Speech Elements and Rhetorical Devices
1. hook – http://conorneill.com/2011/10/31/exercise-how-to-start-a-speech/
The beginning of a speech is vital for getting your audience's attention. Without a good introductory hook, listeners may tune out and miss your purpose. The introduction contains background information listeners need about the topic, a preview of the points you will cover, a statement to establish your credibility with regard to the topic and your thesis to illustrate your purpose. However, the speech needs to begin with an attention-getter. The type of hook varies depending upon the type of speech and the topic for your presentation. Examples: a quote, a questions, statistics and facts, anecdote
2. thesis/claim – a clear position
3. counter claim and rebuttal – address the opposition and refute. See other speech handout for and example.
Claim – Your basic belief about a particular topic, issue, event, or idea; Counterclaim – A solid and reasonable argument that opposes or disagrees with your claim; Rebuttal – A written or verbal response to a counterclaim. The object of the rebuttal is to take into account the ideas presented in the counterclaim and explain why they aren’t persuasive enough, valid enough, or important enough to outweigh your own claim.
4. rhetorical triangle – ethos, pathos, logos (see handouts)
5. rhetorical questions - is aquestion that you ask without expecting an answer. Thequestionmight be one that does not have an answer. It might also be one that has an obvious answer but you have asked thequestionto make a point, to persuade or for literary effect.
6. parallelism – is thesuccessive use of identical grammatical patternsof words, phrases, or sentences
Example: The Gettysburg Address
“…government of the people, by the people, for the people…”
http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/parallelism/
7. repetition - repetition or restatement of an idea at intervals not only promotes clarity, but encourages the acceptance of an idea.
One of the best-known examples of repetition is Martin Luther King's inspired use of "I have a dream," in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 Civil rights March on Washington. In both these cases, the speeches had rising momentum, punctuated by the repeated refrains.
8. restatement – Draw the speech to a close by restating your thesis. The restatement of the thesis allows you to reiterate the point of the entire speech.
9. simile – a comparison of two unlike things using like or as. Her eyes are like diamonds.
10. metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things. Her eyes are diamonds. Ametaphoris afigure of speechwhich identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing forrhetoricaleffect.
11. allusion - is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.
Example - “I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.” This refers to the story of Pinocchio, where his nose grew whenever he told a lie. It is fromThe Adventures of Pinocchio, written by Carlo Collodi.