Name: Words Like Loaded Pistols
Rating: 4.2 (112 reviews)
Author: Sam Leith

What’s in it for me? Embrace the many purposes of rhetoric.

We all know of the dangerous men and women – like Hitler and Lenin, to name just two – who gained power and influence not through rational arguments, but through clever and emotional speeches. But while it’s true that rhetoric can be abused – and often is – it shapes everything around us from our everyday conversations to human history itself.

In these blinks, we’ll follow in the footsteps of Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers of all time, to explore how rhetoric really works. You’ll learn how rhetoric can help you understand the world.

And as we go along, you’ll discover

a major similarity between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama;
the connection between a toy store and political rhetoric; and
rhetoric’s intimate link with democracy.

Rhetoric is unavoidable, and everybody uses it.

The word “rhetoric” might remind you of your pretentious college roommate’s major or the nonsensical jargon hurled around by politicians, but, in fact, we all use rhetoric every single day.

Rhetoric is all about the art of influencing people through words, whether they’re written or spoken. So, as much as we might try to dismiss it as outdated, stuck up or even deceptive, rhetoric determines the tone of this very sentence, and it’s for rhetorical reasons that you speak one way to your best friend and another to a job interviewer.

After all, how often do you use language without the intention of influencing someone?

It’s hard to avoid because words are a tool for communication, which is the mutual exchange of information. And every piece of information, whether it’s emotional, scientific or factual, will affect your feelings, opinions or actions.

However, in this day and age, the term “political rhetoric” is often used disparagingly even though it’s impossible to avoid rhetorical strategies in politics. For instance, Obama’s critics have ridiculed him for being too wordy and full of air. They don’t think he’s got much substance beyond speaking well. Compare that view with that of Republican Phyllis Schlafly, who praised Sarah Palin for being a “woman who worked with her hands.”

But naturally, in every speech she gives, Palin works to influence her audience. Regardless of what people might think, she uses rhetoric. In fact, even people who are critical of rhetoric use it all the time. That’s because accusing someone of being a smooth-talking swindler requires some smooth talking – get it?

That “get it?” is itself a common rhetorical strategy known as a rhetorical question.

Rhetoric is central to understanding history and humanity.

Language sparked humanity’s development and, because where there’s language, there’s rhetoric, it’s only logical that wherever you find humans, you’ll find rhetoric as well.

In fact, rhetoric has been fundamental to Western civilization and its effects have been both positive and negative. That’s because democratic governments rely on speech and debate to function properly – the laws that society lives by are just legally-empowered words.

Effective rhetoric begins by identifying your argument and how you’ll prove it.

Aristotle broke down rhetoric into an orderly five-part structure, the first aspect of which is invention, or thinking about what you can say on a given subject. Invention can also be described as the stage during which you define the point you intend to prove and sort out which arguments and claims will help you do so.

There are often multiple ways to approach this crowning “proof” and the trick is to choose the one that fits your audience. To do so, you’ll need to consider their life philosophies, prejudices and demographic makeup.

Aristotle’s second step to sound rhetoric is building an ordered structure for the ideas you’ve laid out.

The key to good rhetoric is effective structure. That’s because your argument will be most persuasive if you can guide your audience along a well-laid rhetorical path that emphasizes the strongest aspects of your argument while minimizing its weaknesses.

After all, it’s no coincidence that professors prone to irrelevant and boring digressions don’t do so well in their course evaluations.

Style, memorization and delivery are the final pieces of Aristotle’s five-part structure.

So, what you say is important, but it’s not everything. The style you use to frame an argument plays an essential role as well. In fact, the style largely determines how persuasive you’ll be.

And as always, effective style is about a strong understanding of your audience. That’s because it’s essential to know what they’ll respond to. Maybe it’s a lofty, fluid style like that of Shakespeare, but the odds are it’s not.

Key ideas in Words Like Loaded Pistols