- Let's talk about the five canons of rhetoric
for public speaking.
I often say that 95% of how a presentation turns out,
is determined by how you prepare
and the five canons of rhetoric explain why that is.
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These five canons of rhetoric are general principles
that we can use to evaluate or judge
how our speech preparation is coming along.
They originally came to us from we believe, Cicero.
In college, you might even see teachers
use versions of these five canons
to evaluate students speeches.
But I like to use them
and think about them
as a practical five-point speaking guide.
I was talking to a friend and former Professor of mine,
Dr. Peter Marston about this,
and he said it's helpful for him
to think about these five canons
as the key choices that we make,
when we're preparing and delivering a speech.
And I wanna thank Prof. Marston for talking to me
and influencing this video as I prepared.
So keep in mind that these are choices
you make as a speaker.
Here are the five canons.
Number one, Invention.
This describes the behind the scenes research
and thought process of gathering
all of your materials, stories,
information and other content
you could include in a message.
As my friend Prof. Marston said,
one way to think about invention,
is to think about the choices you make
about the material that you're likely to include
in your speech.
There are endless possible content choices
about what you might include,
you have to sift through all that material
and make some decisions.
Invention is also about crafting the key arguments,
central persuasive theme of your message.
And the initial stages of preparation,
you have numerous angles
you could take to make sure your message
is at its best for that audience.
I was doing a presentation a while back
and it was a new message for a new client.
And in some ways I had to begin with a persuasive opening
to make sure I convinced my listeners
that the rest of the workshop was really worth listening to.
So I spent more time creating that opening
than any other part of the presentation.
I had to make choices
about the examples and information to include
and find my right angle on my point of view
that would best resonate with that particular audience.
It's up to the speaker to find the best materials
and the most convincing way to make our case.
Typically when a presentation comes across
as lightweight or thin,
that's a sign that the speaker
should have invested more time on invention
long before they ever stood up.
Invention is the first step
when you're getting into any new message.
Number two, arrangement.
Next speakers need to arrange their argument,
main points and the ideas within those main points.
So their message has a maximum impact on their listeners.
So sticking with the theme of choices,
a speaker has to make decisions
about how to order their ideas,
decisions about the best way to design
and organize a message.
I like to use the metaphor of arranging furniture
in a room for the first time.
You bring in the furniture and then you move things around
until everything seems like it's in the right place
and the arrangement makes sense.
And just like with furniture,
there are norms in public speaking that can guide you.
So you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
You may already be familiar with a traditional,
introduction body conclusion arrangement
and you'll often see three points in the body section.
We use this design a lot
because it's easy to follow for listeners.
A good arrangement will help your listeners
absorb your message.
And there really aren't right or wrong answers,
but there are some common time-tested practices
that you can use.
In a persuasive message for instance,
once I'm in the body of the message,
I usually structure my main points
around first the problem,
second, the solution, and third the benefits.
Problem, solution benefits.
Those are conventional main points
for a persuasive message
that has a natural persuasive logic to it.
So arrangement also involves making choices
about how you order each smaller chunk
of information within those points.
So should I lead with a statistic
or should I lead with a quotation?
What would flow better?
When I'm watching a speaker
who's really hard to follow,
it's usually because they needed to spend more time
really nailing down their arrangement to their presentation.
So it was designed in an orderly way.
I think the best way to make these decisions is to
practice out loud a few times
near the beginning of your preparation.
Sometimes ideas look good on paper
but they feel choppy when you say it out loud.
So talking it through a loud
will help you make those adjustments
so the ideas will flow naturally from one point to the next
and build that persuasive momentum that speakers want.
These are all choices a speaker has to make
about the arrangement of their message.
Third style.
This describes the language choices you make.
Language is one of the key ways
that we establish the level of formality
and language conveys emotion,
your style shapes the whole tone of your message.
The goal is to make choices
on your style that fits the speaking occasion.
You would typically decide this in advance
as you're preparing.
So for example
a human resources manager,
who is presenting to encourage
listeners about their 401k investment options
might take a really plain information driven style
like a teacher.
If you're trying to raise awareness however,
about a really important issue like child trafficking
you might take a more urgent and emphatic
and emotionally charged style
and use of language.
So your style includes the extent to which you
also artfully use language poetically
and use rhetorical language and techniques.
Those are all part of style
and it depends on your audience.
Those choices are driven by the occasion,
the reason you were asked to speak,
your strengths as a speaker
lots of other variables.
I have sometimes seen speakers fall flat
because their style didn't fit the occasion right.
You've probably seen movie clips
where a wedding toast went really badly
like the best man or the maid of honor tries to be funny
or roast the new couple with crass jokes,
and coarse language.
It's horrifying, but also funny in a movie,
but in real life we need to learn
how to read the room as they say.
That expression is about how the speaker makes choices
when they're asked to do a wedding toast, for example
you might wanna to make a choice that strikes a romantic
or maybe sentimental tone
in the end it's up to you as the speaker
to read the situation beforehand,
make some decisions about what style best fits the purposes
of that occasion.
Number four is memory.
As the expression goes,
you want to know your stuff.
This process starts behind the scenes
in the days and even hours before you speak.
The term memory describes the
speaker's ability to recall what they plan to say.
It takes time, practice, discipline
to learn and internalize your message
and all of the information in it.
But the term memory doesn't necessarily mean memorizing
everything word for word.
Your choices about how to recall your message matter
and most presentations are not memorized word for word.
That would be extremely boring for our listeners.
Then I don't recommend you get stuck reading directly
from your notes most of the time.
That will also sound really robotic.
I almost always prefer to use
an extemporaneous approach.
Where I do have notes,
but they're limited to a concise outline.
Just talking points really.
Memory means getting to a place where I have
learned my message so I have a clear command
over the content.
I know I'm ready to speak as I practice
let's say I only need to glance at my notes
every once in a while to see what comes next.
I want to be prepared enough to improvise
and be spontaneous here and there.
I wanna be able to expand on some points.
Maybe cut some other points out
based upon what's happening in the moment.
I wanna have a firm grasp on the content
so I can handle Q and A,
afterward really well.
So if you can check all those boxes when you're practicing
you're in good shape
in the category of memory to stand up and speak.
And number five delivery.
This gets most of the attention typically,
but delivery is the word we use
to describe the actual moment when presenting,
when you standing up to speak.
Your delivery brings together the other four cannons
and brings them to life.
And since you've already crafted most of your message,
delivery involves typically your non-verbals
like eye contact, gesture, postures, movement
your tonal voice, volume,
how fast or slow you speak
and how clearly you articulate and emphasize your words.
Some people say that these behaviors shouldn't matter.
They say we should only be judged
by the substance of our message.
My response is usually this,
well, have you ever had a teacher
who was smart but boring or smart but distracting
that's proof that delivery matters.
If your delivery is at its best
it will emphasize your ideas
and enhance the sense of urgency of your message.
If your delivery is at its worst,
your non-verbals will be a huge distraction
that decrease the impact of your message.
And keeping the theme of choices and mind,
you have delivery choices.
Should I stand,
Should I sit,
Should I walk around,
Should I speak really loudly or keep it more subdued,
Should I gesture, how much?
That's why when I practice, I practice my delivery
as if I was standing up in front of listeners.
I pretend.
I speak loudly
I gesture,
I act as if I'm making eye contact
even though the room is empty,
I even practice with my visual AIDS.
I don't memorize any of these movements.
I just get really comfortable practicing like this.
So I'm more likely to be engaging and dynamic
when I actually present.
I keep my practice as realistic as possible
to enhance my delivery.
One final tip is that
for a new message I recommend
practicing out loud
and keeping it real
about 10 times before you stand up to speak.
As I said 95% of how well a presentation goes
is worked out beforehand as you practice.
Practicing 10 times
will clearly make your delivery skills stronger
but also allow you to go back and make revisions
and smooth out any kinks that remain
in the other four cannons.
But don't practice to sound perfect,
practice to make progress.
Question of the day,
which of these five canons
do you generally need the most work on?
To me, the five canons of rhetoric
are underused framework for understanding
and approving our public speaking.
I'd like to take the time again to thank
Prof. Peter Marston for his help on this,
till next time,
Thanks, God bless.
And I will see you soon.