What is Rhetoric

Rhetoric is simply the art of persuasion through effective speaking and writing.

For many in our modern world, the word “rhetoric” has a pejorative meaning. They see rhetoric
as the manipulation of truth or associate it with an overly fastidious concern with how things are
said over what is said. But from ancient times up through the early 20th century, men believed
learning the art of rhetoric was a noble pursuit and considered it an essential element of a well-
rounded education. They saw rhetoric as a vital tool to teach truth more effectively and as a
weapon to protect themselves from those who argued unfairly and for nefarious purposes

Why Study Rhetoric?

Magnifies your influence as a man. Every day you have dozens of interactions where you need to
influence people – from the memo you write at work to the conversation with your kid on
picking up after himself at home. Your ability to persuade others through language is key to your
influence as an employee, friend, father, and citizen. Studying rhetoric will equip you with the
linguistic tools to make you more persuasive in your dealings with others and thus expand your
circle of influence.

Makes you a better citizen. Here in the US, we just had our midterm elections where many states
voted for government officials and Congressional seats. Leading up to the election we were
bombarded with campaign ads on TV and radio, opinion pieces in newspapers and on blogs, and
a 24/7 stream of talking pundits on television. With so many different voices being blasted at
voters, it was easy to get confused as to what was fact and what was “spin.”

Politicians and special interests groups pay experts in the art of rhetoric hundreds of thousands of
dollars to help craft political messages and advertisements to persuade voters to cast their ballot
for their side. If you want to be a well-informed voter and citizen, you must be fully cognizant of
the tactics and techniques being used on you. Such knowledge empowers you to discern truth
from B.S.

And as a citizen you have a right to voice your opinion on issues. Do so effectively by studying
up on your rhetoric first.

Protects you from intellectual despotism. I had a classics professor that said, “Advertising is the
tool of the despot.” That idea really stuck with me. Since ancient times, powerful men have used
propaganda to maintain control over their subjects. According to my professor, advertising is just
a benign name for propaganda. Both rely on emotional appeals to change our ideas and feelings
about a cause, position, or product.

When we allow ourselves to be easily swayed by advertising, whether political or commercial,

we give another person control over our minds. Studying rhetoric puts up a defensive shield
around your brain (no tin foil necessary!), allowing you to see through the smoke and mirrors,
filter out external messages and follow your own inner compass.
Makes you a savvy consumer. A mature man creates more than he consumes. Unfortunately,
today’s man has to battle an onslaught of advertisements that tell him a man is defined by what
he owns. Corporations spend billions of dollars on advertising to get you to buy their products.
While Madison Avenue applies advances made in psychology and neurobiology to their ad
campaigns, many of the persuasive techniques used by ad agencies have been around since the
days of Aristotle. A knowledge of rhetoric guards a man’s mind and his pocketbook.

Empowers you for rigorous and constructive debate (and grants insight on what constitutes one).
A man should know how to discuss and debate with vigor, intelligence, and civility. Sadly, many
men today never learned this essential and awesomely manly skill. Just visit any blog or internet
forum and you’ll see how debate and discussion has devolved into petty name calling and
reductio ad Hitlerums. Learning the basics of rhetoric will give you the tools you need to take
part in more constructive discussions on the web and in your daily life.

Additionally, having a firm understanding of rhetoric will help prevent you from getting sucked
into flame wars. You’ll be able to spot when a troll is using logical fallacies or unsound
arguments. Instead of wasting your time fruitlessly and frustratingly engaging one, you can go do
more important things in your life.

Where We’re Going from Here

Over the next few months I’ll be publishing articles that will hopefully give you a nice
introduction to the basic principles of classical rhetoric. In our Classical Rhetoric 101 Course,
we’ll be covering:

 A Brief History of Rhetoric

 The Three Means of Persuasion
 The Three Genres of Rhetoric
 The Five Canons of Rhetoric
 The Virtues of Style
 A Brief Summary of Rhetorical Figures
 Logical Fallacies

This is the second in a series on classical rhetoric. In this post, we lay the foundation of our study
of rhetoric by taking a look at its history. While this post is in no way a comprehensive history of
rhetoric, it should give you enough background information to understand the context of the
principles we’ll be discussing over the next few months.

Humans have studied and praised rhetoric since the early days of the written word. The
Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians both valued the ability to speak with eloquence and
wisdom. However, it wasn’t until the rise of Greek democracy that rhetoric became a high art
that was studied and developed systematically.
Rhetoric in Ancient Greece: The Sophists

Many historians credit the ancient city-state of Athens as the birthplace of classical rhetoric.
Because Athenian democracy marshaled every free male into politics, every Athenian man had
to be ready to stand in the Assembly and speak to persuade his countrymen to vote for or against
a particular piece of legislation. A man’s success and influence in ancient Athens depended on
his rhetorical ability. Consequently, small schools dedicated to teaching rhetoric began to form.
The first of these schools began in the 5th century B.C. among an itinerant group of teachers
called the Sophists.

The Sophists would travel from polis to polis teaching young men in public spaces how to speak
and debate. The most famous of the Sophists schools were led by Gorgias and Isocrates. Because
rhetoric and public speaking were essential for success in political life, students were willing to
pay Sophist teachers great sums of money in exchange for tutoring. A typical
Sophist curriculum consisted of analyzing poetry, defining parts of speech, and instruction on
argumentation styles. They taught their students how to make a weak argument stronger and a
strong argument weak.

Sophists prided themselves on their ability to win any debate on any subject even if they had no
prior knowledge of the topic through the use of confusing analogies, flowery metaphors, and
clever wordplay. In short, the Sophists focused on style and presentation even at the expense of
truth.

The negative connotation that we have with the word “sophist” today began in ancient Greece.
For the ancient Greeks, a “sophist” was a man who manipulated the truth for financial gain. It
had such a pejorative meaning that Socrates was executed by the Athenians on the charge of
being a Sophist.  Both Plato and Aristotle condemned Sophists for relying solely on emotion to
persuade an audience and for their disregard for truth. Despite criticism from their
contemporaries, the Sophists had a huge influence on developing the study and teaching of
rhetoric.

Rhetoric in Ancient Greece: Aristotle and The Art of Rhetoric

While the great philosopher Aristotle criticized the Sophists’ misuse of rhetoric, he did see it as a
useful tool in helping audiences see and understand truth. In his treatise, The Art of Rhetoric,
Aristotle established a system of understanding and teaching rhetoric.

In The Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle defines rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case
the available means of persuasion.” While Aristotle favored persuasion through reason alone, he
recognized that at times an audience would not be sophisticated enough to follow arguments
based solely on scientific and logical principles. In those instances, persuasive language and
techniques were necessary for truth to be taught. Moreover, rhetoric armed a man with the
necessary weapons to refute demagogues and those who used rhetoric for evil purposes.
According to Aristotle, sometimes you had to fight fire with fire.
After establishing the need for rhetorical knowledge, Aristotle sets forth his system for
effectively applying rhetoric:

 Three Means of Persuasion (logos, pathos, and ethos)

 Three Genres of Rhetoric (deliberative, forensic, and epideictic)
 Rhetorical topics
 Parts of speech
 Effective use of style

The Art of Rhetoric had a tremendous influence on the development of the study of rhetoric for
the next 2,000 years. Roman rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian frequently referred to Aristotle’s
work, and universities required students to study The Art of Rhetoric during the 18th and 19th
centuries.

Rhetoric in Ancient Rome: Cicero

Rhetoric was slow to develop in ancient Rome, but it started to flourish when that empire
conquered Greece and began to be influenced by its traditions. While ancient
Romans incorporated many of the rhetorical elements established by the Greeks, they diverged
from the Grecian tradition in many ways. For example, orators and writers in ancient Rome
depended more on stylistic flourishes, riveting stories, and compelling metaphors and less on
logical reasoning than their ancient Greek counterparts.

The first master rhetorician Rome produced was the great statesman Cicero. During his career he
wrote several treatises on the subject including On Invention, On Oration, and Topics. His
writings on rhetoric guided schools on the subject well into Renaissance.

Cicero’s approach to rhetoric emphasized the importance of a liberal education. According to

Cicero, to be persuasive a man needed knowledge in history, politics, art, literature, ethics, law,
and medicine. By being liberally educated, a man would be able to connect with any audience he
addressed.

Rhetoric in Ancient Rome: Quintilian

The second Roman to leave his mark on the study of rhetoric was Quintilian. After honing his
rhetorical skills for years in the Roman courts, Quintilian opened a public school of rhetoric.
There he developed a study system that took a  student through different stages of intense
rhetorical training. In 95 AD, Quintilian immortalized his rhetorical education system in a
twelve-volume textbook entitled Institutio Oratoria.

Institutio Oratoria covers all aspects of the art of rhetoric. While Quintilian focuses primarily on
the technical aspects of effective rhetoric, he also spends a considerable  amount of time setting
forth a curriculum he believes should serve as the foundation of every man’s education. In fact,
Quintilian’s rhetorical education ideally begins as soon as a baby is born. For example, he
counsels parents to find their sons nurses that are articulate and well-versed in philosophy.
Quintilian devotes much of his treatise to fleshing out and explaining the Five Canons of
Rhetoric. First seen in Cicero’s De Inventione, the Five Canons provide a guide on creating a
powerful speech. The Five Canons are:

 inventio (invention): The process of developing and refining your arguments.

 dispositio (arrangement): The process of arranging and organizing your arguments for
maximum impact.
 elocutio (style): The process of determining how you present your arguments using
figures of speech and other rhetorical techniques.
 memoria (memory): The process of learning and memorizing your speech so you can
deliver it without the use of notes. Memory-work not only consisted of memorizing the
words of a specific speech, but also storing up famous quotes, literary references, and
other facts that could be used in impromptu speeches.
 actio (delivery): The process of practicing how you deliver your speech using gestures,
pronunciation, and tone of voice.

If you’ve taken a public speaking class, you were probably taught a version of the Five Canons.
We’ll be revisiting these in more detail in a later post.

Rhetoric in Medieval Times and the Renaissance

During the Middle Ages, rhetoric shifted from political to religious discourse. Instead of being a
tool to lead the state, rhetoric was seen as a means to save souls. Church Fathers, like St.
Augustine, explored how they could use the “pagan” art of rhetoric to better spread the gospel to
the unconverted and preach to the believers.

During the latter part of the Medieval period, universities began forming in France, Italy, and
England where students took classes on grammar, logic, and (you guessed it) rhetoric. Medieval
students poured over texts written by Aristotle to learn rhetorical theory and spent hours
repeating rote exercises in Greek and Latin to improve their rhetorical skill. Despite the emphasis
on a rhetorical education, however, Medieval thinkers and writers made few new contributions to
the study of rhetoric.

Like the arts and sciences, the study of rhetoric experienced a re-birth during the Renaissance
period. Texts by Cicero and Quintilian were rediscovered and utilized in courses of study; for
example, Quintilian’s De Inventione quickly became a standard rhetoric textbook at European
universities. Renaissance scholars began producing new treatises and books on rhetoric, many of
them emphasizing applying rhetorical skill in one’s own vernacular as opposed to Latin or
ancient Greek.

Rhetoric in the Modern Day

The rejuvenation of rhetoric continued through the Enlightenment. As democratic ideals spread
throughout Europe and the American colonies, rhetoric shifted back from religious to political
discourse. Political philosophers and revolutionaries used rhetoric as a weapon in their campaign
to spread liberty and freedom.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, universities in both Europe and America began devoting entire
departments to the study of rhetoric. One of the most influential books on rhetoric that came out
during this time was Hugh Blair’s Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres. Published in 1783,
Blair’s book remained a standard text on rhetoric at universities across Europe and America for
over a hundred years.

The proliferation of mass media in the 20th century caused another shift in the study of rhetoric.
Images in photography, film, and TV have become powerful tools of persuasion. In
response, rhetoricians have expanded their repertoire to include not only mastery of the written
and spoken word, but a grasp of the visual arts as well.

Welcome back to our ongoing series on classical rhetoric. Today we’ll cover the three means of
persuasion as set forth by Aristotle in The Art of Rhetoric. According to Aristotle, a speaker or
writer has three ways to persuade his audience:

Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind
depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a
certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the
speech itself.

Below we cover the basics of the three means of persuasion and offer a few suggestions on how
to implement them into your rhetorical arsenal. And because this aspect of rhetoric is so meaty,
I’ve also included suggestions for further reading for those who wish to learn more about each
element (I’ll provide a reading list for exploring the subject of rhetoric as a whole in the last post
of the series).

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Ethos: The Appeal to the Speaker’s or Writer’s Character or Reputation

If you wish to persuade, you need to establish credibility and authority with your audience. A
man may have the most logical and well-thought-out argument, but if his audience doesn’t think
he’s trustworthy or even worth listening to, all his reasoning will be for naught.

For Aristotle, a speaker’s ethos consists of appearing knowledgeable about the topic he’s
speaking about and being a man of good character. Aristotle and Cicero thought that a speaker
could only appeal to his ethos within the speech itself and that an orator should spend the first
part of his speech establishing his credibility. The classical rhetorician Isocrates believed that
developing one’s ethos and credibility with the audience began even before the speaker opened
his mouth. Audiences naturally approach speakers and writers with some suspicion, so they’ll
look to his past for evidence that he is trustworthy and knowledgeable about what he’s speaking
or writing about.

A speaker or writer can use ethos in several ways.  First, you can simply begin your speech or
text by referring to your expertise on the subject. Share how long you’ve studied the subject,
mention how many articles you’ve published and where you published them, and refer to awards
or recognition you’ve received in relation to the subject at hand.

A nuanced way to establish credibility and rapport with your audience is to downplay your
accomplishments. People don’t like a braggart or one-upper. In some cases, having a highfalutin
resume might hinder people from trusting you. A bit of modesty can go a long way to getting the
audience to trust and like you, and consequently, be persuaded by what you have to say.

Another powerful way to establish ethos with your audience is to find common ground with
them. Human beings are social animals. We have a tendency to trust others that are like us (or at
least appear like us). You can establish common ground by acknowledging shared values or
beliefs. You can establish common ground by simply recognizing a shared history. You see this
all the time with presidential candidates. They’ll visit a state they have no immediate connection
to, but they’ll find some story from their distant past that connects them to the state. Maybe their
great-great-grandfather passed through the area in a covered wagon. That commonality, however
slight or silly it may be, helps the audience feel connected to the speaker, and, consequently,
makes him more trustworthy.

Living a life of virtue is perhaps the best way to develop ethos. The very hint of hypocrisy will
doom even the most eloquent speech. Conversely, when you are virtuous, honest, and earnestly
committed to that which you speak of, this inner-commitment will tinge each word you utter
with sincerity. The audience will feel the depth of your commitment and will listen far more
intently then when they know it is mere claptrap.

Further Reading on Ethos

 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (available free online!) Read Franklin’s

autobiography for insights on how to live a life of virtue. Also, scattered throughout his
life’s story, Franklin gives short lessons in ethos building by sharing insights on how he
developed credibility and influence with those around him.
 Win the Crowd: Unlock the Secrets of Influence, Charisma, and Showmanship A
professional magician lays out the secrets of building instant rapport and connection with
an audience or individual. Who better to explain how to gain credibility than a man who
has to convince people to suspend belief and believe the incredible?
 Good in a Room In order to succeed in Hollywood, writers, directors, and producers often
have just a few minutes to convince a studio executive to finance their project. In this
small window of time, they have to build instant credibility, or ethos. In Good in a Room,
a former MGM Director shares the most successful techniques on how to establish your
authority and credibility in any situation.

Pathos: The Appeal to Emotion

Men have a tendency to dismiss the power of emotion. I know a lot of guys who think you
should only persuade through pure reason and logic. But in a battle between emotion and
rationality, emotion usually wins, hands down. This isn’t cynicism, it’s just an acknowledgment
of the reality of human nature.
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt created a powerful metaphor that depicts the tension between our
emotional and rational side: The Elephant and the Rider.

The Heath brothers summarize it nicely in their book Switch:

Haidt says our emotional side is the Elephant and our rational side is the Rider.  Perched atop the
Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader.  But the Rider’s control is
precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant.  Anytime the six-ton Elephant
and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose.  He’s completely
overmatched.

The battle between the Rational Rider  and the Emotional Elephant is why we see doctors who
smoke and are overweight. They know their behavior isn’t rational and that they should change.
They’re doctors for Pete’s sake! But it doesn’t matter. Unless they have a powerful emotional
motivation to change, they’ll keep puffing and eating away.

Advertisers understand emotion’s power. Turn on your TV and watch some commercials. How
many of them use hard facts and figures to convince you to buy their product? I bet it’s a big fat
zilch. Advertisers want you to feel a certain way when you think about their product. Take
this commercial for Chivas scotch:

Not once does this commercial mention how Chivas tastes or how it is made or even what
Chivas is. But even though I don’t even drink, this commercial made me want to go out and buy
a bottle of Chivas! Why? Because it roused a bunch of emotions in me. In tapped into the way I
feel about being a man who tries to live a good life. And the music makes your heart swell. It’s a
perfect example of pathos at work.

What specific things can you do to inject some more emotion into your arguments? Metaphors
and storytelling are powerful tools of persuasion. People are more likely to remember stories
than facts because stories tap into our emotions. Next time you give a presentation to a client at
work, instead of just slapping up some bar charts and bullet points in a PowerPoint presentation,
make the extra effort to weave those facts and figures into an engaging story with conflicts and a
cast of characters.

You can also call upon several figures of speech that are designed to provoke an emotional
response. Here is a sampling of the dozens you can use:

 antithesis-Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed,

usually through parallel structure (“I have a dream that my four little children will one
day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character. I have a dream today!”-MLK)
 aposiopesis– Breaking off suddenly in the middle of speaking, usually to portray being
overcome with emotion. (Glenn Beck does this a lot.)
 assonance-Figure of repetition in which different words with the same or similar vowel
sounds occur successively in words with different consonants. (“I feel the need, the need
for speed.” -Maverick in Top Gun)
  conduplicatio– The repetition of a word or words in adjacent phrases or clauses, either to
amplify the thought or to express emotion. (“So I ask you tonight to return home, to say
a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King — yeah, it’s true — but more importantly
to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love — a prayer for understanding
and that compassion of which I spoke.” -Robert Kennedy)
 enargia– Enargia, or vivid description, can be inherently moving, especially when
depicting things graphic in nature.
 energia– Energia, the vigor with which one expresses oneself, can obviously be
emotionally affecting.
 epistrophe-Figure of repetition that occurs when the last word or set of words in one
sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or more times at the end of successive
sentences, clauses, or phrases. (“…and that government of the people, by the people, for
the people, shall not perish from the earth.” -A. Lincoln)

Further Reading on Pathos

 Made to StickBest book I’ve ever read on conveying information in a memorable way.
The authors devote an entire section on the persuasive power of storytelling and give
concrete tips and examples on how to develop compelling stories that persuade with
emotion.
 SwitchSwitch covers how to use emotions to create change in yourself or an organization.
If you want specific tactics on how to appeal to a person’s emotions, read this book.
 Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of ScreenwritingWritten by a one of
Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters, Story lays out in methodical detail how to
structure memorable stories. The book is geared towards movie screenwriters, but the
principles in the book are applicable to the lawyer writing a brief or a salesman giving a
pitch.

Logos: The Appeal to Reason

Finally, we come to logos, or the appeal to reason. Aristotle believed logos to be the superior
persuasive appeal and that all arguments should be won or lost on reason alone. However, he
recognized that at times an audience would not be sophisticated enough to follow arguments
based solely on scientific and logical principles and so the other appeals needed to be used as
well.

In The Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle states that appealing to reason means allowing “the words of the
speech itself” to do the persuading. This was accomplished through making inferences using
deductive reasoning, usually in the form of a formal syllogism. You’ve seen these before. You
start with two premises and end with a conclusion that naturally follows the premises. For
example:

All men are mortal.

Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Easy, huh? When forming syllogistic arguments, one should ensure that they’re sound. An
argument is sound if:

1. the argument is valid, and;

2. all of its premises are true.

Alright, for an argument to be sound, it needs to be valid. What’s a valid argument? A valid
argument is one that has a conclusion that necessarily follows the premises.  If we switched
things up in our above argument, we can make it invalid. Check it:

All men are mortal.

Socrates is mortal.
Therefore, Socrates is a man.

At first blush, it looks like a decent argument. But read it carefully. Just because Socrates is
mortal, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a man. He could be a squirrel for all we know. Thus, the
argument is invalid.

Determining whether premises are true will depend on observation and your knowledge.

Syllogisms are a powerful rhetorical tool. It’s hard to manipulate and argue against a formally
laid out, sound syllogism.

We could go into even more detail about formal logic (it’s one of my favorite subjects), but it
would be a series unto itself. So, I’ll stop here and let you do some more reading on your own.

In addition to formal logic, a rhetorician should be adept in informal logic. What’s informal
logic? Well, there’s no clear cut answer. Philosophers still debate what exactly makes up
informal logic, but a rough answer would be that informal logic encompasses several disciplines
from formal logic to psychology to help individuals think more critically about the input they
receive every day.

A big component of informal logic are fallacies. A “fallacy is a pattern of poor reasoning which
appears to be (and in this sense mimics) a pattern of good reasoning.” There’s a whole slew of
logical fallacies and chances are you’re familiar with a few of them: ad hominems, slippery
slopes, red herrings. It’s important to be familiar with as many fallacies as possible so a) you
don’t use them and thus lose credibility (ethos!) with your audience, and b) you don’t get sucked
into arguments with scalawags who use them. We’ll cover fallacies a bit more in depth in a later
post. Stay tuned!

Further reading on Logos

 How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic

 Logic: A Very Short Introduction (The name says it all-a great book for those who want
to jump into logic but find a huge tome on the subject intimidating)
  Prior Analytics by Aristotle (Available free online!)Aristotle’s treatise on syllogisms.
Block off some time for yourself on this one. It’s a hard read.

Alrighty. That does it for this class. As I said at the beginning, this was a very basic intro to the
three means of persuasion. I definitely encourage you to check out some of the books I listed for
a more in-depth treatment.

Anything you’d like to add? We’d love to read your insights on the three means of
persuasion. Share them with us in the comments!

Welcome back to our series on Classical Rhetoric. Today we’re kicking off a five-part segment
on the Five Canons of Rhetoric. As you remember from our brief introduction to classical
rhetoric, the Five Canons of Rhetoric constitute a system and guide on crafting powerful
speeches and writing. It’s also a template by which to judge effective rhetoric. The Five Canons
were brought together and organized by the Roman orator Cicero, in his treatise, De Inventione,
written around 50 BC. 150 years later in 95 AD, the Roman rhetorician Quintilian explored the
Five Canons in more depth in his landmark 12-volume textbook on rhetoric, Institutio Oratoria.
His textbook, and consequently the Five Canons of Rhetoric, went on to become the backbone of
rhetorical education well into the medieval period.

Enough with the history. What are the Five Canons of Rhetoric? Glad you asked.

The Five Canons of Rhetoric are:

◾inventio (invention): The process of developing and refining your arguments.

◾dispositio (arrangement): The process of arranging and organizing your arguments for
maximum impact.

◾elocutio (style): The process of determining how you present your arguments using figures of
speech and other rhetorical techniques.

◾memoria (memory): The process of learning and memorizing your speech so you can deliver it
without the use of notes. Memory-work not only consisted of memorizing the words of a specific
speech, but also storing up famous quotes, literary references, and other facts that could be used
in impromptu speeches.

◾actio (delivery): The process of practicing how you deliver your speech using gestures,
pronunciation, and tone of voice.

If you’ve taken a public speaking class, you were probably taught a version of The Five Canons.
They also form the foundation of many composition courses.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a look at each of the Five Canons separately and
exploring how we use them in everyday situations to be more effective communicators. Ready,
to get started? Let’s kick things off by talking about the first Canon of Rhetoric: Invention.

What Is Invention?

Invention, according to Aristotle, involves “discovering the best available means of persuasion.”
It may sound simple, but Invention is possibly the most difficult phase in crafting a speech or
piece of writing as it lays the groundwork for all the other phases; you must start from nothing to
build the framework of your piece. During the Invention Phase, the goal is to brainstorm ideas on
what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it in order to maximize persuasion. Any
good orator or writer will tell you they probably spend more time in the Invention step than they
do any of the others.

Take Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Yeah, the man is polarizing and a lightning rod for
controversy, but lawyers and jurists across the political spectrum recognize him as one of the
best legal writers in the history of the Supreme Court. He’s able to take complex issues and
arguments and distill them into short, powerful, and often witty sentences and paragraphs. Even
if you don’t agree with the outcome of his opinions, you’re often left thinking, “Damn, that was a
really good argument!”

What’s the secret to Justice Scalia’s rhetorical ability? Spending lots and lots of time in the
Invention Phase. In an interview about his writing process, Scalia explained that he goes through
“a lengthy germination process” for ideas before he puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
Scalia brainstorms in his car while driving home from work and at the gym while exercising.
This germination process lasts anywhere from a few days to even a few weeks. But the time
invested in simply thinking and brainstorming pays off when he finally gets down to writing. I
find this to be the case in my own life as well; my best posts are those which I allow to percolate
in my brain for a long time, months, even years. I’m kicking around ideas when I’m brushing my
teeth and taking a walk. When I finally sit down to write, the ideas come tumbling out, already
nicely aged and seasoned.

Things to Consider in the Invention Phase

So what sorts of things should you be thinking about during the Invention Phase? Without some
direction and guidance, brainstorming can often be fruitless and frustrating. Pondering the
following elements can increase the effectiveness of your Invention sessions.

Your audience. One of the key factors in crafting a persuasive piece of rhetoric is tailoring your
message to your specific audience. Find out to the best of your ability the overall demographics
and cultural background of your audience. What does your audience fear? What are their
desires? What are their needs? This information will help you decide what sorts of facts to
incorporate into your rhetoric as well as help you determine which means of persuasion would be
the most effective to employ.
Your evidence. When planning your speech or writing, collect any and every type of evidence
you can find. Evidence could be facts, statistics, laws, and individual testimonies. It’s always
good to have a nice blend, but remember different audiences are persuaded by different types of
evidence. Some people need cold, hard facts and statistics in order to be persuaded. Others find
the testimony of peers or a reputable authority to be more convincing. Part of getting to know
your audience is figuring out what kinds of evidence they will find most credible and
compelling.

The means of persuasion. You remember the three means of persuasion, right? Pathos, logos, and
ethos? This is the time when you want to determine which of the three persuasive appeals you’ll
use in your speech. Ideally, you’d have a nice mixture of all three, but again, different audiences
will be better persuaded by different appeals. Using pathos (appeal to emotion) to convince a
room full of scientists that you have discovered cold fusion probably won’t get you very far. A
focus on logos would work much better. Again, it’s all about suiting your rhetoric to your
audience.

Timing. People are receptive to certain ideas at different times depending on context. People
often advise couples not to go to bed angry, to work out their problems before hitting the sack.
But at night we’re tired and cranky; our defenses are down. Trying to convey your side of things
at this time frequently results in a small issue blowing up into something much bigger. On the
other hand, a good night’s sleep often helps put things in perspective. You’ll likely find your
spouse more willing to hear you out in the morning. As it is in marriage, so it is with everything
in life; the importance of timing cannot be underestimated. Present a cost-cutting idea at work
the same day five of everyone’s favorite employees were laid off, and you’ll get a icy, hostile
reception. Present it six months later and people will actually listen.

Another aspect of timing is the duration of your speech or writing. In some instances a long,
well-developed, and nuanced speech is appropriate; other times, a shorter, and more forceful
presentation will be more effective. Again, it often depends on your audience and the context of
your speech.

Abraham Lincoln was a master of timing. His Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous
speeches in history. Many people don’t know that Lincoln actually wasn’t the keynote speaker
that day; rather, that honor fell to renowned orator, Edward Everett. Everett delivered a two hour
speech that displayed some of the finest skill in oration and rhetoric; he held the audience in rapt
attention. Lincoln took to the stand and delivered his address in less than five minutes. While the
contemporary audience was not overly impressed, Everett knew he had been witness to
greatness. He wrote Lincoln, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the
central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” And of course, 150 years
later, no one quotes Everett or even remembers he spoke at Gettysburg, but everyone remembers
Lincoln and are familiar with his words. Timing matters.

Format of argument. So you have a vague idea of what you’re supposed to write or talk about.
The hard part is taking that vague idea and organizing it into a concrete theme or thesis. Without
some guidance on how to do this, a man can rack his brain for hours and not get anywhere.
Fortunately for us, the ancient rhetoricians left us some nifty little cheat sheets on developing the
format and theme for our arguments, which is where we turn next.

Ancient Helps for the Invention Phase

Stasis. Stasis is a procedure designed to help a rhetorician develop and clarify the main points of
his argument. Stasis consists of four types of questions a speaker asks himself. They are:

1.Questions of fact: What is it exactly that I’m talking about? Is it a person? An idea? A
problem? Does it really exist? What’s the source of the problem? Are there facts to support the
truth of this opinion?

2.Questions of definition: What’s the best way to define this idea/object/action? What are the
different parts? Can it be grouped with similar ideas/objects/actions?

3.Questions of quality: Is it good or bad? Is it right or wrong? Is it frivolous or important?

4.Questions of procedure/jurisdiction: Is this the right venue to discuss this topic? What actions
do I want my reader/listener to take?

These questions may sound completely elementary, but trust me, when you’re struggling to get
your mind around an idea for a speech or writing theme, stasis has an almost magical way of
focusing your thinking and helping you develop your argument. Don’t skip out on it.

Topoi (Topics of Invention). Topoi, or topics, consist of a set of categories that are designed to
help a writer or speaker find relationships among ideas, which in turn helps organize his thoughts
into a solid argument. Aristotle organized the different rhetorical topics in his treatise The Art of
Rhetoric. He divided the topics into two large categories: common and special. We’ll focus on
common topics as they’re more general and applicable to every day rhetorical situations. (If
you’d like more info on special topics see here.) Below, I’ve listed a few of the common topics
that are especially helpful in forming arguments.

◾Definition. My classics professor crammed it into my head that in any rhetorical debate,
definitions are vital. Whoever can dictate and control the meaning of a word or idea, will
typically win. Politicians know this and spend a lot of energy working to frame and define the
debate in their own terms and with their own spin. The topic of definition requires an author to
determine how he would classify the idea, what its substance is, and to what degree it has that
substance.

◾Comparison. You’re probably familiar with this one from your middle school days when you
had to write compare and contrast essays. It’s a great way to explore and organize. But the real
power of comparison lies in its ability to help you develop powerful analogies and metaphors
that stick with your audience.

◾Cause and Effect. Perhaps you’re in a city hall meeting arguing against a new ordinance that
requires restaurants to display nutrition information on all their food. You could use cause and
effect as an effective way to persuade your listeners that it’s not a good idea. Using strong,
factual evidence, present some of the possible detrimental effects of implementing the ordinance.
(i.e. expensive for businesses, extra costs to city government to regulate, etc.)

◾Circumstance. This topic looks at what is possible or impossible based on circumstances. With
the topic of circumstance, you can also attempt to draw conclusions on future facts or events by
referring to events in the past. “I know the sun will rise tomorrow because it has risen every day
for thousands of years,” is a very simple example of the topic of circumstance in action.

Stasis and the topoi are just starting points in helping you organize your thoughts and arguments.

That does it for today. I hope you learned something you could apply in your own life. Next,
time we’ll be discussing the canon of arrangement.

Welcome back to our series on Classical Rhetoric. Today we’re continuing our five-part segment
on the Five Canons of Rhetoric. Last time we discussed invention, which is essentially
brainstorming and planning your speech or writing. In this installment, we’ll be exploring the
canon of arrangement. Let’s get started.

What Is Arrangement?

Arrangement is simply the organization of a speech or text to ensure maximum persuasion.

Classical rhetoricians divided a speech into six different parts. They are:

1. Introduction (exordium)
2. Statement of Facts (narratio)
3. Division (partitio)
4. Proof (confirmatio)
5. Refutation (refutatio)
6. Conclusion (peroratio)

If you’ve taken debate or philosophy classes, you’ve probably seen this format for organizing a
speech or paper.

1. Introduction

There are two aspects of an effective introduction: 1) introducing your topic and 2) establishing
credibility.

Introducing your topic. In your introduction, your main goal is to announce your subject or the
purpose of your speech–to persuade, to teach, to praise, etc. Simple, huh? Well, not really.

Your introduction is crucial for the success of your speech or essay. In the first few seconds,
your audience will determine whether your speech is worth listening to. If you can’t grab their
attention right off the bat, you’ve lost them for the remainder of the speech.
So how can you announce your subject in a way that grabs your audience’s attention? You have
the old stand-bys: start off with a quote, ask a rhetorical question, or state some shocking fact
relating to your topic. Those are decent ways to introduce your topic, but they’re overdone. Some
men also try to open with a joke, but most of the time it falls flat, the credibility of the speaker
takes a nose dive, and the audience begins tuning the speaker out.

In my experience, the best way to start a speech is to tell a captivating story that draws
readers in and engages them emotionally. Journalists do this all the time. They always try to find
a human angle to any story no matter how tangential the connection. For tips on crafting
compelling and sticky stories, check out a book I recommended last time, Made to Stick.

Establishing credibility. Quintilian taught that it was during the introduction that a rhetorician
should use the persuasive appeal of ethos. Ethos, if you remember from our class on the three
means of persuasion, is an appeal to your character or reputation to persuade your audience. It
doesn’t matter how logical your argument is, if people don’t think you’re trustworthy or a
credible source, you’ll have no sway with them.

2. Statement of Facts (narratio)

The statement of facts is the background information needed to get your audience up to speed on
the history of your issue. The goal is to provide enough information for your audience to
understand the context of your argument. If your rhetoric is seeking to persuade people to adopt
a certain course of action, you must first convince the audience that there really is a problem that
needs to be addressed.

Don’t just dryly list off a bunch of facts. Make them interesting to read or listen to. Create a
story. Narrate.

While the statement of facts is primarily used to inform your audience, with some subtle
tweaking, you can use your facts to persuade as well. Now, I don’t mean you should make up
facts out of thin air; only a scalawag would do that. But you can emphasize and deemphasize
facts that support or hurt your argument

Attorneys do this all the time. They’ll use certain language and emphasize or deemphasize
certain facts to help their case and their client. Let’s use a murder trial as an example.

Both sides have to recognize the fact that someone is dead, but each will do it differently to
further their case.

The prosecutor might say,”The defendant, Mr. Killzalots, shot the victim John Smith, a beloved
community philanthropist, twenty times at point blank range in front of the victim’s children.”

The defendant’s attorney might convey the same fact thusly: “John Smith was shot.”

The prosecutor emphasized the fact that Mr. Killzalots did the shooting and did so multiple times
at point blank range in front of the victim’s children. Moreover, he mentioned that the victim was
admired by his community. This was an attempt to create sympathy for the victim and rage
towards the defendant. The defending attorney did a lot of deemphasizing. He didn’t want
sympathy for the victim or rage directed at his client. So he tried to describe the murder in as
neutral a tone as possible.

It’s an extreme example, but it illustrates how your statement of facts can be a powerfully
persuasive tool.

3. Division (partitio)

Quintilian taught that after stating your facts, the most effective way to transition into your
argument is with a partitio: a summary of the arguments you’re about to make. Think of the
division as your audience’s roadmap. You’re about to take them on a journey of logic and
emotion, so give them an idea of where they’re going, so it’s easier to follow you. When I listen
to a speech, I like when the speaker starts out by saying something like, “I have three points to
make tonight.” That way I know how far along in the speech he is (and if it’s boring, when it’s
going to end!).

4. Proof (confirmatio)

Now comes the main body of your speech or essay. This is when you will make your argument.
In the proof section, you want to construct logical arguments that your audience can understand
and follow. If you need to, review our previous segment on logos to ensure you’re using sound
and valid arguments. When you construct your arguments, be sure to relate back to the facts you
mentioned in your statement of facts to back up what you say. If you’re suggesting a course of
action, you want to convince people that your solution is the best one for resolving the problem
you just described.

5. Refutation (refutatio)

After you’ve crafted a strong and convincing argument for your case, it’s time to highlight the
weaknesses in your argument to your audience. This might seem surprising. Why on earth would
we go out of our way to show our audience possible reasons our argument is faulty? While at
first blush this tactic would seem to be counterproductive, sharing the weaknesses of your
arguments will actually make you more persuasive in two ways.

First, it gives you a chance to preemptively answer any counterarguments an opposing side may
bring  up and resolve any doubts your audience might be harboring. Bringing up weaknesses
before your opponent or audience takes the bite out of a coming counterargument. And some
people will already have objections they’re mulling over in their heads; if you don’t address
those objections, your audience will assume it is because you can’t, that you have something to
hide, and that they’re right after all.

Second, highlighting the weaknesses in your argument is an effective use of ethos. No one likes a
know-it-all. A bit of intellectual modesty can go a long way to getting the audience to trust and
like you, and consequently, be persuaded by what you have to say. Recognizing that your
argument isn’t iron-clad is an easy way to gain the sympathy and trust of your audience.

6. Conclusion (peroratio)

The goal of your conclusion is to sum up your argument as forcefully and as memorably as
possible. Simply restating your facts and proof won’t cut it. If you want people to remember
what you said, you have to inject some emotion into your conclusion. In fact, Quintilian taught
that the conclusion of a speech was when one should liberally use pathos–or the appeal to
emotion. Perhaps the best example of an amazingly effective, emotion-filled conclusion is the
finish to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. His “Free at last! Free at last! Thank
God Almighty, we are free at last!” still brings tears to eyes and chills to spines, forever searing
the memory of the speech in the minds of those who hear it.

Welcome back to our series on Classical Rhetoric. Today we’re continuing our five-part segment
on the Five Canons of Rhetoric. So far we’ve covered the canons of invention and arrangement.
As a quick review, the canon of invention is about brainstorming ideas for your speech or
writing, and arrangement is about organizing your speech or text to ensure maximum persuasion.

Today we’re discussing the canon of style. Let’s begin.

What Is Style?

When people write memos or give persuasive speeches, the focus is usually on what they’re
going to write or say. While it’s important that you have something substantive to say, it’s also
important how you present your ideas. The canon of style will help you present your ideas and
arguments so people will want to listen to you.

A mentor of mine gave me a great object lesson on the importance of style when crafting a
message. He placed two boxes on a table. One was small and sort of crushed and wrapped
haphazardly with newspaper and duct tape. My name was scrawled with black Sharpie marker
on the newspaper.

The other was a medium-sized box, wrapped with handsome looking wrapping paper and topped
with a giant green bow. A present tag hung from the bow and had my name written on it in
beautifully done calligraphy.

“Pick which present you’d like.”

I picked the nicely wrapped present partly because I had an idea of what he was trying to teach
me and wanted to play along, and partly because I just liked how it looked.

I slowly unwrapped the present, being careful not to rip the paper. I took off the top of the box
and found a bunch of red tissue paper. I rummaged through the paper until I found a silver
ballpoint Fisher pen.
He asked me to open the other box. I tore off the newspaper and lifted the top of the box to
reveal the exact same present: a silver ballpoint Fisher pen.

The lesson was obvious. It doesn’t matter how great your message is, if you don’t wrap it up
with style, people will probably ignore it in favor of a message that’s packaged nicely.

The Five Virtues of Style

The five virtues of style were first developed by two pupils of Aristotle: Theophrastus and
Demetrius. The ancient Roman rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian taught the virtues to their
students and added their own spin.

1. Correctness. Correctness means speaking or writing in accordance with the rules and norms
of one’s language. An effective communicator uses words correctly and follows the rules of
grammar and syntax. Why? First, correct usage ensures clear and precise communication.

And second (and perhaps more importantly), correctly using language establishes credibility (or
ethos, remember that persuasive tool?) with an audience because it indicates the speaker or
writer is well-educated, understands the nuances of language, and pays attention to details. When
someone catches language mistakes in a speech or piece of text, the thought often arises, “If the
author can’t even follow the basic rules of grammar or even take the time and effort to review
them, why should I trust what he has to say?”

When you’re attempting to persuade others, try to avoid anything that would distract your
audience from your argument. Don’t give them a reason to discredit you by being lazy with
correct grammar and usage.

Note: I know full well that many of AoM’s articles contain grammatical mistakes (perhaps even
this one does!), and that this section offers the perfect opportunity to snarkily comment on this
seeming irony. In truth, Kate and I read every single article several times before publishing,
sometimes even out loud. But it is nearly impossible to catch every mistake; the brain has been
proven to see things that should be there, but are not. While we lack a professional editor, we do
our very best. And that is what you should strive for with your rhetoric–not perfection, but your
very best effort. And as a listener or reader, is it always wise to give the rhetorician a bit of the
benefit of the doubt before completely writing them off.

2. Clarity. It’s hard to be persuasive when people can’t even understand what you’re trying to
say. Clear and simple writing ensures that your message never gets lost between you and your
audience.

Unfortunately, many people think to be persuasive they need to “look smart” by using big words
and complex sentence structures. The reality is that the simpler you write, the more intelligent
you seem to others. A study done at Princeton University manipulated the complexity of the
vocabulary and writing style of documents and gave them to students. Over and over again, the
simpler versions were rated as coming from a more intelligent writer than the more complex
drafts.
Smart writing is simple writing.

Clear and simple writing is actually quite difficult to do. It requires you to think hard about your
topic, get at its core, and then put that core in terms that your audience can understand. Here are
a few tips on writing and speaking with greater clarity:

 Write or speak so an 8th grader can understand. If an 8th grader can understand your
speech or article, then chances are an adult of average education can too. Practice this by
taking complex legal/ethical issues or scientific theories and writing a short blurb that
could be put in an 8th grade textbook. If you get stumped with pen and paper in hand,
grab an 8th grader and talk the issue through with them face to face. It’s amazing what
keeping this rule in mind can do to  help make you a clearer communicator.
 Use strong verbs. Avoid is, are, was, were, be, being, been. So instead of saying “Diane
was killed by Jim,” say, “Jim killed Diane.” Shorter, clearer, and punchier. Whenever I
edit my writing, I always do a ctrl+f for those verbs and see if I can replace them with
stronger verbs. Although sometimes you can’t do so without the sentence sounding worse
than before.
 Keep average sentence length to about 20 words. Sentence length is one of the biggest
factors in determining how easy it is to understand what you’re saying or writing. Ideas
can get lost in super long sentences. While you should avoid really long sentences as
much as possible, you don’t want all your sentences to be just five words each either.
That makes your writing and speaking sound choppy and rushed. Shoot for an average of
about 20 words a sentence. And mix sentences of varying lengths together.
 Keep paragraphs short. Ideally, each paragraph should contain just one idea. This
ensures that your reader doesn’t get lost in a jumble of different points. When you write
long paragraphs, it’s easy for more than one idea to sneak in. Avoid this by keeping
paragraphs short. Shoot for an average of five to six sentences a paragraph.
 Don’t use a five dollar word when a fifty cent word would work just as well. If you
have a choice between a fancy word and a plain word, go with the plain word.

There are dozens more tips on making your writing or speeches clearer, but we have to move on.
For more advice on writing with clarity, pick up a copy of the bible on clear and effective
writing: Strunk and White Elements of Style. Another book I found insanely helpful is Legal
Writing in Plain English. It’s geared towards lawyers, but the principles apply to writing and
speaking in any field.

3. Evidence. We’re not using “evidence” in the sense of facts you provide to prove a logical
argument. For classical rhetoricians, the quality of evidence was a way to measure how
well language reached the emotions of an audience through vivid description. Remember that
most people are persuaded more by emotion (pathos) than by logic (logos). One of the best ways
to elicit an emotional response from people is to appeal to their physical senses by using vivid
descriptions.

For example, let’s say you’re making the case to your state legislator that your state needs to
devote more funds towards fighting childhood hunger. Instead of starting your speech or letter by
spouting off a bunch of dry facts, it would be more persuasive to tell a story of a specific child
who’s a victim of hunger. In your story, describe the conditions this child is living in–the smells,
the sights, the sounds. Describe the pangs of hunger that gnaw on his stomach every night while
he lies crying softly, curled in ball on a urine-soaked mattress.

Who wouldn’t want to help this kid? That’s the quality of evidence in action.

4. Propriety. Propriety is the quality of style concerned with selecting words that fit with the
subject matter of your speech and ensuring they’re appropriate for your audience and for the
occasion. Simply put, propriety means saying the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.

A common rhetorical event where you see the quality of propriety flagrantly violated is the best
man speech at a wedding. I can’t count how many of these speeches I’ve witnessed where the
best man says something that makes everyone in the room cringe. You’d think it’d be common
sense, but a wedding toast in front of a groom’s new wife and her family isn’t an appropriate
place to talk about the groom’s past relationships or a night of drunken debauchery you had with
him back in your college days. You might think it’s funny, but a wedding reception isn’t the
place for that sort of humor. It’d be fine at a roast, but not a toast.

5. Ornateness. Ornateness involves making your speech or text interesting to listen to or read by
using figures of speech and manipulating the sound and rhythm of words. Classical rhetoricians
focused on incorporating different figures of speech to decorate their speeches. Here are a few
that I particularly enjoy using:

 Alliteration. Repetition of the same letter or sound within nearby words. Most often,
repeated initial consonants.
o Example: “Somewhere at this very moment a child is being born in America. Let
it be our cause to give that child a happy home, a healthy family, and a hopeful
future.” — Bill Clinton, 1992 Democratic National Convention Acceptance
Address
 Onomatopoeia. Use of words which sound like the thing they describe.
o Example: Batman action words. Bang! Pow! Buzz! Zip!
 Antanaclasis. Repetition of a word in two different senses.
o Example: “If we don’t hang together, we’ll hang separately.” —Benjamin
Franklin
 Asyndeton. The omission of conjunctions between clauses, often resulting in a hurried
rhythm or vehement effect.
o Example: “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
 Simile. An explicit comparison, often (but not necessarily) employing “like” or “as.”
o Example: “The full green hills are round and soft as breasts.” —The Grapes of
Wrath by John Steinbeck.
 Metaphor. A comparison made by equating one thing with another, showing that two
unlike things have something in common.
o Example: “A mighty fortress is our God.”

For an extensive list of figures of speech, check out Silva Rhetoricae.

Any other advice on improving your rhetorical style? What are some resources that you’ve
come across that have helped your writing and speaking style? Share them with us in the
comments!

The Three Elements of the Canon of Memory

1. Memorizing one’s speech.

Anciently, almost all rhetorical communication was done orally in the public forum. Ancient
orators had to memorize their speeches and be able to give them without notes or crib sheets.
Note taking as a way to remember things was often looked down upon in many ancient cultures.
In his Phaedrus, Plato has Socrates announcing that reliance on writing weakened memory:

If men learn this, [the art of writing] it will implant forgetfulness in their souls: they will cease to
exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no
longer from within themselves.

So if you were an ancient Greek and busted out some speech notes in the Assembly, you’d
probably be laughed at and mocked as weak-minded. The canon of memory then was in many
ways a tool to increase an orator’s ethos, or authority with his audience.

In modern times, we still lend more credence to speakers who give their speeches (or at least
appear to) from memory. You just need to look at the guff President Obama caught a few years
ago when it was revealed that he almost never speaks without the help of a teleprompter. He
relies on it whether giving a long speech or a short one, at a campaign event or a rodeo. And
when the teleprompter malfunctions, he often flounders. This reliance on an oratorical safety net
potentially hurts Obama’s ethos in two ways. First, whether fairly or not, when people know that
a speaker needs a “crutch” for their speeches, it weakens their credibility and the confidence the
audience has in the speaker’s authenticity. And second, notes put distance between the speaker
and the audience. As a television crewman who also covered Clinton and Bush put it in reference
to Obama’s use of the teleprompter: “He uses them to death. The problem is, he never looks at
you. He’s looking left, right, left, right — not at the camera. It’s almost like he’s not making eye
contact with the American people.”

This truth isn’t just limited to the POTUS. Think back to the speakers you’ve heard personally.
Which ones seemed more dynamic and engaging? The man with his nose buried in his notes,
reading them verbatim from behind the lectern…or the one who seemed like he was giving his
speech from the heart and who engaged the audience visually with eye contact and natural body
language? I’m pretty sure it was the second type of speaker. It pays to memorize your speech.

2. Making one’s speech memorable.

For ancient orators, the rhetorical canon of memory wasn’t just about the importance of giving
speeches extemporaneously. The second element of this canon entailed organizing your oration
and using certain figures of speech to help your audience remember what you said. What good is
spending hours memorizing a persuasive speech if your listeners forget what you said as soon as
they walk out the door?

3. Keeping a treasury of rhetorical fodder.

A third facet of the canon of memory involved storing up quotations, facts, and anecdotes that
could be used at any time for future speeches or even an impromptu speech. A master orator
always has a treasury of rhetorical fodder in his mind and close at hand. Roman rhetoricians like
Cicero and Quintilian didn’t subscribe to the Greek prejudice against note taking and encouraged
their students to carry small journals to collect quotes and ideas for future speeches. Renaissance
rhetoricians continued and expanded on this tradition with their use of the “commonplace book.”

Below we’ll take a look at some of the methods classical rhetoricians used to implement the
three different aspects of the canon of memory in more detail.

Memorizing Long Speeches

renaissance memory seals loci memorization technique

Renaissance memory seals to implement the method of loci technique.

Because the orations of ancient rhetoricians could last several hours, they had to develop
mnemonic devices (techniques that aid memory) to help them remember all the parts of their
speeches. The most famous and popular of these mnemonic devices was the “method of loci”
technique.

The method of loci memory technique was first described in written form in a Roman treatise on
rhetoric called ad Herennium, but it also made appearances in treatises by Cicero and Quintilian.
It’s an extremely effective mnemonic device and is still used by memory champions like Joshua
Foer, author of the recent book, Moonwalking With Einstein.

To use the method of loci, the speaker concentrates on the layout of a building or home that he’s
familiar with. He then takes a mental walk through each room in the building and commits an
engaging visual representation of a part of his speech to each room. So, for example, let’s say the
first part of your speech is about the history of the Third Punic War. You can imagine Hannibal
and Scipio Africanus duking it out in your living room. You could get more specific and put
different parts of the battles of the Third Punic War into different rooms. The method of loci
memory technique is powerful because it’s so flexible.

When you deliver your speech, you mentally walk through your “memory house” in order to
retrieve the information you’re supposed to deliver. Some wordsmiths believe that the common
English phrase “in the first place” came from the method of loci technique. A speaker using the
technique might say, “In the first place,” in reference to the fact that the first part of his speech
was in the first place or loci in his memory house. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Helping Your Audience Remember Your Speech

winston churchill giving speech parliament radio microphones

For our communication to be truly persuasive and effective, we need to ensure that our audience
remembers what we’ve communicated to them. The first step in getting people to remember
what you’ve said is to have something interesting to say. If everyone in the audience is zoning
out and playing with their iPhones, no amount of organizational tricks will help them remember
your speech.

Once you’ve formulated an interesting message, follow the basic pattern set forth in the canon of
arrangement to make your speech or text easy to follow and thus easy to remember. Give a solid
introduction where you set out clearly what you plan on sharing with your audience. You can say
something as simple as, “Today, I’m going to discuss three things. One, blah blah blah. Two,
blah blah. Three, bloop bleep blah.”

Throughout your speech, stop and give your audience a roadmap of where you’re at in your
speech. If you’ve just finished the first part of your speech, say something like, “We’ve just
covered blah blah. We’ll now move on to my second point, blee blop.” This constant reviewing
of where you’ve been and where you have left to go will help burn the main points of your
speech into the minds of your audience.

As I also discussed in our article on the canon of arrangement, telling a captivating story is one
of the best ways to draw your audience in and help them remember your message. You’ve
probably seen the power of story in aiding memory in your own life. What’s easier? Reciting
back to a friend what you learned in your physics class or reciting the storyline of a movie you
just saw? My bet is on recalling the plot of the movie. Harness the power of story by weaving in
anecdotes that bolster your point throughout your speech or text.

Another tool to make your rhetoric more memorable are figures of speech. We discussed these a
bit in our article on the canon of style. A well-executed figure of speech can assure that your
audience remembers what you’ve said. Take Churchill’s famous “We Shall Fight on the
Beaches” speech. Most people can remember segments of this speech after hearing or reading it
just once because Churchill masterfully used the figure of speech of anaphora. Anaphora calls
for repeating a key word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Check out this stirring
section from that famous speech:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into
the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. 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,
and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and
starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry
on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps
forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

See how many times he repeated the phrase “We shall fight?” Seven times. No wonder people
remember what Churchill said. If you want people to remember what you say, do likewise.

Storing Up Quotes, Facts, and Stories for Future Speeches

17 century commonplace book journal quotes facts lists

Commonplace book from the 17th century.

Another important part of the canon of memory is storing up information that can be used in
future speeches or texts.

The ancient Roman and Renaissance rhetoricians encouraged the use of commonplace books to
help facilitate this collection process and so do we. We’ve talked about the benefits of carrying a
pocket notebook and the famous men who made pocket notebooks a part of their everyday
arsenal before. If you’ve gotten into the habit, keep it up; if you haven’t, get started today.

Personally, my favorite notebooks to use are the thin Moleskine Cahiers that fit in my back
pocket. If I have an idea or see or read something that I want to remember, I just whip out my
notebook and scribble it down. A pocket notebook can be a storehouse for all the ideas you
generate each day and for all the interesting thoughts and bits of advice you hear and read from
other people.

Another tool I use to collect and organize all the information I gather is Evernote. Evernote is a
free notetaking software that allows you to organize just about anything. At the end of each day,
I’ll take the notes that I’ve made in my pocket notebook and type them into Evernote. Also,
when I read a book, I’ll type sections or lines that I want to remember into Evernote before I
return it to the library. Whenever I’m working on a speech or a post for the Art of Manliness, I’ll
run a search through Evernote to see if I have anything in my personal library of quotes, figures,
and stories. It makes putting together a speech or an essay much easier than starting from scratch.

Any other advice on improving your memory for rhetorical purposes? Share them with us in the
comments!

Welcome back to our series on Classical Rhetoric. Today we’re continuing our five-part segment
on the Five Canons of Rhetoric. So far we’ve covered the canons
of invention, arrangement, style, and memory. Today we’ll be covering the last canon: delivery.

What Is Delivery?

Like the canon of style, the canon of delivery is concerned with how something is said.
While the canon of style focuses primarily on what sort of language you use, delivery focuses on
the mechanics of how you impart your message. For ancient orators, delivery meant how a
speaker used his body language and hand gestures and how he changed his tone of voice during
his oration.

Mastering the canon of delivery can help a speaker establish ethos with his audience. Admit it.
You’ve probably written off plenty of speakers when you saw that they mumbled through their
speech and gestured like the robot on Lost in Space. I know I have. The speaker could have been
making valid and groundbreaking points, but the message got lost in the delivery. Delivery can
also help an orator use pathos, or emotion, to persuade. A well placed pause or a slammed fist
can elicit a desired emotion from your audience in order to make your point.

The ancient Greeks held the canon of delivery in very high regard. They believed that an orator
who could eloquently deliver a speech was in fact a virtuous person. The thinking being that the
gift to deliver a powerful speech could only reside in a virtuous man.

The life of the famous Greek orator Demosthenes demonstrates the lengths ancient rhetoricians
would take in order to master the canon of delivery. To improve his diction, Demosthenes would
practice his speeches with pebbles in his mouth and even recite speeches while he ran. To
strengthen his voice so he could be heard clearly in the Greek Assembly, he’d stand on the
seashore and deliver his speech over the roar of the waves. All this work paid off, as
Demosthenes went down in history as one of the greatest orators of ancient Greece.

While the Greeks admired men as virtuous for being able to deliver a speech eloquently, modern
audiences have a tendency to be suspicious of a speaker that appears too well-polished.
A charismatic speaker who can deliver a rousing speech is often seen as a silver-
tongued deceiver with ulterior motives, someone who is masking his true intent with a flashy
presentation. This suspicion was born in the aftermath of WWII; people felt ashamed that they
had fallen under the spell of dictators who were great orators but had malicious agendas.

But for Americans, our wariness of smooth speakers goes back quite a ways more and can be
traced to the cultural turn against the “genteel patriarch archetype” after the Revolutionary War
and the election of Andrew Jackson as the country’s first “populist president.” Since that time,
Americans have craved “authenticity” and often preferred a speaker with a bit of rough, folksy
charm over one more refined and sophisticated. We saw this play out in the 2004 U.S.
presidential election between John Kerry and George Bush. Many political commentators agreed
the John Kerry had a hard time connecting with voters because he came off as too polished, stiff,
and cerebral in debates and speeches. Bush, on the other hand, despite his occasional speaking
gaffes, or perhaps because of them, was often seen as more down-to-earth–the kind of guy you’d
go have a beer with–because his delivery was more rough and unpolished. He seemed authentic
and approachable, and thus trustworthy. Some cultural commentators saw the election of Obama
in 2008 as a victory over this suspicion for “elitism” and charismatic orators.

The Importance of Tailoring Your Delivery to Your Audience

FDR knew how to match his style of delivery to the situation.

How you approach your delivery will need to be determined during the invention stage of your
speech. Find out to the best of your ability the overall demographics and cultural background of
your audience. What does your audience fear? What are their desires? What are their needs? This
information will help you decide if you should use a more sophisticated and polished delivery or
if you should go with a more informal approach.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a master of understanding the importance of tailoring
your delivery according to time, place, and audience.

When FDR took office during the Great Depression, he instituted regular “Fireside Chats,”
where he would address the country on the radio to discuss what the government was doing and
why. If you listen to him, say, explain the need to close banks for a banking holiday, you can
hear how his delivery sounds much like a kindly grandfather patiently explaining a complicated
issue in a very simple and easy to understand manner. His delivery conveys warmth, comfort,
and confidence. It is easy to understand how, in a time where there was “nothing to fear but fear
itself,” many Americans, in a practice foreign to most of us today, had a picture of FDR hanging
in their home as if he were part of the family.

Now, if you listen to FDR’s speech after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, you can hear a much
different, but still very effective kind of delivery. The nation was reeling with shock, worry, and
anger, and FDR, now speaking with great force, manages to convey righteous indignation and
supreme confidence.

Like FDR, Reagan knew how to effectively vary his delivery. He could often be humorous and
folksy but knew how to convey sincerity and solemnity when the situation called for it, such as
after the Challenger exploded.

Developing the Canon of Delivery in Oratory

Because the art of delivery in writing could be its own post, we have chosen to concentrate on
how it applies to spoken rhetoric. Here are a few key tips for increasing the effectiveness of your
oratorical delivery.

Master the pause. Most people are so nervous when they get up to speak that they rush through
the whole thing like the Micro Machines guy. But they’re losing out on employing one of the
most powerful oratorical techniques–the pause. A pause can add a bit of dramatic flair to a
statement or it can help the audience really drink up an idea. The key with a pause is timing. Use
it only in spots where it will be effective–places where you really want to highlight what comes
after the pause. “Hello (pause) my (pause) name is (pause),” would not be such a time. Practice
inserting pauses in your speech to find what works.

Watch your body language. When you’re speaking, your voice isn’t the only thing talking.
Your body is also communicating. Your posture, head tilt, and the way you walk on stage all
convey a message. Some occasions may require that you carry yourself in a more formal and
stiff manner, while other occasions will require a more laid-back approach.

Vary your tone. Nothing will put your audience to sleep faster than a visit from android man
from the year 2050. Short-circuit the flat, monotonous robot voice and keep things interesting by
adding vocal inflections as you speak. Use inflections to reveal that you’re asking a question,
being sarcastic, or conveying excitement. You might even exaggerate your inflections when
delivering a public speech as many people have a tendency to get timid in front of an audience.

Let gestures flow naturally. If used effectively, hand gestures can give added emphasis to your
words. If used incorrectly, you’ll end up looking like an octopus having a seizure. Don’t over
think hand gestures; just let them flow naturally. You might want to have someone watch you
practice the speech to make sure your gesticulations aren’t distracting. If they are, adjust
accordingly, but don’t obsess about it; they’re part of what makes you unique as a speaker.

Nothing stops a Bull Moose’s hand gesture.

Match your speed with your emotion. How fast or slow you speak can affect the emotion
you’re trying to convey. In A Natural System of Elocution and Oratory, the author gives six
different speech speeds and the corresponding emotions they’re meant to elicit.

 Rapid: haste, alarm, confusion, anger, vexation, fear, revenge, and extreme terror.
 Quick or brisk: joy, hope, playfulness, and humor.
 Moderate: good for narration, descriptions, and teaching.
 Slow: gloom, sorrow, melancholy, grief, pity, admiration, reverence, dignity, authority,
awe, power, and majesty.
 Very slow: used to express the strongest and deepest emotions.

Vary the force of your voice. Force is the strength and weakness of voice. Varying the force of
your voice can help express different emotions. Anger, ferocity, and seriousness can be conveyed
with a strong, loud voice. This doesn’t mean you need to shout. You just need to put a little more
oomph in your voice. A softer voice can convey reverence, meekness, and humility. Varying the
force of your voice can also help draw listeners into your speech. For example, by speaking
softly, your audience has to work a bit more to hear you. It’s almost like you’re telling a secret to
your audience which is a great way to emphasis a point you’re making and to connect with your
listeners. Like all tactics, this must be used sparingly…don’t make the audience strain to hear
your whole speech.

Enunciate. It’s easy to trip over your tongue and slur words together when you’re speaking in
public. But really focus on enunciating your words as this will make you easier to understand. I
have a tendency to mumble and slur words together. A trick that has helped me overcome this is
practicing speaking while holding a pencil underneath my tongue. It forces your tongue to work
harder as it restricts tongue movement. When you remove the pencil from underneath your
tongue, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to enunciate without the obstruction. I’ll often
do this exercise right before I do a podcast or give a presentation. Tongue twisters help with
enunciation, too.
Look your audience in the eye. When you look people in the eye, you make a connection. But
how can you look an entire audience in the eye? Well, if there are hundreds of people in
your audience, you can’t. But you can at least make eye contact with a couple of them. As you
go through your speech, work your way across the room making eye contact with several
different people in the audience. You’ll get a strong connection with those people you look in the
eye, but you’ll also give everyone else a chance to look you in the face which can help build a
connection. Maintain contact for a few seconds. If it’s too short, you’ll seem nervous and shifty.
If you look too long, you’ll start creeping people out.