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| Rhetorical Techniques: Replication |
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Replication (posh names: Scesis Onomaton or Accumulatio) is a rhetorical technique that very effectively emphasizes a point with the successive use of several words or phrases which have more or less the same meaning. Effectively, it says the same thing in several different ways. It's a very powerful way to get a point across. For example, when John Cleese uses the following synonyms for being dead in the famous Monty Python 'Dead Parrot Sketch' he's using Replication to emphasize that the parrot is 'bleedin' demised!' and not just 'resting' as the pet shop owner keeps insisting:
It's something that is used to great effect by President Obama:
Let's have a look at a few other examples, and then I'll show you how you can use it yourself when you want to really emphasize a point in your presentations:
So ..... how can you use this technique yourself in presentations? First of all, you'll note that most of the above examples use three similar words or phrases (I know John Cleese used 13, but that was for comedic effect; however I do give an example below where I use 14 at a certain point in my a seminars!). This is using another rhetorical technique, the Tricolon. Neuroscientists don't know why, but the human brain seems to absorb information more effectively when it's presented in threes rather than twos or fours. It's probably President Obama's favorite rhetorical technique (there are 22 examples of it in his Inaugural Address alone). So combine scesis onomaton with a tricolon and use three synonyms for greatest effect. Let's say in your first presentation draft you've written the words, Which is more powerful? "Such a course of action would be expensive," and you want to really emphasize this point, drive it home and make it stick (sorry, just couldn't help myself there, got carried away). Now you could just simply add an adjective, and say 'really expensive' or 'very expensive.' But a better approcach would be to go online and look for synonyms for expensive. Amongst other things, you'd find exorbitant, extravagant, costly, lavish, high-priced, excessive, luxurious, unaffordable and overpriced. You can then just pick a couple and change it to: ",... would be very expensive, extremely costly and a luxury we cannot afford." If you planned to say, "Our objectives this year are stretching," you could change it to "Our objectives this year are stretching. They're ambitious, ...... they're BIG." Saying that is more powerful, has more impact and is far more effective (there I go again; see how easy it is?). Which is more powerful? "We're to play the competition at their own game.," or "... play the competition at their own game, fight fire with fire, play tit for tat.". If you wanted to stress that you were completely behind a course of action, instead of saying "X has my full support," you could say, "X has my full, 100%, unequivocal support." If you want to emphasize that a competitor's policy is dangerous and could eat away at your market share, don't just say, "it could gradually eat into it." Say instead, "eat into it bit by bit, piece by piece, mouthful by mouthful. Finally, let me give you two examples from my seminars. For the first, I'm making the point that most presenters yse slides badly, and that rather than focus on writing and delivering a great speech, they simply put a dozen slides together and then talk around them, because it's easier that way. I then say,"It’s a short-cut. It’s a safety blanket. It’s a crutch." For the second example I use the technique twice, back-to-back. When I'm making the point that most presenters open up ineffectively and waste that precious first 30 seconds (for how to do it properly, read 'How to grab 'em by the throat'), I say 'Now there's nothing wrong with opening with a self-introduction. Nobody will criticize you. Nobody ever got the sack by opening with a greeting." That's the first use. I then go on to say, 'It's just that it's predictable. Average. Everyday. Pedestrian. Mundane. Humdrum. Grey. Bland. Colorless. Conservative. Forgettable. Safe. Obvious. So-so. And boring." Phew! Using 14 synonyms is an extreme example, to say the least. I merely show you this to demonstrate that it can be done. One final point. Replication is very memorable, so you don't want to use it too much or it will be overkill. So use it sparingly, just to emphasize certain pointsyou really want to hammer home. Good luck, bon chance, and que tengas suerte in using it!
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