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FREE fortnightly newsletter full of public speaking tips, techniques, humour, quotes & anecdotes you can use in your very next speech or presentation |
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Rhetorical Techniques - RULE OF THREEs & ANAPHORA Rhetorical techniques are designed to help sear your words into your audience's brains and every newsletter we look at one or two in detail. This time it's the RULE OF THREEs and ANAPHORA. The RULE OF THREEs is really more of a general principle than a rhetorical technique, but it is very effective. For some reason, the human brain seems to absorb information effectively when it is presented in this way. Think of these famous examples: " 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 " Veni, vidi, vinci " ... Julius Caesar " Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn " - Benjamin Franklin ANAPHORA (from the Greek anaphero , or 'I repeat') is a technique that is often used with the RULE OF THREEs. It deliberately repeats the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases or sentences. It's one of the most commonly used rhetorical techniques and you will hear it regularly employed by politicians. The untrained speaker might think it repetitive, but it is meant to be that way; it's repetitiveness is what makes it effective. For example, in the quote below, Abraham Lincoln would have been more grammatically correct to have said, "We cannot dedicate, consecrate or hallow this ground." But rhetoric often sacrifices correctness in the name of effectiveness. " But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground " - Abraham Lincoln Would Martin Luther King's most famous speech been half as effective without the multiple repetition of the words ' I have a dream' ? The excerpt below shows how he also used a variety of other techniques, which are highlighted in bold with their names in capital letters in brackets (if you can't wait to learn about these other techniques in further editions of the newsletter, check out my 200-page, 35,000-word Speak Like A Pro E-Manual, where you can learn about them all). "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal (EPITHET). I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners (CONDUPLICATIO ) will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (METAPHOR). I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression ( ANAPHORA & METAPHOR ), will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice (METAPHOR). Even those of us who speak no German can remember the following: " Ein volk! Ein reich! Ein Führer !" - Adolf Hitler One of the most frequent users of anaphora was Sir Winston Churchill, who used it to great effect, as below in his 'Fight them on the beaches' speech. Repetitive perhaps, but stirring? Definitely. "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender .." So how can you use anaphora in your own speeches? It's one of the easiest techniques to use. As I always say, write your speech in 'normal' English first and then go over it and see where you can introduce a rhetorical technique. For example, you might have originally written: 'A successful year in which we grew sales by 5% and turned the company around.' Whilst grammatically correct, this can easily be made more memorable by breaking it into two sentences and using ' A successful year in which .' to begin both. Adding a third sentence to use the RULE OF THREEs, it could now read, 'a successful year in which we grew sales by 5% and retained our position as market leader despite fierce competition. A successful year in which we turned the company around and placed it firmly in the black. A successful year in which we generated profits of £7 million and laid the foundations for future growth'. Likewise, you might have written, " These objectives are both stretching and ambitious". A few strokes of the keyboard and a simple addition later this becomes, "These objectives are stretching. They're ambitious. Make no mistake - they're BIG." The original is an instantly forgettable, throwaway line with little impact. The revision is far more powerful and effective in getting the point across.
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