Rhetoric of communication in modern society: what kind of subject is it?

Rhetoric as science and art

The rhetoric of speech arose in ancient times and at the same time two of its directions emerged:

• rhetoric as the science of demonstrative speech;
• rhetoric as the art of eloquence.

The definition of modern rhetoric brings these divergent views together:

The subject of its study is speech, which can be convincing and beautiful, influencing the listener and delivering aesthetic pleasure.

Rhetoric as a science teaches the rules of its construction, organization of communication, creation and expression of one’s thoughts in words. Rhetoric as an art deals with developing the skills to speak and write beautifully, to master words perfectly, and to arouse reciprocal interest in the listener.

Laws of word art

Rhetoric at any time had its ultimate goal - to influence listeners. A special role in achieving this is played by expressive speech, as well as visual and expressive means.

Scientists divide this science into two types - general and particular. The subject of general rhetoric includes general methods of behavior when pronouncing speech and the practical possibilities of their application in order to make speech effective.

This variety includes the following sections:

• rhetorical canon;
• speaking in front of an audience;
• rules on how to argue;
• conversation norms;
• teachings about everyday communication;
• communication between different nations.

By studying these sections, the speaker gains knowledge about the main features of speech use, which are the basis for every master of words.

General rhetoric studies ways to achieve mutual understanding between the speaker and the audience. For this purpose the following laws were developed:

• The law of harmonizing dialogue. The speaker must awaken the feelings and thoughts of the listeners, turning the monologue into a dialogue. It is possible to build harmonious communication only through dialogue between all people participating in the discussion. The essence of this rule is more accurately revealed by the following laws.
• The law of listener orientation and advancement. The person at whom the orator's influence is directed should have the feeling as if he, together with the speaker, is moving towards the intended goal. To achieve this effect, the speaker must use words in speech that determine the order of events, connect sentences and summarize expressions.
• The law of emotional speech. A person speaking in front of an audience must himself experience the feelings that he is trying to evoke in the audience, and also be able to convey them through speech.
• Law of pleasure. It implies the ability to present speech in such a way that it brings pleasure to listeners. This effect is easy to achieve if the speech is expressive and rich.

A particular type of rhetoric is based on a general type and involves the specific use of general provisions in certain areas of life. Thus, science studies what rules of speech pronunciation and behavior a speaker needs to apply depending on the situation.

There are a lot of private rhetorics, but they all fall into two main groups:

1. Homiletics.
2. Oratory.

The first group implies the speaker’s ability to repeatedly influence the audience. This includes church and academic types of eloquence. In modern rhetoric, this group includes propaganda that is carried out in the media.

Thus, with academic eloquence, a speaker, giving several lectures, should not speak anew each time about the purposes of their conduct, their necessity, and so on. It is enough for him to talk about this in the first lecture, and in all the rest the general task will be expanded through the study of a new topic.

Oratory is not capable of influencing people many times over. In this regard, the speaker must be able to correctly conclude each speech. This group includes judicial, everyday, socio-political and other types of eloquence.

Currently, oratory has grown quite widely, so a specific type of rhetoric has already begun to be divided into its own subspecies. For example, administrative, diplomatic, parliamentary and other rhetoric were distinguished from socio-political eloquence.

Fundamentals of Rhetoric

Rhetoric will tell you everything about public speech, its stages, goals, sources of material, methods of presentation, means of speech influence, as well as the requirements for the speaker’s personality.

Today, the ability to competently build communication is a necessary condition for success in the social life of every person. For those who are directly involved in speaking in front of an audience, this skill is the key to professional excellence.

Let's find out what an effective public speech should be.

The speaker’s speech will be successful if it organically combines logic and emotionality, information content and expressiveness. It is good if it is not read, but pronounced in the form of live communication with listeners.

How to overcome stage fright

Here are tips to help you overcome stage fright. These rules are also very important when speaking. Especially in front of a large audience. If you follow the recommendations below, you will not have any problems with fear.

Why do so many people have stage fright?

Where does stage fright come from? The first problem is that people are always afraid of new things

or something that is rarely done. If you practice speaking weekly, you won't have such fear. You are no longer afraid to stand in front of a group of people and explain something to them.

And for a standard person who does not perform, this is a very unusual situation. People often feel awkward in it.

Therefore, you need to constantly practice and speak in public as often as possible. This way the situation will become ordinary and familiar to you.

The second reason why people are afraid to speak in public is the fear of making a mistake.

. Our culture is built on catching mistakes and giving negative points for them.

For example, at school, because of mistakes, they give a worse grade. At home, our parents punished us for bad behavior. That's why we are afraid of making a mistake.

This is where fear arises in the compartment!

I recommend not paying attention to mistakes and treating them calmly. Mistake is normal. You learn a lesson from it. And if you suddenly make a mistake again, it will only take you to the next level of knowledge.

Competence effect

The competence effect is the first tip against stage fright. If you are knowledgeable about the topic, you will feel more confident during the presentation. If you master the topic, then the words will automatically follow you.

Therefore, if you are not a big expert in your topic, then it is better to prepare for the presentation in advance. Otherwise, you simply won’t know where to start.

If you have a free hour, it is better to divide it into several pieces of 12 minutes each. For example, we prepare 12 minutes on Monday. Then we prepare for 12 minutes on Tuesday and so on.

This kind of repeated preparation will allow you to gradually integrate into the topic. This is much better than preparing once in an hour. This is how the brain gets used to the material. As a result, stage fright is greatly reduced, and you begin to feel more confident.

Acclimatization

The next method that helps overcome stage fright in front of the public is the acclimatization effect.

When we hold a presentation in an unfamiliar room, it makes itself felt. If we don’t know exactly where the windows, doors and entrance are, then we don’t acclimatize to the room. This again creates uncertainty.

How are Olympic champions trained?

They arrive in advance at the place where they will compete. For example, they check what the pool looks like. What is the temperature of the water in it? Runners usually want to run a few times and get a feel for the track.

Therefore, if you are performing in a new room, ask to inspect it in advance.

It would also be good if the day before the event you ask to perform in this room. This is necessary to find out the effect of the sound of your voice and how many people will be able to listen to you.

And just get acquainted with all the parameters of the hall. Where are the doors? Where do people usually come from? What distance do you want to take from the audience and so on.

If they don’t allow it in advance, then arrive at least 40 minutes early and get ready.

Types of rhetoric

Currently, there is the following classification of rhetoric by type:

• socio-political (parliamentary and rally speeches, campaign speeches), which is characterized by emotionality, and often pathos, for persuasion and motivation to action;
• academic (scientific review, educational lecture), with arguments and facts, structured, sometimes monotonous and indifferent, as soon as the speaker loses touch with the audience, reading a prepared text;
• social and everyday (welcome, table, anniversary address, toast), for the most part simple and sincere, not distinguished by perfect logic and clear structure, but sincere and kind-hearted;
• judicial (accusatory, defensive), strictly reasoned and balanced, determining the fate of a person;
• theological-church (sermon, official church speech) uplifting spiritually, bringing joy, instructing for good;
• military (address-order, instructive, inspiring speech), specific, strict, strengthening patriotic feelings, nurturing love for the Fatherland;
• diplomatic (speech at international negotiations and conferences), characterized by a high degree of responsibility for every word spoken;
• business (business as well as telephone conversations), the obligatory elements of which are accessibility, expressiveness, and literacy;
• dialogical (interview, argument, discussion), which requires practicing the skills of proper dialogue.

Speaker's clothing

People are greeted by their clothes and escorted by their intelligence. Therefore, the first picture of a person is created in the first 20 - 40 seconds. First, what you are wearing is visible.

Before opening his mouth, the person we are talking to already has a first idea. So always dress nicely! This is not only good for changing the perception of your audience. But it is also psychologically beneficial for ourselves.

For example, there is an interesting experiment. One weekend people were told to simply run 30 minutes around the park. They had regular sports clothes. In half an hour they ran one specific distance.

The following week, the same people were told to run again. However, this time they were given the best sportswear from top brands. This time they all ran a much faster, longer distance in that half hour.

In general, we feel more comfortable in beautiful things. Because of this, we are more capable physically and intellectually. Therefore, pay attention to the speaker’s clothing. This is also one of the tricky techniques of rhetoric.

The connection between rhetoric and other humanities

Rhetoric is a philological science. But being a multifaceted teaching, it is closely intertwined with a variety of areas of knowledge related to the effectiveness of communication, and also uses methods of non-speech sciences.

Rhetoric is associated with:

• logic - the science of correct thinking;
• grammar, which studies the rules of speech;
• poetics - the study of the means and techniques of artistic expression;
• a culture of speech that obliges us to comply with the norms of the literary language;
• stylistics, which studies the patterns of language functioning in the process of speech communication.

The use of psychological methods makes it possible to explain human behavior and understand his state of mind.

The connection between rhetoric and ethics provides knowledge of the laws of morality and morality of society. The union of rhetoric and philosophy allows us to raise the solution of any problem to a higher moral and spiritual level.

The subject and tasks of rhetoric in the 21st century or why rhetoric is needed today

Our time is characterized by high technologies, a versatile, accessible, tirelessly developing education system. This is the age of information and communication. An individual’s communication abilities and desire for development determine success in all areas of life.

First of all, oratory skills will be useful to people in non-productive fields of activity - media workers, lawyers, psychologists, teachers, designers, sellers, etc.

But why do mechanics, doctors, and drivers need rhetoric? Everyone will find the answer to the following question separately: What kind of person does not need to be able to think and master his word?

Studying the basics of public speaking, psychology, and body language will be useful to everyone who strives for a full, comfortable life in society.
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Development of rhetoric

How can one learn all the intricacies of this science? If you really want this, use our recommendations:

1. Hone your diction. Speak slowly, pronouncing each word clearly, observe pauses and even breathing.
2. Read aloud and retell what you read. Try to convey the meaning in your own words, constructing your speech yourself.
3. Learn to tell the most ordinary stories that happen to you in a captivating way. Feedback from listeners will tell you how well you are doing.
4. Prepare a speech on a topic close to you. Prepare key phrases for this and improvise as you pronounce it.
5. Train your memory. Learn poems and excerpts from literary works by heart and let it become a habit.
6. Determine your type of information perception. Some people learn visual information better, while others find it easier to remember what is said out loud. Use this knowledge about yourself to get the best results.
7. Organize your studying with pauses and breaks in mind. Let it also be regular, and not just once in a while.
8. If you have a fear of public speaking, practicing these very speeches helps a lot. Practice with your loved ones - they will understand and will definitely support you.

Language of facial expressions and gestures

Pay attention to the speaker's facial expressions and gestures. This also lies at the heart of rhetoric. I'll tell you about one experiment.

Namely, how professors at one university were filmed. Then they showed this picture to the students, but without sound.

The most interesting thing is that these students were well able to determine how attractive this or that professor was. Although in general, they did not know what the person was talking about, since there was no sound. Additionally, students rated how competent they thought the professor was.

Therefore, the language of facial expressions and gestures is important in how your target audience defines and evaluates you.

Eye contact with the audience

Modern rhetoric is very similar to cuisine. Even if we are not the best cooks, we can still appreciate how delicious a dish is. And we can also talk about the speaker.

Even if we ourselves are not the best speakers, we can clearly determine how good a speaker is. How confident does he feel in front of the public?

If we are talking about the language of facial expressions and gestures, then the main point will be visual contact with the public. If we don’t look at all the listeners, then people perceive us as insecure and incompetent.

Unfortunately, not many people look at their audience!

Instead, they pay attention to the floor, table, or peer at the ceiling. And they do this especially when people are thinking about the next thought.

It is at this moment that the speaker, as a speaker, does not seem competent. After all, if a person does not know what he wants to say, then he looks in a completely different direction. And if he knows, then he looks specifically at the audience.

Here's another lesson in rhetoric. When you record yourself, notice how constantly you look at the camera. And also how often they looked around. If you notice that it’s bad, then repeat the exercise 2 - 3 times.

If there is an audience sitting in front of us, then often bad speakers look in one direction. And if they look at the public, then at a couple of people they like. But they don't look at all the participants in the seminar.

This is a big mistake!

After all, with good visual contact we can integrate the audience into our presentation. And do it as if we are speaking in dialogue with a person, and not a group.

So it's important to not just look up, down, or straight to one side. You need to look at absolutely all the people in the room. This is another trick in the art of public speaking.

Where and how to stand during a presentation

Many people don't know where to stand during a presentation. Left, right or center. The answer is simple. You need to stand in the center

the place that is predisposed for the speaker. That is, not to the side, not far or close to the audience.

If a person is not centrally positioned in the expected position for a speaker, then he is perceived as lacking self-confidence.

How exactly should you stand?

It is clear that posture should be straight. There is no need to hunch over, stand crookedly or lean on one side. There are those who lean on the table in front. You don't need to do this either. There is also no need to wobble your legs and arms.

Stand facing the audience.

Don't be afraid to move a little to the right, left, forward and back. You don’t need to stand in one place rooted to the spot all the time.

In large rooms it is better to move a little to the sides. This is good for the audience's eyes. Sometimes you need to walk around your stage.

However, you don’t need to move around like a pendulum all the time.

For example, take two steps to the left and stop there. From there, talk for 30 - 50 seconds and change your position in the room again. At the same time, stay close to the audience and do not go too far into the distance.

In general, such slight movements to the side are also good. But standing centrally is even better.

Speaker Gestures

Very often people do not gesture at all. Some hold their hands behind their backs. In this case, there is no connection with the speaker and no trust in him. He seems to be hiding something.

Therefore, keep your hands visible at all times. Moreover, you need to keep it in the active zone

. Everything below the belt in rhetoric is a passive zone. And if the speaker is nervous, he begins to shake his hands from side to side. It doesn't look professional.

Therefore, the hands must be in the active zone. This is approximately in front of your stomach. There is also an aggressive zone for politicians. This is where gestures are at head level or even higher. But you don't have to do that!

Gestures should also be specific and visualize what you are saying in words.

This is especially useful when comparing different options. You can clearly visualize each characteristic with your own hands.

If you weigh them, you can show the scales and palm level for each option with your hands. It's like you're weighing on a scale.

If you say that you need to be precise, then use your hand to place a dot in the air. At the same time, say that you need to be very precise at this point. This point in the air gesture will help you visualize your idea.

Or if you say that there is a limit somewhere, then draw a line with your hand in the form of a border. Show your listeners the wall you can't cross.

Does every idea need to be visualized with gestures?

No no need. Visualize only the most important ideas. For example, if you want to distance yourself from some company, then make a repulsive gesture. It's like pushing someone away from you with your hands.

How to spontaneously come up with gestures if the emphasis is on someone else?

I will say that in your oratory it is good to have at least one specific and thoughtful gesture. For important moments, think about what kind of visualization and what gesture you can use to emphasize what was said.

Legs

90% are staring us in the face. 10% look at gestures. It would seem that this has nothing to do with the legs. But what people really pay attention to is their upper body.

They try to control their gestures and gaze. However, they forget that they also have legs. As a result, all sorts of incidents happen to the legs.

For example, when women are nervous, they simply cross their legs. And the men begin to wobble on their knees. It feels like they want to run away somewhere.

Therefore, the legs should be straight and not crossed. The public may not consciously look at your feet. However, she will subconsciously feel that at this moment you are not confident.

Here's another exercise for you.

I recommend recording yourself at home and watching the performance, but without sound. This is necessary to concentrate on your body language. This way you can check how accurately you are looking into the camera. How much gestures emphasize what was said.

If you don’t like it, repeat the exercise several times.