Aristotle on the beach. The effects of rhetorical techniques in oral presentations
Submitted by:
Jaap C. de Jong
Abstract:
Aristotle on the beach
The effects of rhetorical techniques in oral presentations
What is an effective introduction of a presentation? How should a speaker conclude? Public speaking textbooks contain many answers to these questions and advise an abundance of rhetorical techniques to give an effective speech. The value of such public speaking advice is hard to assess, as it is hardly ever founded in evidence-based research. De Jong (Leiden University) and Wackers (Delft University of Technology) have studied the effects of rhetorical techniques in speeches and informative presentations. They have mapped the presentation practice of various genres (research presentations, political speeches and TED talks) and performed experiments into the effect of specific rhetorical techniques (e.g. starting with an anecdote, giving a summary, using self-deprecation) on the audience’s information retention and appreciation for the speaker. How can teachers in primary, secondary and higher education benefit from these insights to enrich the content of their oral skills classes?
Prof. dr. Jaap de Jong is professor of Journalism and New Media at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University (The Netherlands). He lectures in rhetoric, style in politics and in journalism. As a researcher he wrote books and articles on the exordium and the peroration of (political) speeches and of stylistical and rhetorical aspects of journalism. He is editor of Dutch language journal Onze Taal, co-founder of the Leidse Werkgroep Retorica and of the yearly national speech tournament, Max Havelaar toesprakentoernooi. De Jong is co-author of books as Bending opinion, Essays on Persuasion in the Public Domain (2010), Visual Language, Perspectives for both Makers and Users (2012), Pics or it did not happen (2012) and Beïnvloeden met emoties. Pathos en retorica (2015).
E-mail: j.c.de.jong@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Martijn Wackers (MA) is lecturer in communicative skills at the Centre for Languages and Academic Skills at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, where he teaches various communication skills courses and coordinates the Graduate School courses Presenting Scientific Research and Writing a Dissertation. He received Master’s degrees in Rhetoric & Argumentation and Journalism from Leiden University. He is currently board member of the Rhetoric Society of Europe and his PhD research at Leiden University focuses on the influence of rhetorical techniques on audience information retention – or, in short: what makes a message memorable. In 2012, he co-authored a Dutch-language textbook containing evidence based presentation advice (Presenteren: wat werkt echt en wat echt niet?). Finally, he has coached speakers for various TEDxDelft events, TU Delft participants in the Fame Lab competition and participated as a coach in the Max Havelaar speech tournament.