Last week I participated in AmCham Hungary’s Business Forum with Ambassador Pressman and got first-hand experience with what public speaking techniques made Ambassador Pressman’s speech effective.
1. Isocolon
If Putin stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.
This is an isocolon. Isocolon is when two clauses or sentences are structurally the same. You can use isocolon, for example, to highlight a difference. In this case, the similar structure of the two sentences highlights their different meanings. This rhetorical device resulted in one of the most memorable sentences of the speech. As I discussed it with participants after the event, this was one that others distinctly remembered.
2. Tricolon of contrasts
Less A, greater B. Less C, greater D. Less E, greater F.
Contrast is a great tool to emphasize difference. Mention what you need less of, then immediately mention what you need more of. You create a tricolon when you use three words, clauses, or phrases. If you ever learn about public speaking, you will most likely hear about the “rule of three.” The essence of this rule is that if you can, you should use three examples, three arguments, three stories. Just like I did now. And just like the case of the three wishes, Three Little Pigs, Three Musketeers. And the list goes on.
Ambassador Pressman combined three pairs of contrasting ideas and created a tricolon of contrasts. Thus he strengthened the emphasis on what he thought we needed to do less and more.
3. Humor
It’s funny how when I introduce myself as an optimist, everyone starts laughing.
This is a fine example of affiliative humor. Affiliative humor is a humor style where the joke involves saying something the audience might find funny without offending anyone. In this instance, Ambassador Pressman played on the (perceived? 🤔) pessimism ingrained in Hungarian culture. The way he contrasted this with his optimism resulted in audible laughter from the audience. Humor brought the audience together and made them open to his message. I wrote about this in detail in previous posts.
The above tricolon of examples aims to show how the tools of public speaking can make a speech more memorable, enjoyable, and effective (another tricolon). The good news is that you can learn to use these public speaking techniques.
Contact me if you want to reach the next level in public speaking!