Better Rhetoric

I’ve been ignoring this blog for far too long, and one of the reasons is because I’ve been busy figuring out what to do next. I’ve been teaching college classes for part of my time and doing social media consulting with the rest of my time, which caused me to spend more energy on other people’s content and social media than my own. But as my new business model continues to evolve, one thing has become really clear to me: the thing that energizes me more than any other thing I do with my skills and talents is speaking. I freaking LOVE speaking. It’s really, really fun to me — I enjoy preparing for a talk, meeting people while I’m there, and hearing how my message made a difference. I enjoy it so much that when I do a speaking gig, I actually feel a little bit guilty because it seems like fun and not “work” to me. I told my husband that recently, and he laughed. “Isn’t that the Holy Grail? To make money at something that feels like fun?” he asked. Indeed.

And so I’ve been seeking out more speaking opportunities, with the goal of making speaking a more significant part of my time and income. My two most recent speaking gigs were for RISE Austin 2012 and Austin Community College’s First Annual Social Media Forum.

At RISE, an “unconference” for entrepreneurs, I presented “PowerPointless: Interactive Presentation Strategies to Engage Any Audience,” which went over very well. Despite some technical difficulties (I was the guinea pig for the Turnstone Bus’s outdoor sound system), I think it was a success. Participants were so wonderfully creative and interactive that I hardly had to do a thing.

At ACC’s Social Media Forum, I gave a short talk called “Sharing as a Career: Becoming a Social Media Professional.” This was tailored directly to the needs of the audience, who were primarily students and career transitioners interested in exploring social media as a new direction for them. I shared information about job titles and salaries in Austin as well as the skills companies are looking for in those who lead their social engagement efforts.

Here is my “one-sheet” flyer, which details three of my most popular talks. Spread the word!

Rhetoric is communication with the purpose of influencing others. It therefore encompasses any aspect of communication, even the unspoken and unwritten aspects such as body language and how we present ourselves visually to the world. Just as we adjust our writing or our speaking styles to suit particular audiences, we should adjust how we dress and groom ourselves according to audience and purpose as well.

I know that many people believe how we dress shouldn’t matter, and that it’s our skills, talent, knowledge, and work ethic that should be the bases upon which the world judges us. Too bad. How you dress and groom yourself does matter, whether you like it or not. If you’ve ever watched the TLC show What Not to Wear, you know that the hardest part of Stacey’s and Clinton’s job is often convincing their unwilling clients to accept the fact that what people think of how they look really does matter and that it’s not shameful to look good and feel good about oneself. The benefits extend far beyond what others think, too. The way you carry yourself and interact with others improves tremendously when you feel good about yourself and how you look. I’m a firm believer that it really is worth it. If your personal presentation matches the audience and the venue, you remove one possible barrier to communication and build a level of subconscious trust in those with whom you interact.

These three guys are all my husband, JD Hancock (a few years back). The three JDs represent his business, technical, and creative roles in his professional life. Notice how the way he looks influences the audience's perception of his suitability for each role. Most people who see this image assume it's three different people. That's the rhetorical impact of personal appearance.

I tell my college students all the time that personal branding starts now, and it will have a tremendous impact on their ability to achieve their goals and dreams. The same goes for seasoned professionals who haven’t thought a great deal about how their personal branding is being conveyed through their personal appearance. A well-groomed person whose appearance matches people’s expectations for the role he or she plays sends out rhetorical signals that say “I care,” “I pay attention to details,” and “I will lavish similar care and attention to detail on the product or service I provide to you.”

I teach a creative writing class at a nearby college. I asked my students to write flash fiction — short stories in six words or fewer. I was really pleased with the results. For your reading pleasure:

Went to moon; nothing but rocks.

Astronaut wanted. Must have own rocket.

Pinnochio: My nose will grow. Paradox.

I don’t know what to do.

Bad television then. Worse movies now.

Life’s givens: taxes, wet urinal floors.

Chivalry’s dead. Open your own doors.

Can’t think of a good…crap.

It’s just not a good one.

Good news! You’re not the father!

During war, size really does matter.

Space travel…not a damn thing.

Girl likes boy; boy likes boy.

Falling into Heaven, straight through Hell.

The horsemen arise. The end begins.

Guess what? The baby’s not yours!

Dead parents. Orphan. Family. Home.

War on Terror: Futility reigns supreme.

Which ones are your favorites?

“The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe,’ I’d have been lying!”

Demagoguery is using emotionalism to distort an issue and manipulate an audience.

For example: A Democrat lawmaker claims that budget cuts proposed by Republicans will kill our grandparents.

Or: A Republican lawmaker claims that if budget cuts do not occur, our children and grandchildren will inherit a nation that has regressed to a third-world standard of living.

You know how, when a car alarm goes off, not only does everyone completely ignore it, they actually get annoyed and walk away more quickly? Yeah. Same thing happens with blinking ads, pop-ups, and all-caps shouting in your writing. Create emphasis with more effective word choices instead.

For example, in a cover letter…

Meh: “Experienced account manager”

Better: “Exceptional account management skills”

Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing, particularly for the purpose of persuasion. We are surrounded by language at all times, but surprisingly little of it is powerful and clear, and even less of it manages to spur people to action. The study of crafting the most effective message possible goes back thousands of years, to the ancient Greek philosopher and orator, Aristotle.

Aristotle defined the three primary appeals persuasive speakers and writers use to influence an audience: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is the appeal to logic, in which the speaker or writer uses reasoning and factual information to support his or her arguments. Ethos is the appeal to authority, in which the speaker or writer uses credentials or testimonials to bolster his or her claims. Pathos, which can be the most powerful of the three, is the appeal to emotion. As modern advertisers and politicians have discovered, one can forego logic and authority entirely when one grabs the audience by their emotions.

See if you can identify examples of logos, pathos, and ethos in the language you encounter today. The more aware and analytical you are of the messages that bombard you every day, the more effective and purposeful you will become as a writer or speaker yourself.

It’s astonishing to me how weak the content is on so many businesses’ web sites. Even many companies that are ostensibly focused on communications themselves, such as PR agencies or advertising firms, often have copy that is inconsistent and riddled with errors. They would never let an unkempt, disheveled receptionist be the face of their company for first-time visitors; why, then, do they allow unkempt and disheveled language to represent them in the much broader realm of the Internet? If your copy is weak, it is costing you customers.

Some people hate Twitter because of the 140- character limit. I think it creates a fun challenge as a writer to try to say something meaningful with that much brevity. One way to accomplish it is through the use of metaphors and similes. Remember those? They’re not just for poetry. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two unlike things. A simile does the same thing, but it uses “like” or “as.” Here’s a tweet I wrote that got a few retweets and “likes” on Facebook:

“Cleaning my house lately has been like trying to pay off a high-interest credit card with minimum payments.”

It tells a whole story with a pithy comparison and a little wry humor, and it’s a story we can all relate to. A little simile helps personalize the message and engage the reader far more than a boring statement such as “Cleaning house today.”

What are some of your favorite tweets? What made them so interesting or clever that you saved them or retweeted them?