By Winston CHurchill
“It appears there are certain features common to all the finest speeches in the English language,” says a twenty-three-year-old Winston Churchill. In “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric,” he will connect the dots.
Before he can inspire them with any emotion he must be swayed by it himself. When he would rouse their indignation his heart is filled with anger. Before he can move their tears his own must flow. To convince them he must himself believe. His opinions may change as their impressions fade, but every orator means what he says at the moment he says it. He may be often inconsistent. He is never consciously insincere.
Churchill’s six principal elements of rhetoric:
Correctness of diction: “There is no more important element in the technique of rhetoric than the continual employment of the best possible word.” Usually, the shorter the better.
Rhythm: Sentences that are “rolling and sonorous,” that maintain a balanced cadence are key.
Accumulation of Argument: Sound, vivid pictures that incite the imagination and the rhythm of language combined help the audience anticipate the conclusion.
Analogy: Communicators, like educators, work from the known to the unknown. Analogy is a great tool to that end. Appealing to the everyday knowledge of the listener, the orator can make the abstract more concrete. The power of analogy is electric!
Examples of analogy: Churchill provides examples of his Point #4, including: “A strong nation may no more be confiding of its liberties than a pure woman of honor” (Bishop of Derry, Albert Hall, 1892).
A tendency to wild extravagance of language: The orator must arouse in his/her audience passions that lie within the speaker (or ought to). Churchill includes a few examples, including one of his favorite lines from the pen and mouth of William Jennings Bryan as he sought to cast the favor of a silver over a gold standard in 1986: “You shall not press a crown of thorns upon the brawl of labor or crucify humanity on a cross of gold.”
Few command “the subtle art of combining the various elements that separately mean nothing and collectively mean so much in harmonious proportion.” Certainly, Churchill was one of those few!
