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Patterns of effective rhetoric
- Consider saying very little. Everything you say is like a movement in a sword fight, it may present openings for your opponent to exploit.
- Later: Hmm...I'm not persuaded of this. I guess what I would say is that you don't want to put out low-quality arguments, because they'll
- Choose your point of attack very carefully...
- ...and then drive a Mack truck through it. Hit it as hard as you can.
- Examples
- Hitler seems to have given largely the same speech over and over to lots of audiences. He hit hard on the same points, and may have even refined the points he hit on through experimentation and seeing what the audience responded most to.
- You should write up an article explaining what rhetoric can learn from sword fighting.
- Why is there a pattern of major figures not showing excitement?
- Perhaps because it's hard to look genuinely excited without actually being excited...
- ...and if you are actually excited, it is harder to control your behavior and you may slip up in a way that your opponent can exploit.
- Examples
- Howard Dean was mocked for his overexcitement
- The Socratic Method
Good rhetoricians
- YouTube - Max Landis
- He speaks with uncommon energy / enthusiasm.
- He also speaks with confidence.
- in some videos his pacing and inflection sounds heavily influenced by Ira Glass.