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Wow! That was a sublime speech by Joe Biden. Half way through, he says ‘No rhetoric is needed’ but he actually uses a heap of rhetorical devices throughout. In my 2016 Speak Like A Leader TEDx, I set out the six most powerful rhetorical devices... https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/biden-dnc-speech-transcript/index.html
They were
1. 3 breathless sentences
2. 3 repetitive sentences
3. 3 contrasts
4. Metaphor
5. Exaggeration
6. Rhyme
See how Biden uses these devices throughout his speech...
1. 3 breathless sentences
2. 3 repetitive sentences
3. 3 contrasts
4. Metaphor
5. Exaggeration
6. Rhyme
See how Biden uses these devices throughout his speech...
1. 3 Breathless sentences
These create a sense of urgency danger. It’s as if the speaker is hyperventilating. Biden uses these at dramatic points.
‘Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice.’
/cont...
These create a sense of urgency danger. It’s as if the speaker is hyperventilating. Biden uses these at dramatic points.
‘Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice.’
/cont...
‘I will defend us from every attack. Seen. And unseen. Always. Without exception. Every time.’
‘Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm. The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.’
‘Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm. The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.’
2. 3 repetitive sentences
Repetitive sentences show emotion, igniting passion.
Biden
‘Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.’
‘We will never get our economy back on track, we will never get our kids safely back to school, we will never have our lives back...’
Repetitive sentences show emotion, igniting passion.
Biden
‘Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.’
‘We will never get our economy back on track, we will never get our kids safely back to school, we will never have our lives back...’
Again...
‘Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of the fields with lighted torches? Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it? Remember what the president said?’
‘Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of the fields with lighted torches? Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it? Remember what the president said?’
Again...
‘Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. Winning it for the workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the "knee on the neck".’
Feel the passion grow!
‘Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. Winning it for the workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the "knee on the neck".’
Feel the passion grow!
3. 3 Contrasts.
Contrasts make it sound like you’re the absolute voice of reason, totally balanced.
He opens with this.
‘We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.’
/cont...
Contrasts make it sound like you’re the absolute voice of reason, totally balanced.
He opens with this.
‘We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.’
/cont...
And he closes with this...
‘For love is more powerful than hate.
Hope is more powerful than fear.
Light is more powerful than dark.’
And of course the headline message throughout this week has been
‘We’ll not only build it back, we'll build it back better.’
‘For love is more powerful than hate.
Hope is more powerful than fear.
Light is more powerful than dark.’
And of course the headline message throughout this week has been
‘We’ll not only build it back, we'll build it back better.’
4. Metaphor
Metaphor is the nuclear weapon of rhetorical devices, bypassing rational scrutiny and striking deep in our subconscious.
Biden has a clear, simple metaphor throughout: Biden is light, Trump is darkness. The light is salvation, darkness is death.
Metaphor is the nuclear weapon of rhetorical devices, bypassing rational scrutiny and striking deep in our subconscious.
Biden has a clear, simple metaphor throughout: Biden is light, Trump is darkness. The light is salvation, darkness is death.
He opens his speech with a quote from Ella Baker, a giant of the civil rights movement:
‘Give people light and they will find a way. Give people light.’
Give people light follows the same beat as ‘Let there be light...’
/cont...
‘Give people light and they will find a way. Give people light.’
Give people light follows the same beat as ‘Let there be light...’
/cont...
He sets out the choice for America as being between
‘the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided.
A path of shadow and suspicion.
Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light.’
/cont
‘the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided.
A path of shadow and suspicion.
Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light.’
/cont
Losing his first wife was darkness...
‘I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in your chest. That you feel your whole being is sucked into it.’
‘I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in your chest. That you feel your whole being is sucked into it.’
The metaphor hypes it up.
‘America's history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we've made our greatest progress. That we've found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more.’
‘America's history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we've made our greatest progress. That we've found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more.’
And he closes the speech with the same metaphor again.
‘May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.’
‘May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.’
As in Obama’s speech yesterday, the idea that a Biden win in 2020 is God’s will is written throughout the speech with omnipresent religious undertones. He refers to the constitution and even Social Security as ‘sacred’, saying how the President has been tearing them up.
5. Exaggeration
The speech is heightened largely through metaphor and personal stories but he is pretty damning when he says Trump ‘takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division.
Exaggeration? Maybe...
The speech is heightened largely through metaphor and personal stories but he is pretty damning when he says Trump ‘takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division.
Exaggeration? Maybe...
6. Rhyme
End with rhyme every time. They don’t cost a dime and they sound sublime.
Biden ends with Seamus Heaney
‘History says,
Don't hope on this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme’.
End with rhyme every time. They don’t cost a dime and they sound sublime.
Biden ends with Seamus Heaney
‘History says,
Don't hope on this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme’.
Conclusion - a truly great speech, which reminded me A LOT of Obama’s Grant Park victory speech in 2008. It’s also notable that this is one of the first times Biden’s stuck to the script, something his speechwriter curses, describing him as ‘the most unscripted man in politics’.
Biden is not a natural born speaker. He suffered a terrible stutter when young and blundered speeches as an adult. But his success tonight shows anyone can speak like a leader using these simple rhetorical devices, which was the whole point of my TEDx. 
