Public Speaking & Rhetoric · Grades 9–12 · Quick reference
Public Speaking(Rhetoric · Delivery · Debate)
The three appeals and the five canons, voice and body, invention and the six parts of a classical oration, outlining, the virtues of style and the figures of speech, memory, informative and persuasive speaking, claim, evidence and warrant, the fallacies, impromptu frameworks, debate terms and the thesis defense.
1The Art of Rhetoricunit 1 · the good man speaking well
What rhetoric is
Rhetoric is the art of finding the available means of persuasion (Aristotle) and of speaking well. Quintilian’s ideal: vir bonus dicendi peritus, the good man skilled in speaking. Eloquence serves truth; the speaker’s character comes first. “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6).
| Appeal | Persuades by | Build it with |
|---|---|---|
| Ethos | the speaker’s character and credibility | honesty, preparation, fairness to the other side, good will |
| Pathos | the audience’s emotions | stories, vivid images, shared values, fitting feeling |
| Logos | reason and evidence | claims, facts, examples, sound argument |
| Canon | Latin | Question |
|---|---|---|
| Invention | inventio | What shall I say? (find the material: the topics) |
| Arrangement | dispositio | In what order? (the six parts) |
| Style | elocutio | In what words? (clear, fitting, memorable) |
| Memory | memoria | How will I hold it? (memory palace, outline) |
| Delivery | pronuntiatio | How will I say it? (voice, body, eyes) |
I Am Scared, May I Die
Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, Delivery: the order of preparing any speech.
Occasion and audience
- Three kinds of speech (Aristotle): deliberative (what should we do? the future), forensic (what happened? the past, the courtroom), epideictic (praise and blame: tributes, toasts, eulogies).
- Audience analysis: who are they, what do they know, what do they value, what do they need from you, how long do you have?
- Decorum: fit the words and manner to the occasion. A toast is not a sermon.
- Your first speech: introduce a friend in two minutes: name, one story, one thing to admire.
2Delivery: Voice & Bodyunit 2
The voice
- Breath: from the belly, not the shoulders; a full breath before each sentence.
- Projection: speak to the back row; volume comes from breath, not from the throat.
- Pace: slower than conversation; about 120–150 words a minute. Nerves speed you up.
- Pause: silence before a key line and after it; a pause is louder than “um.”
- Inflection: let the pitch rise and fall with the meaning; avoid a flat drone or a sing-song.
- Articulation: finish the consonants; open the mouth.
Breath, volume, pace, pause
The four dials of the voice. When in doubt: breathe, speak up, slow down, stop.
The body
- Ready stance: feet under the shoulders, weight even, knees soft, hands at the sides or at waist height. No swaying, no pacing, no pockets.
- Presence: walk to the front with purpose, pause, look at them, then begin. Own the room before you speak.
- Eye contact: finish a thought with one person, then move to another; cover the whole room; never read to the floor.
- Gesture: descriptive (shows size, shape, direction) and emphatic (drives a point); above the waist, open palms, then let the hands rest.
- Face: let it match the words; smile at the start and the end.
Notes
A speaking outline on one card: key words, not sentences. Hold it low and still, or leave it on the lectern.
Nerves and practice
- Prepare early: nerves shrink as knowledge grows.
- Rehearse aloud standing up, at least three times, once in front of someone.
- Time it; cut until it fits with room to spare.
- Record yourself; in self-review note one strength and one fix.
- Before you begin: breathe slowly, plant your feet, find a friendly face. Nerves are energy; use them.
Reciting a text
Score the text: mark the stresses, the pauses, the rises and falls, the words to color. Learn it by paragraphs, out loud. The Gettysburg Address (272 words) is the course’s recitation.
3Invention & Arrangementunit 3 · finding and ordering what to say
Invention: the topics (topoi)
Places to look for material: definition (what is it?), comparison (like what? unlike what? greater or less?), relationship (cause and effect, before and after, contraries), circumstance (possible? impossible? past fact?), testimony (authority, witnesses, statistics, maxims, Scripture, law). Write the thesis in one sentence: what you claim and why it matters.
Openings and closings
Attention-getter: a story, a question, a striking fact, a quotation, a vivid picture; then the thesis and a preview. Clincher: return to the opening, a call to action, a memorable line, a quotation. Never end with “that’s it” or “thank you” as the last idea.
| Part | Latin | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | exordium | win attention and good will; state the subject |
| Narration | narratio | the background: what happened, the facts |
| Division | partitio | what is agreed, what is disputed; the points to come |
| Proof | confirmatio | the arguments and evidence for your side |
| Refutation | refutatio | answer the other side’s best arguments |
| Conclusion | peroratio | sum up, stir the feelings, ask for the verdict |
ENDPRC
Exordium, Narratio, Divisio (partitio), Proof, Refutation, Conclusion: the shape of Cicero’s speeches and of a good one today.
Outlining
- Full-sentence outline for planning: thesis; I, II, III main points as complete sentences; A, B support; 1, 2 evidence. Two to four main points.
- Speaking outline for delivery: key words and numbers only.
- Organizing patterns: chronological, spatial, topical, problem–solution, cause–effect, comparison.
- Transitions are signposts: “First… Second… Finally…”, “Having seen the cause, consider the cure.” Summarize before moving on.
- Rule of three: three points, three examples, three words.
4Style & Memoryunit 4 · clear, fitting, memorable words
The virtues of style
- Correctness: right words, right grammar.
- Clarity: plain words, short sentences, concrete nouns and active verbs; one idea per sentence.
- Decorum: fit the audience and occasion (plain, middle or grand style).
- Ornament: figures that make the point memorable, used sparingly.
- Prefer the Saxon word to the Latin one: help, not facilitate. Cut “very,” “really,” “basically.”
Say it so a child could repeat it
Lincoln at Gettysburg used 272 words, most of one syllable. Clarity is the first courtesy to the hearer.
| Figure | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| anaphora | repeating the first words | “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds…” (Churchill) |
| antithesis | opposites set side by side | “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” |
| tricolon | three in a row | “government of the people, by the people, for the people” |
| alliteration | repeated first sounds | “Peter Piper picked” |
| climax | rising steps to a peak | “I came, I saw, I conquered.” |
| rhetorical question | a question that needs no answer | “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet…?” (Henry) |
| metaphor / simile | one thing in terms of another | “the iron curtain” / “like a city on a hill” |
| parallelism | matching grammar | “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” |
Memory
- Memory palace (method of loci): walk a familiar place in your mind and set each point at a station; walk it again to recall them in order.
- Extemporaneous speaking: memorize the outline and the first and last sentences; speak the rest from understanding. Not read, not memorized word for word.
- Learn by chunks, out loud, at night and again in the morning. Over-learn: ten clean runs.
- Memorize the key lines exactly: the opening, the thesis, each transition, the clincher.
Informative speaking (unit 5)
Teach one thing clearly: define, divide, illustrate, apply. Visual aids serve the speech, not the reverse: big, simple, shown then put away. Give oral citations: “According to the National Weather Service…”. Storytelling: a narrative arc (setting, trouble, turn, resolution) with a point; a tribute (epideictic, encomium) praises what deserves praise, as Pericles honored the fallen.
5Persuasion, Argument & Fallaciesunit 6 · claim, evidence, warrant
| Part | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Claim | what do you want me to believe or do? | Our town should build a library. |
| Evidence | what are the facts? | Two schools, no library within 20 miles; 300 families signed. |
| Warrant | why does the evidence support the claim? | Towns with libraries have higher reading scores; a town serves its children. |
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
- Attention: wake them up.
- Need: show the problem and that it touches them.
- Satisfaction: present the solution.
- Visualization: picture life with it (and without it).
- Action: tell them exactly what to do now.
| Fallacy | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ad hominem | attacks the person, not the argument | “He’s a bad speller, so his plan is wrong.” |
| straw man | attacks a weaker version of the view | “You want a library? So you want to raise taxes forever?” |
| false dilemma | pretends only two choices exist | “Either we build it this year or never.” |
| hasty generalization | a few cases → a sweeping rule | “Two kids were loud; kids don’t read.” |
| slippery slope | one step must lead to disaster | “A library today, a tax revolt tomorrow.” |
| appeal to popularity | everyone thinks so | “Everybody wants it.” |
| circular reasoning | the claim proves itself | “It’s good because it’s a good idea.” |
| red herring | changes the subject | “But what about the roads?” |
| post hoc | after it, therefore because of it | “Scores rose after the fair, so the fair caused it.” |
Patrick Henry, 1775
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”: rhetorical questions in a rising climax, antithesis, an appeal to God and to experience, and a direct call to action. Study how he answers the other side before he presses his own.
Persuasive speech checklist
- A thesis you can state in one sentence.
- Evidence you can cite out loud.
- The strongest objection, answered fairly (refutatio).
- Pathos that fits the facts; no manipulation.
- Ethos: you have earned the right to ask.
- A specific call to action.
Be fair to win
The most persuasive speaker is the one who states the other side so well that its friends nod, and then answers it.
6Impromptu, Debate & the Thesis Defenseunits 7–9
| Name | Steps |
|---|---|
| PREP | Point · Reason · Example · Point again |
| Past, present, future | how it was, how it is, how it should be |
| Three reasons | state it; one, two, three; restate |
| Problem, cause, solution | what is wrong, why, what to do |
Answering questions
- Listen to the end; pause; restate the question briefly so all hear it.
- Answer the question asked, then bridge to your point: “…and that is exactly why…”.
- If you do not know, say so and offer to find out. Never bluff.
- Toasts and introductions: short, warm, specific; end by naming the person and inviting the applause.
Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17)
Begin on common ground (“the unknown god,” their own poets), respect the hearers, then move to the claim and the call.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| resolution | the statement debated: “Resolved: that…” |
| affirmative / negative | the side for / against the resolution |
| burden of proof | the affirmative must make the case; the negative must answer it |
| constructive | the prepared speech that builds the case from contentions |
| cross-examination | questions to the other side: short, pointed, polite |
| rebuttal | answer their arguments, rebuild yours; no new contentions |
| ballot | the judge’s decision; flowing = notes in columns tracking every argument |
Flow it or lose it
An argument not answered is an argument conceded. Keep the flow sheet; answer every line; then tell the judge why you win.
The senior thesis defense
- A defense (disputation) is a presentation of a thesis followed by questions from a panel; the oldest exam in the university.
- Prepare: a 10–15 minute presentation with a one-sentence take-home message, a clean handout, and a few simple visuals.
- Anticipate questions: list the ten hardest and write short answers; know where you will concede and where you will stand.
- Mock defense first; on the day, thank the panel, restate each question, answer plainly, close with the take-home message.