Following the path of the basic rhetoric canons, you have found your most compelling arguments, and you have arranged them in the most effective order. Now, you need to dress your message; give it the proper clothes. This means you look over the aspect called “Elocutio” in the classic roman school; the expressions you use, or your way of wording or phrasing. Where you paint with words.
Using the most efficient similes, metaphors, or mental images will invite your audience to travel alongside with, to see it with your eyes and to share your experience. With a good choice of phrasing, you may bring clarity. With different types of stylistic devices, you use the language as a tool to bring variation and power to your speech.
A true master of this aspect, Martin Luther King has been recited, over and over again. And rightfully so. I still get the chills of his “one day of the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”, in one of the most famous speeches in history (the “I have a dream” speech, 1963, Lincoln Memorial in Washington). And of all those strong, vivid pictures that he paints with words in that speech. A more modern, though not as famous, speaker who mastered the art of elocutio in her speech is the young climate activist Greta Thunberg, in her speech at the UN climate meeting in 2019. A different style than Martin Luther King, Greta also used effective stylish devices such as repetition, contrasts and simplicity.
A little word of warning though; don’t get too carried away at this step. A speech where you stack similes or metaphors on top of each other will blurr your content and your message. You may end up with an audience too occupied to sort through the different pictures you throw in their way to actually hear what you are trying to say.
And also, remember, this is no exact science. You will have to try and try and try again to find the way that works best for you, for the subject and for the audience. The more you try, the better you will get. But it will also inevitably lead you through some failures. They might be hard to swallow at the time – but see them as your stepping stones to learn and to master your own path, and you are on your way to success.
I will share with you one of the most awkward moments of my public speaking journey. I was young and ambitious, and I had a large crowd in the audience. I was at the podium to cut down a young man for his – in my opinion – snobbish, overly theoretical and introvert perspective on politics. I had a strong speech, and I had worked on all parts of it. The best part was the ending. I ended with such a strong image! No one could win the argument over me after that ending. The speech sort of lead up to this ending, this mental picture that surely would drive the point home, once and for all. So I blasted, leaning from the podium and staring in the direction of the young man; “Then you may sit there, in your empty meeting rooms, with your Kawasaki-politics, and wonder why no one is listening to you!”.
I got standing ovations from large parts of the audience, and was very pleased with myself and the masterfully painted ending. Until someone I knew came up to me, saying “It was a great speech, and Gee, what an ending. Only you could come up with something like that. What did it mean?” It was only then I realized I got so carried away that I had used the word “Kawasaki” instead of “Kamikaze”, which had been my intention.
I still to this day wonder how many in the audience that applauded because they understood my message in spite of that weird metaphor, and how many applauded for completely different reasons.
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