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Rhetorical Analysis Of Elizabeth Gilbert's Speech By Elizabeth Gilbert

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Peter Codrington

Speech Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA

Speaker: Elizabeth Gilbert.

I would like to start this analysis by first noting that she engages her audience during the speech. As Gilbert’s speech progresses, it seems less like a speech and more like a conversation that she is having with a close friend. . She engages the audience throughout and that makes her very easy to listen to.She smiles throughout the speech and makes good eye contact with the audience. She also laces her talk with humor at appropriate points. All of these things help to “shrink the distance” between Gilbert and her audience. They make her likable and being liked is very important for a speaker.

She speaks with sincere passion. In class learnt that we should passionate about the topic and let that enthusiasm come out. Gilbert is certainly passionate. …show more content…

Gilbert makes many important points and backs them up with wonderful stories and anecdotes. However, she often runs her ideas together quickly. Furthermore, often when she comes to a point where it would be good to pause, she fills the space with words like “you know”, “right?” and “OK”. These “filler words” eat away at the fabric of our speeches and make them weaker.Pausing serves us well in many ways:It allows our audiences to absorb and digest what we have said.It can be used to signal that something important is about to come, and thus focus our audience’s attention.It helps rid us of the bad habit of feeling compelled to fill the silence with awkward filler words.It makes us look thoughtful, confident, and credible.Pauses need only last a second or two, but the effect can be profound. It’s been said that music is what happens between the notes. I believe that a great speech happens between the words, during those moments when the audience internalizes our words. Always remember to

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