Rhetorical devices

Why rhetorical devices work in a speech

A reader can go back and reread a sentence. A listener can't, so a speech has to make its key lines easy to catch the first time. That is the job rhetorical devices do. Repetition helps audience members recall key words or phrases after the speech, and parallel phrasing gives a line rhythm (Stand Up, Speak Out). Compare "Give me liberty or give me death" with "Give me liberty or I'd rather die": same idea, but only the first one has a beat you can remember.

How to use rhetorical devices in your own speech

1. Start from the line that matters

   Pick the one sentence you want people to repeat afterwards. That is where a device earns its place.

2. Choose one or two devices

   Repetition, contrast and a rhetorical question cover most needs. A speech packed with devices starts to sound like a performance.

3. Say it out loud

   A device that reads well can fall flat when spoken. Rehearse the line until the rhythm feels natural, and slow down on it.

Rhetorical devices list with speech examples

Thirteen rhetorical devices that work well out loud, in alphabetical order. Two have their own pages.

Alliteration

Repeating the same consonant sound in two or more words in a row, as in "the poison that we must purge from our politics" (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Anaphora

Repeating a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses or sentences (Dictionary.com), as in "I have a dream". See the anaphora examples.

Antithesis

Setting two opposed ideas against each other in a balanced sentence (Dictionary.com), as in King's hope that his children would "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (NPR).

Assonance

Repeating the same vowel sound with different consonants, as in "no pain, no gain" (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Chiasmus

Reversing the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases (Dictionary.com), as in "He went to the country, to the town went she."

Epistrophe

Repeating a word or words at the end of successive clauses (Dictionary.com), as in Lincoln's "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Abraham Lincoln Online).

Hyperbole

Obvious and intentional exaggeration (Dictionary.com), as in "I've told you a million times." Use it for humor, not for facts.

Metaphor

Applying a word or phrase to something in a nonliteral way to suggest a resemblance, as in "Love is a battlefield" (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Parallelism

Presenting ideas in a grammatically parallel way, as in "Give me liberty or give me death" (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Repetition

Repeating key words or phrases so the audience recalls them after the speech. King repeats "I have a dream" eight times in one speech (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Rhetorical question

A question asked for effect, not to get a reply (Dictionary.com), as in "Are we really going to wait another year?"

Simile

Comparing two unlike things directly with "like" or "as", as in "as angry as a raccoon caught in a cage" (Stand Up, Speak Out).

Tricolon

Three parallel parts in a row, often with repetition, as in Lincoln's "we can not dedicate", "we can not consecrate", "we can not hallow" (Abraham Lincoln Online).

Other public speaking terms

Terms you will meet in the same speech classes, next to the devices above.

Extemporaneous speaking

A carefully planned and rehearsed speech, spoken in a conversational way from brief notes (Saylor).

Filler word

A sound or word like um or uh used to fill a pause. See how to stop saying um.

Impromptu speaking

A short message given without advance preparation (Saylor).

Manuscript speech

The word-for-word reading of a written message (Saylor).

Memorized speech

The rote recitation of a written message the speaker has committed to memory (Saylor).