Rhetoric
How to communicate ideas effectively.
Prepared Speech
A good talk has a good start and a good end, and they are as close together as possible.
Ensure you identify with the subject, and can wholeheartedly defend it.
Adapt to the audience
Choose the right degree of detail (granularity, amount) under the circumstances.
Find out their needs/pains and focus on the benefits (less work, more possibilities).
Prepare for anticipated questions.
General points
Structure the talk well (leitmotif, decomposed; add breaks after important points).
Make it as short as possible to reach your target.
Add stimuli such as rhetorical questions, examples including your audience, direct speech, visual elements, tension and humour.
Make it easy understandable (easy words, structured content, short, additional stimuli).
Avoid challenging members on a personal level (through weak claims / avoiding answers).
Concept
Formulate a target for your speech as a single phrase; aligning your interests with the audience.
Research the subject quantitatively and broad.
Review research and remove material that does is not strictly needed to reach the target.
Develop the argumentation while focusing on the meaning for the audience.
Create the end of the talk which contains hands-on advice.
Create the start of the talk.
Manuscript
Formulate start/end completely and learn by heart.
Note down keywords for the rest on flashcards / sheet of paper.
Mark rhetorical/dramaturgical effects.
Patterns
Use the you-form (“you can simply press here and then...”).
After explaining facts, go back to you form with rhetorical questions ("what does this mean for you", "why do I explain this to you").
Use analogies/images/questions to make the audience think.
Use simple phrases.
Place breaks after questions and important points.
Make audience agree upon generally known facts (so they will accept new facts).
Argumentation
forms
rational (use statistics, facts, logical reasoning)
emotional (use concrete example, fear, feelings)
tactical (assure to be object, but judge other arguments as incomparable)
moral (use norms of the society, cite important personas, appeal to decency)
plausibility (plead to tradition, exaggerate, appeal to "common sense")
five-phrases
essay (introduction, arguments, conclusion)
position (declare position, argument for it, example, conclusion from example, plea to act)
problem-solving (present the now, describe causes, present the should-be, describe acts, plea to act)
special case (describe rule, describe exception, describe why exception part of the rule, describe why not, plea to act)
comparison (present A, argue for A, present B, argue for B, combine or discard both)
dialectic (fact, present A, present B, combine, conclude)
new-aspect (introduction, summary of active outcome, introduce new aspect, evaluate new aspect conclude)
questions (why am I speaking, what is going on, what should be, how can this be archived, what do we need to do
mismatch (present A, present B, combine/discard both, present own solution, consequences)
divergence (present A, reveal mistakes, present solution for this mistakes, present concept, plea to act)
other techniques
feature (what), advantage (why this is great) use (how can you benefit)
yesterday, today, tomorrow
Start
Start strong (no apologies/complaints/overview/empty phrases).
Focus the attention of the audience (news, joke, rhetorical question, citation, story, special item).
Be convinced of whatever you do.
End
End strong (no apologies/thanks/announcement/invisible/conjuntictive).
Use a short summary, give an outlook (yesterday/today/tomorrow, utilization, plea), ask a rhetorical question, connect with the start.
Train
Train including breaks & emphasis.
Use simple language and short phrases.
Record and replay.
Talk
How to behave before, after & during the talk.
Venue
Try out technical devices needed for the talk.
Order needed material and lay it out.
Ensure no attention seeking objects in you vicinity.
Choose appropriate clothing.
Directly before the talk
Stick to your plan.
Ensure you still know the first few phrases.
Sit down, empty your head and breath calmly.
Look forward to the talk or what comes after.
Mindset
It is natural to be nervous; just another challenge waiting to be beat.
The talk happens even if you are not optimally prepared; you can not change the past.
You are allowed to make mistakes, it does not have to be perfect.
You know about the subject best.
Play out your strengths and be aware of your weaknesses.
Be courteous, kind, motivated.
Ascent
Walk slowly and certain, use the walk to dissipate excess energy from the stage fright.
Upon arrival, wait a bit ("let the soul catch up").
Wait for the silence to propagate.
Stand firmly and controlled.
Empty your hands.
Smile because you were looking forward to this or to what happens afterwards.
Glance at the audience, look for kind faces.
Talking
Change speed/volume of your voice to increase tension.
Add breaks to let the audience relax.
Look at members of the audience directly and personally.
Live through the emotions of the talk to provoke mimics.
Allow the hands to naturally flow with your speech.
Be honest, be yourself so your body moves naturally.
Check for non-verbal feedback of the audience as they mirror your emotions.
Difficult situations
Never start a fight with the audience.
Only react if target of speech is in danger.
Lose the trail of thought
Skip a part, you can retry later if it is still needed.
Announce it for later ("Let me first explain ...").
Repeat the last thought ("lets summarize...").
Keep the participants occupied (note, ask for questions).
Use empty phrases ("it is difficult to find the correct way to say ...").
Noise
Smile friendly and wait till everything is quiet again.
Do not educate; simply let the silence propagate.
Attacks
Be intelligible; not everyone will like you.
Lay on ice (note down publicly, ask to repeat question later).
Transform into question ("this is an important question; you ask whether this is true...").
Minus/plus ("yes this will be difficult, but let's look at the advantages...").
Ask for clarification ("what exactly is not working").
Reference ("you hear this opinion often, but if you look at ...").
Out of topic ("this would take too much time to discuss").
Ask for help ("what do you expect me to do now?").
Defend (ask personally to stop/leave, get support from the audience).
Talk with script
To avoid being too passive, use the following loop:
- read and understand text concentrated
- look at the audience and form a connection
- present text including mimic, voice changes, breaks, ...)
- keep eye connection for the rhetorical break
- lower the head for the next phrase
Spontaneous Talks
Use the universal form of yesterday, today, tomorrow. Use the five phrase technics (primarily problem-solving / position forms).