Let us start with the first skill you need – invention. And I will discuss how you might use invention in the six sections of a speech: the Introduction, the Statement of Facts, the Division, the Proof, the Refutation, and the Conclusion
- The Introduction. This comes at the beginning and its purpose is to prepare your audience and to make them sit up and pay attention.
- The Statement of Facts is where you set out the sequence of factual points, events or arguments that you are going to present.
- The Division is where you make clear where you believe there is already consensus or agreement, and where there is still controversy or disagreement.
- The Proof is the section where you present your arguments, backing them up with evidence or corroborative statements from others.
- The Refutation is where you set out any adversarial arguments or opinions, and discuss these.
- The Conclusion is the final section, where you summarise and wind up your speech.
Your function, as a speaker, is to present these six parts of a speech in an interesting and entertaining manner. To make it easier for you to understand how to do this, I am going to take each segment in turn, starting with the Introduction.
[Adaptation from Rhetorica ad Herennium, Book 1]
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