There are four methods we can use to make our audience feel well-disposed towards us:
(1) establishing our credibility,
(2) disparaging the opposing point of view,
(3) appealing to the judgement of our audience,
(4) and by our presentation of the facts. Continue reading Establishing goodwill in our listeners
All posts by Ruth Livingstone
An education isn’t…
An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.
Anatole France
Creating receptive and attentive listeners
Dear Gaius
When we make a speech, we want our audience to feel receptive to our message, to gain a favourable impression of us as speakers and to pay good attention to what we are saying. I shall now show you how these three conditions can be brought about. Continue reading Creating receptive and attentive listeners
The direct and subtle approaches to opening a speech
Having previously considered the underlying purpose of your speech, it makes sense to consider the introduction as related to the type of speech you are giving.
Basically, there are two kinds of introduction: the direct and the subtle approach. Continue reading The direct and subtle approaches to opening a speech
Consider the underlying purpose of your speech
But first, in order to construct the most appropriate Introduction, you must consider the underlying purpose of your speech.
There are four possible purposes: honourable, discreditable, doubtful, and petty. An honourable purpose is when we either defend what seems to be a universal truth, or attack what seems to be universally accepted as reprehensible; for example, when we defend a heroic person, or denounce a heartless killer. Continue reading Consider the underlying purpose of your speech
Six sections of a speech
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.
How to Improve your Skills: learning from chess
Whether or not we play chess, there is a lot we can learn from studying the skills of great chess players. And we can learn even more by understanding how good chess players continue to improve.
Continue reading How to Improve your Skills: learning from chess
The task of a public speaker…
The strength of memories
“I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stranger it becomes”
― Vladimir Nabokov
It seems that memories associated with strong emotions are the ones we remember the best.
And, as we think back and sink into that memory, it seems the emotional flavour of the memory is all that really matters and becomes the dominating aspect of the remembrance. Continue reading The strength of memories
The past…
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – William Faulkner