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Think about the Daniel Webster quote on the screen. What does it say about the power of
rhetoric? The power of rhetoric is formidable. Hitler is famous for noting that people are
more amenable to rhetoric than any other force. And he's right. Because rhetoric is so incredibly
powerful, people who choose to engage in rhetoric should be very careful to consider the ethics
of their speech. Your book chapter does a good job of addressing some of the basics
of ethics, but I'd like to add some ideas as well in this presentation.
First of all, you must recognize the power of the lectern. While it is true that Hitler
eventually conquered many of his own people and the people of other nations through force,
he came to power and convinced many of his nation to stand behind him through his rhetoric.
Even when you're only speaking to a small community group, you have the power to influence
people's thoughts and behaviors and that's a good deal of power. So be sure that you
use that power ethically when it's your turn to stand at the lectern.
Being an ethical speaker means that you've made sure you have done your research. You've
left no stone unturned and are bringing the best available information to your listeners.
When I was a college student worked for the AIDS Resource Center in Dallas and I was giving
presentations to groups at a time when AIDS was still a death sentence and when many people
still believed you could acquire *** through water fountains or mosquitoes, what would've
been the impact of someone going to an organization with the WRONG information about *** and AIDS?
Given that *** and AIDS weren't topics that were regularly talked about and given that
the title of the group I was speaking for was the AIDS Resource Center, imagine the
damage someone could do if a group of people trusted that speaker to give them correct
information about *** an AIDS and that speaker didn't give them the best and most up-to-date
information possible? Someone could've make a decision that literally cost them their
lives. So, as I just said, even in small community presentations, you can have an enormous amount
of power. Make sure that you've done your research and that you're giving people the
best information possible.
You also need to develop the habit of justice as a speaker. This means that you select facts
carefully and are also careful not to conflate facts with opinions. It also means that you
don't distort or conceal information that questions your position. If you find information
that challenges your thinking, think about it some more. Maybe you should change the
way that you think and there's nothing wrong with being open-minded. If you find information
that challenges your perspective and it doesn't make you change your mind you should still
consider mentioning it in the speech to show that you've considered other opinions—it
also gives you an opportunity to challenge that information publicly so that others that
may run across it later will already have some arguments in mind when they confront
a differing perspective. Ignoring or hiding information isn't ethical and in the end,
chances are good that if you do you'll get caught doing it and will lose credibility
(or maybe even a job!) once it's discovered that you ignored important information.
The freedom that we all appreciate so much in this country was garnered by people who
were willing to rock the boat. Where would we be as a nation had Rosa Parks not been
willing to stay seated when she was asked to move to the back of the bus or had the
students at the lunch counter in Montgomery not refused to get up from that counter when
they were told it was only for White people? For change to happen, people have to be willing
to rock the boat. If something needs to be said and you need to say it, consider this
statement—if you can take the worst, take the risk. I understand that in some instances
you can't take the worst that could come to you if you rock the boat—most of us can't
afford to lose a job because we're willing to say something that's unpopular but needs
to be said. But if you can take the worst, please consider taking the risk. Look around
the world at all the people who don't enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy and who often die
fighting for freedoms that we often take for granted. And remember that without people
being willing to rock the boat in our country, we might very well be in the same position
as those around the world still fighting for basic human freedoms. If you can take the
worse, please consider taking the risk.
Later on in the semester we're going to talk about appropriate ways to use emotion in your
arguments, so it's definitely something that you can use in rhetoric. But emotional appeals
should UNDERSCORE or SUPPLEMENT logical, rational thinking, not replace it. It's very easy to
get people to react out of emotions like fear, but it's not ethical to do so unless you've
also balanced that fear appeal with some reasoned argumentation. So please remember that emotion
should supplement your good reasons, not replace them.
So even though Voltaire really made the statement first, we all probably know this quote from
Spiderman and it was great advice from Peter Parker's Uncle. It's good advice for you,
too. Don't forget the responsibility you have to be an ethical speaker and the damage you
can do if you're not ethical in speech. Have a strong ethical grounding in your speech
preparation and delivery and you have the ability to do some amazing things that would
even impress Spiderman.