The power of rhetorical devices (not your boring high school English class)
“Persuasion is often more effectual than force.” ~ Aristotle
Quick Summary:
- Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and when used effectively, you can convince people to do what you want them to do.
- The three modes of persuasion are pathos (emotion), logos (reason), and ethos (authority).
- There are dozens of devices you can employ in your videos—to really drive your points home—like repetition and juxtaposition.
To illustrate the points:
This climactic scene from the movie Braveheart displays how the central character uses all three modes of persuasion to rally the troop.
This is a brief excerpt from the keynote President Barack Obama (then a senator) delivered at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. For many people, this was the speech that put him on the map. Even with this brief clip, you can see how he employs different modes (such as pathos), as well as repetition (“the United States of America”).
Now forget his politics—Obama is a modern-day masterful communicator. Here’s Forbes breaking down a few more gems we can use:
Time to practice!
- Choose a point of view: briefly write it out using the 3 devices: your credibility/authority, your passion and appeal to your audience’s emotions, and sound logic; see if you can employ any other devices mentioned
- On camera: record this video and post