How Rhetoric Plays a Role For Students

Written By Colēgia

Effective communication can give you the means to express yourself better with the people around you. Sometimes though we need to consider how our persuasive skills affect how good of a communicator we are. Today we want to do a deep dive into this and examine what rhetoric is and how it plays a role in communication.

What is Rhetoric?

Originating in ancient Greece, rhetoric is “the study and art of writing and speaking persuasively.” The scope of rhetoric is extremely wide since it is used not just for law, but for everyday situations. One area to consider is who your audience is since that determines how you want to frame your speech. Another is the reason behind your rhetoric as well since it isn't necessarily limited to trying to change someone’s mind, it can also be simply to entertain or promote action. The rhetoric we use also needs to consider the setting we're in as well since we need to be mindful of the culture and society we're appealing to with our rhetoric.

“The scope of rhetoric is extremely wide since it is used not just for law, but for everyday situations.”

How Can it be Applied?

A great means of applying rhetoric can be in a debate. This gives us the avenue to discuss our point of view in a safe and educational manner. It's not uncommon to see this same type of persuasiveness being used in our day-to-day life as well. An example of this is negotiation since it gives us the means to communicate what it is we want. Rhetoric is used in the classroom as well since educating is another form of it. When a teacher is going through a lesson they're focusing on educational rhetoric while also trying to engage in a dialogue with students. Talking to friends and family about things we've learned that may help them is another means of this. The important thing about rhetoric is that it teaches us to stand up for ourselves which can help us be more aware of our boundaries.

“A great means of applying rhetoric can be in a debate.”

How do we Improve?

Similar to self-improvement there are a multitude of ways to make our rhetoric better. Something to keep in mind is that we want to be sure of the information we're presenting. If we're trying to persuade someone to see our point of view, we want to lead with our strongest points backed by credible research. This effectively covers any weak points in our argument since we want to have a firm foundation to work with. Flexibility is another element to think about since we want to genuinely consider what our audience may feel about what we're presenting. It's okay to change your mind since it allows us to be receptive to new information. We need to be aware that not everyone shares our point of view and that is okay. What we're presenting is just one of many perspectives out there in the world and it's valid to share our truth as we see it.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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