Rhetorical Devices in Public Speaking

(compiled using http://www.speaklikeapro.co.uk )

The following are the most commonly used rhetorical techniques (also known as
rhetorical devices) in public
speaking:
ALLITERATION repeats the same sound or letter at the beginning of several words in
sequence.
Let us go forth to lead the land we love . . . - J. F. Kennedy
My style is public negotiations for parity, rather than private negotiations for position
. . . - Jesse
Jackson
We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will . . . Sir
Winston
Churchill
ALLUSION is a short reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event (the best
sources for allusions are
literature, history, Greek myth, and the Bible, as they must be easily understood). It is
also important that the
allusion explains, or enhances the subject under discussion without sidetracking the
listener.
You must borrow me Gargantua's mouth first. 'Tis a word too great for any mouth of
this age's size Shakespeare
If you take his parking place, you can expect World War II all over again.
AMPLIFICATION repeats a word or expression while adding more detail to it, in order to
emphasize
something.
I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a
king, and of a king of
England, too. - Queen Elizabeth I
ANADIPLOSIS repeats one or several words that end one clause and begin another.
Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants
of fame; and
servants of business. - Francis Bacon
They call for you: the general who became a slave; the slave who became a
gladiator; the gladiator
who defied an Emperor. - from the movie Gladiator
ANALOGY is a kind of extended METAPHOR or long SIMILE in which a comparison is
made between two
things in order to develop a line of reasoning. While it is similar to simile, similes are
generally more artistic and
brief, while an analogy is longer and explains a thought process.
Knowledge always desires increase: it is like fire, which must first be kindled by
some external agent,
but which will afterwards propagate itself. - Samuel Johnson
ANAPHORA repeats the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, or
sentences, often
alongside CLIMAX and PARALLELISM and using a TRICOLON.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is
still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.
One hundred years
later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity.
One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American

society and finds

himself an exile in his own land. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow
this ground . . . Abraham Lincoln
I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a
home in the country.
What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. - from Farewell, My Lovely
ANASTROPHE is a departure from normal word order for the sake of emphasis
Four score and seven years ago . . , - Abraham Lincoln
This much we pledge, and more . . . John F. Kennedy
ANTISTROPHE (also called EPISTROPHE) repeats the same word or phrase at the end of
successive clauses.
In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo -- without warning . In 1935, Italy
invaded Ethiopia
-- without warning . In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without warning . In 1939, Hitler
invaded
Czechoslovakia -- without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without
warning . And now
Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand -- and the United States -- without warning. Franklin D.
Roosevelt
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a
nation: Yes, we can. It
was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom
through the darkest of
nights: Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores
and pioneers who
pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can. - Barack Obama
ANTITHESIS is a figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are deliberately used
in consecutive phrases
or sentences.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. - Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Reasonable men adapt to the world. Unreasonable men adapt the world to
themselves. That's why all
progress depends on unreasonable men. - George Bernard Shaw
No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other
poor bastard die for
his country. - General George Patton
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. --Neil Armstrong
ASSONANCE is the successive use of syllables with the same or similar vowel sounds
in words with different
consonants. It is similar to rhyme, but can be used with similar sounding words, as in
the Churchill example.
I feel the need , the need for speed. -- from the movie Top Gun
The odious apparatus of Nazi rule. Sir Winston Churchill
ASYNDETON is a lack of conjunctions (e.g. 'and') between successive phrases or
words.
We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend,
oppose any foe to
assure the survival and the success of liberty. John F. Kennedy
Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security
emanates from the
justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility

and restraint. Barack Obama

CHIASMUS is a very commonly used and effective technique where the words in one
phrase or clause are
reversed in the next.
But just because you're born in the slum does not mean the slum is born in you, and
you can rise above
it if your mind is made up. - Jesse Jackson
It's not the men in my life that counts: it's the life in my men. - Mae West
Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will
be done. - George
W. Bush
The true test is not the speeches the president delivers; it's if the president delivers
on the speeches. Hilary Clinton
Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original,
and the part that is
original is not good. - Samuel Johnson
CLIMAX (also called gradatio) is the arrangement of words or phrases in order of
increasing importance or
emphasis. It is often used with PARALLELISM because it offers a sense of continuity,
order, and movement-up
the ladder of importance.
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a merry
Christmas, and God bless
all of you, all of you on the good earth. - Frank Borman, Apollo 8 astronaut
And now I ask you ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, for the good of all of
us, for the love of
this great nation, for the family of America, for the love of God; please make this
nation remember how
futures are built. - Mario Cuomo, Governor of New York
DIACOPE repeats a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase.
Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty, free at last! - Martin Luther King
The people everywhere, not just here in Britain, everywhere -- they kept faith with
Princess Diana. Tony Blair
DISTINCTIO is an elaboration on a particular meaning of a word in order to prevent any
misunderstanding or
ambiguity:
In modern times (and here I am referring to the post-World War Two era) . . .
The task could be described as difficult, if by difficult we mean that it will entail
hardship.
EPONYM substitutes the name of a famous person for an attribute. By their nature
they often border on the
clich, but many times they can be useful without seeming too obviously trite. While
finding new or
infrequently used ones is best, it is also more difficult, because the name-and-attribute
relationship needs to be
well established:
You don't need to be Einstein to see that.
That little Hitler is fooling nobody.
EXPLETIVE is a word or short phrase, that interrupts normal speech in order to lend
emphasis to the words
immediately next to it:
And this city -- this Golden City which is both ancient and youthful -- stands as a

living monument to
your unconquerable spirit. - Barack Obama
HYPERBOLE is the deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or effect, i.e. the opposite of
MEIOSIS. It must be
clearly intended as an exaggeration, and should be used sparingly to be effective.
That is, do not exaggerate
everything, but treat hyperbole like an exclamation point, to be used only occasionally.
My parents will kill me if I dont get home before midnight.
This steak isn't rare; I've seen cows hurt worse than this get up and get well.
HYPOPHORA is a figure of reasoning in which one or more questions or objections is
asked or stated and then
answered by the speaker, reasoning aloud (the original 'rhetorical question).
When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it
always has done
in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth. General Dwight D.
Eisenhower
But there are only three hundred of us,' you object. Three hundred, yes, but men,
but armed, but
Spartans, but at Thermoplyae: I have never seen three hundred so numerous. Seneca
LITOTES is a particular form of understatement, which denies the opposite of the word
which otherwise would
be used.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. - Martin Luther
King, Jr.
MEIOSIS is a deliberate understatement, i.e. the opposite of HYPERBOLE.
The situation has developed, not necessarily to our advantage. - Emperor Hirohito,
announcing to the
Japanese people that atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
METABASIS is a brief statement of what has been said and what will follow; a kind of
transitional summary:
So far I have concentrated only on the costs of the proposal. I now want to turn to
the benefits.
So much for the achievements of last year. Let's look at the objectives for this one.
METANOIA (also called correctio) qualifies a statement by recalling it (or part of it) and
expressing it in a
better, milder, or stronger way. A negative, such as 'nay' (though this would be a little
theatrical in a business
speech or presentation), is often used to do the recalling:
Fido was the friendliest of all St. Bernards, nay of all dogs.
Even a blind man can see, as the saying is, that poetic language gives a certain
grandeur to prose,
except that some writers imitate the poets quite openly, or rather they do not so much
imitate them as
transpose their words into their own work, as Herodotus does. -Demetrius
METAPHOR is the comparison of two different things by speaking of one in terms of the
other. Unlike a
SIMILE or ANALOGY, a metaphor asserts that one thing actually is another thing, not
just like it.
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended
across the Continent.
- Sir Winston Churchill
The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans. John F, Kennedy
PARALLELISM is a figure of balance identified by successive words or phrases with the

same or very similar

grammatical structure.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,
bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty. - John F. Kennedy
We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers, working past
exhaustion. We've seen
the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers
-- in English,
Hebrew, and Arabic. - George W. Bush
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn. Benjamin Franklin
POLYSYNDETON is the repetitive use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or
clause, and therefore
the opposite of ASYNDETON.
Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside
down, and
scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with
the priest; as with
the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the
buyer, so with the
seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the
giver of usury to
him. --Isaiah 24:1-2
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their
hands were raw so
that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our
individual ambitions;
greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. - Barack Obama
PRAETERITIO (also called paraleipsis) is a pretended omission for rhetorical effect.
That part of our history detailing the military achievements which gave us our
several possessions ... is
a theme too familiar to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it
by. - Thucydides
Let us make no judgment on the events of Chappaquiddick , since the facts are not
yet all in. - a political
opponent of Senator Edward Kennedy
Sometimes it is used to draw attention to something in the very act of pretending to
pass it over:
It would be unseemly for me to dwell on the honourable member's drinking problem,
and too many have
already sensationalized his womanizing.
SCESIS ONOMATON emphases something by expressing it in a string of generally
synonymous phrases or
statements. While it should be used carefully, this deliberate and obvious restatement
can be quite effective.
Although it can use more than three, it tends to be most effective when used in
conjunction with a TRICOLON:
We succeeded, we were victorious, we accomplished the feat!
But there is one thing these glassy-eyed idealists forget: such a scheme would be
extremely costly,
horrendously expensive, and require a ton of money.
SENTENTIA is a figure of argument in which a wise, witty, or well-known saying is used

to sum up the
preceding material.
So, I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. 'Mine
eyes have seen
the glory of the coming of the Lord' -- Martin Luther King, Jr,
SIMILE is a comparison between two different things that have something in common,
using like, as or seems.
My love is like a red, red rose - Robert Burns
We're going to go through them like crap through a goose. - General George Patton
SYMPLOCE repeats the first and last word or words in one phrase or sentence in one or
more successive ones,
thereby combining ANAPHORA and EPISTROPHE
Much of what I say might sound bitter, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might
sound like it's stirring
up trouble, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it is hate, but it's the
truth. - Malcolm
X
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked
Guam. Last
night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese
attacked Wake Island.
And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island. - Franklin D Roosevelt
TRICOLON is the use of words, phrases, examples, or the beginnings or endings of
phrases or sentences in
threes.
Government of the people, by the people, for the people . . . President Abraham
Lincoln
Never in the history of human endeavour has so much been owed by so many to so
few. Sir Winston
Churchill