The basics of rhetoric - how to measure speaking in front of an audience

Rhetoric is often defined as the art of speech and persuasion. According to a classic definition, this is an artistic activity that aims to derive aesthetic pleasure from speaking in front of the audience, its excitement and its persuasion.
Nowadays, it is more common to see rhetoric as an art rather than an art (craft vs. art), that is, a collection of tools and techniques that allow the skilled professional to achieve his goal in a beautiful and effective way. The new emphasis slightly lowers the spotlight on skills such as vocabulary, stage skills and historical understanding (although they are all still important and can be studied), and raises skills such as refining the message, focusing mainly and developing arguments.

Rhetoric - both as an art and as an art - is measured in three dimensions: The content, style and context. Controlling each of them is essential, since in the absence of one the value of the other two is lost.

content

Content is the essence of the speech. is the overall name for the message we convey. This is actually our appeal to the audience's intelligence, and an attempt to convince them through their heads. The content consists of arguments and structure. The arguments are the meat of the content and represent all the explanations and facts we use to convince the audience of our intention. Structure is how these arguments are organized so that the audience can follow and understand them.

• structure and order - is the skeleton of the speech. Defines the internal division of the speech and helps the audience understand and remember.
• arguments - They are the meat of the speech. Explain and prove the main claim and the secondary claims with facts and logic.
• questions - These are all the content elements that come from the audience in the form of questions and the speaker's answers to those questions.

style

The style represents the way in which we convey the message. It is our appeal to the emotion of the audience and an attempt to convince them through the stomach or through the heart. There are many elements to style and it is convenient to divide them into three main groups: Verbal style which deals with the choice of words and phrasing. A non-verbal style that deals with the way we look when we are on stage in terms of performance and body language. A semi-verbal style deals with the use of voice in terms of volume, speed, intonation and accent. Another element beyond the three mentioned is humor.

• Verbal style - is the semantics and composition of the speech - which words are used and how they are arranged into sentences and the sentences into paragraphs.
• Non-verbal style - deals with performance in terms of appearance, clothing and body language. Creates the first impression even before the first word in the speech is spoken
• Semi-verbal style - deals with all the elements of the use of the voice other than the words themselves, such as intensity, intonation, speed and accent
• Humor - a means of entertaining and connecting with the audience - does not belong exclusively to any of the previous groups, and can be very dangerous if used incorrectly

the context

The circumstances in which the speech is delivered and its appropriateness to them. Each speech is presented in different circumstances where in some the speech will be appropriate and convincing, in some it will be perceived as disconnected or boring, and in others as offensive and insulting. There are a very large number of components to the context

• The audience - who are the people who make up the audience? how much are they What was your position?
• The time - how much time is allotted for the speech? What time of day? of the year?
• The place - where is the speech delivered? how big is it How prominent is the speaker? What is the seating arrangement?
• The order of speakers - are there other speakers? Do they support or oppose the speech? What is the order of the speeches?
• and more…