Persuasion Through Speech

When we were talking about Grogias, his idea of persuasion through speech raised an eyebrow. Maybe it is because I am a communication major or because I see this thing happening all the time, but the power to persuade through speech is something I see taken for granted today. As said in the book, speech constructs Doxa. Looking at recent events from things like political elections and wars, how much of what we have done has been because of what one man has been able to say and persuade through speeches? Former President Bush had an entire country at the beginning of the War on Terror because people could feel what he was saying and saw for their own eyes. If he were not a master at giving these speeches, the country would probably have not fully backed him in our efforts. Yes he took some criticism but he was able enough to inspire the entire country to back him and the war efforts through his use of speech and emotional appeal.

In today’s society, it is highly overlooked because there are so many verbal things we take for granted. When one takes a step back and begins to dissect how such things are made possible, they will understand the full potential that speech carries. Having taken several courses on speech and studied it to some extent, many people over estimate how useful and powerful a good speaker really is. It is amazing how much it can inspire, create fear, positive/negative emotions, and many other things through that of simple vocal variations and wording. Some of the most powerful people ever were so talented in this and in our age of technology, I feel we are losing some of this power. We rely on texting and emailing so much that we are starting to become numb to speech in general.

Words have a huge effect on our everyday lives and we all interpret them differently. What can be uplifting and motivating to one person can be degrading and hurtful to another. Every speech is catered to a certain set of audience.
It is how we chose to play with these words that will ultimately have a role in the power of persuasion.

OR

Maybe we are not becoming numb to speech but merely better orators and better listeners and this is helping sift through "junk" we do not want to hear.