2 lessons on oral communication for students at CBS in Copenhagen studying English and Organisational Communication, 1. term.

1. Workshop 1
EOK
October 2010
Ida Borch

2. Workshop?
• I work
• You shop (or listen)
• No supervision
• The aim: To prepare you for the synopsis,
speech contest and for the exam

3. Today’s literature
• Gabrielsen & Christiansen: The power of
speech
– Analysis: The rhetorical situation
– Argument: Practical argumentation
– Arrangement: Organisation
• In a few weeks: Ethos & Elocutio

4. Today’s literature
Did you notice the alliteration
and the list of three?
• Gabrielsen & Christiansen: Oral
Always a winner in oral
communication – good for both
Communication speaker’s and audience’s
– Analysis: The rhetorical situation
memory
– Argument: Practical argumentation
– Arrangement: Organisation
• In a few weeks: Ethos & Elocutio

5. Knowledge of The Rhetorical Situation
• Takes you from mere use of intuition to
strategic competence
• Makes you a more confident (persuasive)
speaker

6. When is a situation rhetorical?
• A situation is rhetorical once responding to it
makes it possible to alter reality
• A situation is not rhetorical when the
audience has no choice
• In the military and in totalitarian states
rhetorical situations rarely occur. Whereas
democracy has vast amounts

7. When you speak, you steal time
• The time equation: You’re 100 students
listening for 90 minutes = 150 man-hours
spend on my lecture. That’s 4 weeks work in
total.
• So you better give something worthwhile back
in return when you speak

8. Dymamics between the speech and
the situation
• Speech and situation influence each other:
The situation determines what can be said;
the speech affects how the situation is
understood
• It’s yet another case of the egg and the hen

9. Speech/Context
• There is a complex relationship between the
speech and the context:
• Ex: “Mission accomplished”-speech
– Was the war won – or did Bush make the Americans
(perceive themselves as) winners due to the speech?
• You do not just adapt to – you shape the situation
with your choice of words

10. Context awareness

11. Lloyd F Bitzer: The Rhetorical Situation
• Exigence: An imperfection marked by urgency
• Audience: Those that are actually able to be moved from
one point to another (mediators of change)
• Constraints: The physical and psychological opportunities
and limitations in the situation
• = Fitting response (did the speaker achieve what he
wanted?)
• http://web.missouri.edu/~ricejr/Fall08/bitzer.pdf

12. The situational factors in the context
• The subject
• The place
• The time
• The audience
• The speaker

13. Danish version of Ciceros Pentagram

14. My understanding
Speaker
Constraints
Topic
Choice of words
+ style
Audience

15. Gabrielsen & Christiansen
Speaker
Circumstances
The rhetorical
problem
The purpose
Audience

16. The Rhetorical Problem
• A kind of Bitzerian exigence
• A rhetorical problem is a problem that can be
altered by the use of speech
• Important: Find the spot on right focus – for
yourself, the audience and the situation

17. Ex. Pro euthanasia
• Dignify-focus: Potential undignified death when
unable to end it by own hand
• Law-focus: Law in Netherlands allow – Law in DK
prohibits
• Autonomy-focus: Is life (and death) a personal
matter or a matter of the state?
• Method-focus: Is it done in humane ways?
• Etc
• DECIDE FOR ONE – and follow it all the way
through (we’ll get back to later why...)

18. The Purpose
• What do you wish to achieve?
– Reflection?
– Understanding?
– Consensus?
– Commitment?
– Change of attitude?
– Behaviour?
• Rhetorical persuasion is not necessarily about
making people act. It could be that mere
reflection is adequate.

19. The Audience
Mediators of
Everybody present
change

20. The Audience
• Address the entire audience, but be aware
that probably only a part of it consist of real
mediators of change
– People who will ‘act’ in accordance to your
specific purpose
• Ex: I’m not mediator of change in an audience
listening to a speech pro death penalty

21. Speaker
• You must know your own ’ethos’ in the
situation (we’ll get back on that one next
time)
• You must be consistent and respectful of the
relation to the audience
• You must make sure they know your motives
for speaking (up).

22. Circumstances
• Physical circumstances:
– Are we at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park or at Den
Sorte Diamant?
– Mike or no mike?
– Av or no av?
– Rostrum or plain floor?
– Indoor or outdoor?
– Come rain or come shine?

23. Circumstances
• Temporal circumstances:
– Is it May 1st or any ordinary day?
– Are you 1st or last speaker – or in between?
– Did something occur that altered the situation (ex.
Speaking on Sept 12th 2001 called for addressing the
Twin Towers no matter which context )
– Will people be on time or drop in/out
– etc
• (We will pay close attention to your analysis of
the circumstances in you examination speeches)

24. Recapitulation:
What, why, who, where
Speaker
Circumstances The rhetorical
problem
Audience The purpose

25. A situation analysis
• Steve Jobs is preparing his presentation of the
iPhone G4 – on the same kind of stage as the
app-video you saw in September.
• 2 X 2: Go through the various parts of the
situation, and decide what you would
recommend him to do in order to deliver a
fitting response

26. Steve Jobs presenting iPhone G4
What is his
exigence; the
reason for
Speaker speaking?
Circumstances The rhetorical
problem
Audience What does he
The purpose
want the
audience to
do?

27. Is this a fitting response?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoqh27E6OuU

28. The noble art of argumentation
This doesn’t work ‘cause the
technicians are useless

29. The noble art of argumentation
This doesn’t work, cause the
product generally sucks

30. The noble art of argumentation
This doesn’t work, cause there
are 570 wi-fi Base Stations
operating in this room

31. Make the right choice
• Identification: Find the claim and proofs that
will support your position
• Selection: Select the ones that will be
persuasive
• Substantiation: Make sure that you can
substantiate your claim. Or else it’s just a
mere utterance

32. Toulmin model of argumentation
Proof Claim
Warrant Qualifier
Backing Reservation

33. Socrates is mortal
Socrates is a human being
All men are mortal

34. Socrates is wildly mortal!
Socrates is a human being
All men are mortal

35. Socrates is wildly mortal!
Socrates is a human being
All men are mortal
Even though Plato
immortalized him
through his Reservation
dialogues

36. Socrates is wildly mortal!
Socrates is a human being
All men are mortal
Even though Plato
immortalized him
through his At the end of the
dialogues day, it’s a
Backing biological fact

37. Socrates is wildly mortal!
Socrates is a human being
All men are mortal
Even though Plato
immortalized him
through his At the end of the
dialogues day, it’s a
biological fact

38. Toulmins argumentmodel
• Claim
• Proof Proof Claim
• Warrant
Warrant Qualifier
• Qualifier
• Reservation Backing Reservation
• Backing

39. Prospect AIESEC members in the
model
It is good for You should
your career join AIESEC
One should always
make career moves
Perhaps
It’s highly
recommended by
Unless you’re way
the SDU board
behind schedule with
your studies

40. Prospect AIESEC members in the
model
We’re getting drunk You should
every weekend join AIESEC
Having fun is a
human right
Totally
And social
networking Unless you’re way
benefits relations behind schedule with
your studies

41. Important rule in argumentation
•Logic is not always the
most logical thing to use
in practical argumentation

42. Topics – or how to find proof
• Topics (sing: topos, plur: topoi, da: topik) is
derived from Greek: Topos = place.
• Topical thinking helps you pinpoint the
suitable angles, views or perspectives

43. Topoi-list
Thematic Topoi Oppositional Topoi Topoi of Evidence
Money apect The individual vs. society Investigations
Environment Change vs. tradition Experience
Helath Quality vs. Quantity General assumptions
Work
Well-being
Time

44. Environment:
It’s good for the
Money: global environment
It’s for free that you can connect
Change vs. tradition: only by using a bit of
Many elderly people Well-being: electricity General
can access it – it’s Laughing at assumption:
easy though it’s new updates is Social activities are
tech healthy always fun
Quality vs. Quantity
Health: Why Facebook is The concept of
You don’t get at awesome ’friends’ is enlarged
cold from it
Work: Investigation:
Good for 500 mio people can’t
personal be wrong
branding
Time: Individual vs. society:
Experience: From Know-how to
No need for Working as single-
travelling Know-who is
consultant would supported by FB
be tough without

45. Be selective
• All the bubbles represent my views upon the
matter – will they all help me get the message
through?
• Not! Select the right ones for the rhetorical
situation, and make ONE overall claim
supported by various sub-proofs.

46. Organizing the speech
Disposition Stating the Argumentation
facts
Finale
Intro
1 2 3 4
5

47. Christiansen & Gabrielsen
• Intro
• Proof 1
• Proof 2
– Example
• Refutation
• Conclusion
• + metacommunication

48. Introduction
• Aim: Catch the audience’s interest
• Captatio benevolentia = captivate goodwill
• Many different strategies – two basic types
– Beat around the bush
– Wham-bam
• Establishes/confirms initial ethos (more on that
next time)

49. Intro-tips
• Rhetorical questions
• Idioms (beware of potential clichés)
• Quotations from sponsoring ethos's
• Tell a joke (beware of shared humour)
• Anecdote
• Local connection to the audience/place
• If a long speech, remember stating the
disposition - partitio

50. Proof
• Use practical argumentation: Claim, proof and
potentially outspoken warrant.
• Find the spot on right claims for the situation and
exemplify with analogies, concrete details or the
like
• Kock et al: Retorik der flytter stemmer: ONE
overall claim followed by a number of
subordinate data is better than numerous claims.

51. Rebuttal
• Reminding the audience that you do pay
attention to the opposite side of the point
– good for both mediators of change and for hostile
listeners
• Is counter-argumentation: You show audience
that you are aware there is a different opinion
BUT that this opinion is after all not worthwhile
• Sow doubt! (don’t remind them of a better
argument than yours)

52. Conclusion
• Due to the premises of orality the audience
cannot remember every word you’ve stated
• Never underestimate the importance of
– Summing up the most important issues (what was
it now the woman said?)
– Reminding the audience that we are getting close
to the end (how else would they know?)

53. Tips
• Let the fish bite its tale
• Repeat the main points
• Refer to the example
• Future scenario if/if not
• A rhetorical question
• Be concise, precise and eloquent – cause this is
what they remember clearly afterwards
• (if spontaneous clapping, you’ve done the job
right. If not...)

54. How to get about it

55. Let’s check your memory
• Can you remember what I’ve told you during the last
two lessons?
• (Had this been a ‘real’ rhetorical situation, your
memorizing what I said was my – not your –
responsibility. I would be to blame if you didn’t get the
crucial points)

56. Summing up
• Prior to making a speech:
– Analyze the rhetorical situation
– Argument: FOCUS – and find the right proof to
support your claims
– Arrange: Give the speech the right shape
• Next time:
– Analyze your own ethos in the situation
– Use the right words for a fitting response