital for speakers not just to come with word they think are appropriate but also make a choice of the techniques that will influences the delivery of the desired message. Information regarding the styles and techniques utilized by the speaker cannot be gathered unless thee speech is critically analyzed. Accordingly, one of the speeches by President Obama is going to be analyzed.
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Persuasion is a very powerful weapon even against the most stoic of people. In the Tragedy, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Cassius, a high class politician with bad intentions persuades Brutus, an honorable, stoic high class politician and Casca to kill Caesar for the good of Rome, however, Cassius’ real goal is to get rid of Caesar because Caesar doesn’t like him. After killing Caesar, Brutus and Antony, Caesar closest friend, make speeches at his funeral in order to persuade the public. Cassius, Brutus and Antony’s use of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in order to persuade the public, Casca, and Brutus shows that anyone can be persuaded by appealing to their emotions, motivations, and personalities.
Speeches functioned as great tools for inspiring and motivating people. A passionate and charismatic speaker could often change a group of people’s view of the world with just a short speech. A perfect example of this phenomenon can be seen in the leaders of religious groups such as Matthias and Joseph Smith. These two men both possessed the ability to make people pi...
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Words have a way of making people feel different emotions. The way words are said have such a huge affect on society. During the civil rights era speeches made all the difference and could make or break how people would react to the cause you brought up. Still today public speaking is used in many ways from elections to marketing. Mark Antony and Brutus are able to make speeches using ethos, pathos, and logos to convince Rome for their reason of action and how they are experiencing grief and anger over the loss of a friend. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar he displays how convincing people can be in order to get that they want and change an audience’s emotion.
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