Public Communication A Review The Five Key Elements

Public Communication “A Review”

The Five Key Elements of Effective Public Communication (The Five Rhetorical Canon) • Topic Selection (Inventio) • Speech Organization (Dispositio) • Appropriate Style or Language (Elocutio) • Delivery (Pronuntiatio) • Memory (Memoria)

In Other Words: The effective public communicator is focuses on topic and thesis statement, is well ordered in a way that supports thesis/topic, uses language that fits with the audience, practices the presentation until it comes across naturally, and uses memory more then notes.

Regarding persuasive public communication specifically, the communicator has only four tools at her/his disposal: • Ethos or personal creditability • Pathos or emotional appeal • Logos or logical argument • Evidence or the “facts” *Some add a fifth called mythos or story. I feel that story is a form of logos.

Is that all? Well no, but if used well these principles will change peoples minds. Most ineffective public communicators fail to apply one or more of the five principles presented in slide two. When trying to persuade, most people feel that only the evidence is important. It seldom changes minds. Anyway, be creative and think of your audience, speaking to them from within them. There is no substitute for a creative argument designed from the audience’s perspective.