University Seminar: Rhetoric in the Digital Age!
Convince, inspire, prevail!
Seminar objective
Learning the mechanics of gaining attention in digital times, where permanent industrial revolutions ensure something else is very successful today than yesterday’s hit. The realization that the “HOW” of communication is just as important as the “WHAT”!
Welcome to the digital jungle!
If you want to be noticed in the digital flood, you have to provide more than just great content – you have to deliver it brilliantly, in rousing posts, punchy presentations or by performing effectively in front of the camera, in front of employees and on stage. Because let’s be honest: who listens to long monologues or reads boring texts to the end these days? Exactly.
Digital age sparks renaissance of Rhetoric
Pop music was the first market to be radically changed by digitalization. In analog times, the sound storage medium was the most important product with the highest revenue stream. Back then, concerts were often just marketing. Today, however, it is the same as before the invention of the “canned sound”: bluntly put, the stage is pivotal for musicians wanting to market their product – the music – to make money. Just like in soccer: “The truth is on the pitch!”
This change now affects everyone who brings something to the market. And this “place”, to stick with soccer parlance, is the communication, even before the actual product is launched. And so, the classic craft of rhetoric is experiencing a miraculous renaissance.
Key lesson from the 2024 US election campaign
The latest phase of digital media transformation and thus of communication with the triumph of short videos and podcasts means that the articulation of many facts and complex ideas is no longer the central focus, but rather presentation, energy and expression! A key lesson from the 2024 US election campaign.
The seminar: Rhetoric in digital times
In this practical, interactive seminar, the fundamental principles of rhetoric in ‚modern‘ communication channels are reflected upon and concrete examples of the success and failure of communication are analyzed to understand the central mechanisms of the new economy of attention.
Planning: Clarification and sharpening of the topic. How can argumentation strategies work? How can you remain credible? How can images be created in the mind? Are there emotional arguments?
Goal definition: What should be communicated? Boss, expert or perhaps bean counter? Good leaders and bosses speak simple language! Powerful images are used to tell impressive stories that should not be overloaded with complexity.
Classical stylistic elements: The tools of rhetoric will be acquired, like: alliteration, innuendo, allegory, adynaton, epanorthosis, hyperbole, metaphor,simile, ellipsis, rhetorical questions, isocolon, inversion, and also stichomythia.
Theory: Good speaking requires a theoretical foundation: a good understanding of communication theories and findings from media impact research make every conversation, every speech and every performance better. Like the “four-sides model”, “third-person effect”, “the stimulus-response model”, “the knowledge gap hypothesis”, “priming”, “framing”, and of course the good old “Shannon–Weaver model”.
Never unprepared! It’s a myth that the best speeches are spontaneous.
At the Musicians Institute Conservatory in Hollywood, Cherno Jobatey learned the mantra in performance classes: YOU HAVE TO OWN IT TO GIVE LIFE TO IT!
And to make sure it sunk in, all students were reminded of the 5P program of the boy scout boot camps: PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE!
However, you shouldn’t be able to tell that speakers are extremely well prepared! If someone afterwards comments that it was well told, then that is the best praise.
Implementation of rhetoric in digital times
The seminar also works on a small scale, hands-on and practice-oriented:
- During the seminar, we’ll work a lot with video recordings so you can immediately review the skills you’ve learned and acquired.
- The art of the introduction. We’ll work on standard openings as well as a few classics.
- Master the finale.
- When it comes to content, you should always highlight one advantage.
- Never forget the audience. Always keep them in mind. Make logical and emotional appeals to people.
- Always corroborate everything: work quotes and figures into the storyline.
- Vary the length of your sentences, tone, rhythm and tempo should vary to avoid monotony
- Dare to pause!
- Non-Verbal Communication: Body language, our underestimated tool. Our face is an ambassador! Our voice soundtrack! And on top of all that, the whole range of expressions, gestures, and postures. Non-verbal questions or exclamation points? You’ll learn how to express the full spectrum of grammatical punctuation through your physical self. Whether or not you’re a proponent of Albert Mehrabia’s famous “55-38-7 rule” (the impact of a presentation is 55% body language, 38% the sound of your voice, and only 7% content) or prefer other studies, they all have one thing in common: words alone are not enough.
The seminar Rhetoric in digital times debunks myths
Rhetoric, performance, and public speaking are a craft! One you can learn! But that also means: You have to practice! Skeptics of this statement should watch early videos of then-Senator Obama, who came across as very professorial. He only became really good and different during the presidential election campaign. He must have worked very hard. It was most certainly hard work.
Authenticity, which is strangely praised time and again, shouldn’t be a ball-and-chain around your neck. It can also turn into a trap. Just as horsepower is transferred from the crankshaft to the road by means of technology, the same applies to the communication of content. Craftsmanship and technology beat intuition. The old Einstein wisdom also applies here: genius is 80% perspiration; the rest is inspiration!
The ABSOLUTE-NO-GO List: No long sentences, no cliches, no catchphrases, no passive constructions, no foreign words, no weak verbs.
Why the seminar Rhetoric in digital times
Rhetoric in digital times is a high-energy seminar full of practical exercises, direct feedback and lots of tips that will immediately take your communication to the next level. There is a power-packed fueling of theory. But it’s not just about talking, in Cherno Jobatey’s seminar you’ll get the tools to not just swim along in the digital age but make waves!