Rhetorical Analysis: Mimic to Master

You may have been told since you were very young that you were an amazing speaker. Or maybe you were told you were “shy” and that you didn’t have that “spark” that makes a great speaker. 

Regardless of what you may believe about your natural speaking abilities, no one is born a perfect presenter. Public speaking is a skill, not a personality trait, and it takes a long time to develop. Even the most extroverted, enthusiastic people might struggle with “winging it” with their presentations, or using a cheerful demeanor to mask a lack of confidence. Regardless of personality type, public speaking takes practice and application.

Before you know how to put your speaking skills into practice, you have to have someone to learn from. That’s why one of the best ways to start developing your public speaking skills is to learn from the greats. Rhetorical analysis can help you do just that!

According to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, rhetorical analysis “asks you to explain how writers or speakers within specific social situations attempt to influence others through discourse.” In simpler terms, conducting a rhetorical analysis involves looking at the way that writers or speakers communicate and to make an argument about how they conveyed their message (especially through identifying specific techniques they used). Rhetorical analysis is often used in an academic or educational context, and many high schoolers may recognize it from their AP English Language and Composition (AP Lang) class. However, it can also be used outside of school to help you improve your public speaking.

Now, without further ado, here are the steps to conducting your own rhetorical analysis for any speech you come across: 

  1. Note down a description of the speech. AP Lang teachers love to show their kids the SPACECAT structure, which goes as follows:
    1. S stands for Speaker. Who is giving this speech? What about their background could potentially affect their point of view?
    2. P stands for Purpose. Why is the speaker giving this particular speech? What would they like the audience to do or change after listening to this speech?
    3. A stands for Audience. Who is the speaker mainly talking to? Did they assume anything about the listeners in their speech? 
    4. C stands for Context. What is the physical place this speech is being delivered in? When was this speech given? What was happening in the world at that time that might be important?
    5. E stands for Exigence. (Don’t be scared by the fancy word; it’s a pretty simple concept!) What was the spark/catalyst/”final straw” that moved the speaker to make this speech? Was there a specific event that impacted this person and made them want to say something?
    6. C stands for Choices. Did the speaker choose any specific rhetorical or literary devices? (You might have learned about some of these devices in school – similes, alliteration, rhyme schemes, etc. If you haven’t learned about devices yet, just write down any cool thing the speaker said or did and think about what made it unique!)
    7. A stands for Appeals. There are 3 main appeals to think about: appeal to emotion (pathos), appeal to logic (logos), or appeal to credibility (ethos). By the way, there’s a whole section on these appeals in our book – Public Speaking for Kids, available on Amazon – check it out! 🙂
    8. T stands for Tone. What is the speaker’s attitude about this subject? Does it ever change at some point in the speech?
  2. Think about the purpose of each action the speaker took. You might have successfully identified an appeal to emotion at the beginning of the speech or a catchy rhyme at the end, but think about why the speaker incorporated those things. Did the emotional story make the audience relate better to the speaker, creating a sense of trust? Did the rhyme make the audience remember their points better? Write down as many of these thoughts as you can.
  3. Reflect on whether these devices were effective. You’ve thought about what the speaker did and why you thought they did it. Now, did those devices actually work on you? Do you think they worked on everybody? If not, what could they have done differently? How can you incorporate a similar device into your speech?

Got all that? Rhetorical analysis can be confusing at first, so it’s okay if you didn’t. (Keep in mind you can always pull up this blog post when you need it!) Next post, we’ll walk through an example of my own. 

In the meantime, watch your favorite speeches or even check out some of the examples from the World Championship of Public Speaking we referred to in one of our previous blog posts, practice with friends, and keep sharpening those skills. Who knows? One day, someone might be doing a rhetorical analysis of your speech!