By the Equality in Forensics Contributor Team

Learn more about Equality in Forensics and our mission.

Introduction

Congress can be very boring.

Rhetoric is your opportunity to win over the chamber - after all, congressional debate is about more than budget estimates, policy proposals, and impact weighing. Incorporating rhetoric into your speech is about establishing the human connection with your audience, based on empathy and storytelling.

Rhetoric, a literary technique, is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. In Congressional Debate, along with content and delivery, rhetoric is a critical part of an effective speech. In its most basic form, it can be used to give a clever, inspiring, insightful, or emotional introduction to the content of your speeches. In the most advanced rounds, however, rhetoric can set the tone for an entire debate and influence the structure of all speeches.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> This resource page has an accompanying slideshow. Check it out!

</aside>

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xpjsrog2yGl9BSTkWPl2VAd43y4L66rNmj_OCOLssWY/edit?usp=sharing

Purpose of Rhetoric

If you’ve ever taken an English or public speaking class, you’ve probably heard about the three typical rhetorical appeals:

  1. Logos: the appeal to logic.
  2. Ethos: the appeal to credibility.
  3. Pathos: the appeal to emotion.

When we talk about rhetoric in congress, it’s all about pathos. Don’t get it confused with the other two. It’s not difficult to write a congress speech… but it is very difficult to make your speech stand out. When you read this guide, think critically - what happens when everyone tries to stand out in the same way?

<aside> 👨‍⚖️ Did you know some researchers think Aristotle actually came up with five pillars of rhetoric instead of three?

</aside>

Watch Nicholas Ostheimer, 2023 NSDA House Finalist, use his national and ethnic identity as the basis for his rhetorical introduction in a speech about immigration.

Watch Nicholas Ostheimer, 2023 NSDA House Finalist, use his national and ethnic identity as the basis for his rhetorical introduction in a speech about immigration.

Introduction & Conclusion

Your introduction is your first chance to make a point, break the ice, and impress your judges with clever rhetoric. Speeches without an introduction are boring. Think about it from the perspective of your judges - when you’re judging the 20th congress speech of the day, wouldn’t you at least want to hear a witty, clever, or insightful observation at the start of the performance?

Of course you would. Your introduction has three objectives:

  1. Introduce your speech’s thesis. Above all else, the introduction of your speech is an introduction to the arguments you want to make. Try your best to sum up your speech’s entire argument(s) in one or two sentences at the beginning of your speech. This can work wonders in terms of structure and clarity.
  2. Introduce your speech’s values. You should be able to describe your speech based on a central, universal theme that echoes throughout your content and your rhetoric. Depending on what you want to achieve with your rhetoric, this could be something like “justice”, “compassion”, “hope”, or even “frustration.”
  3. Introduce your unique personality. Many congress debaters kind of just blend together. Without something unique, authentic, or original to make your introduction stand out, you’ll start the most memorable part of your speech off with nothing to remember!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15YCkv__QqpD7s6FEaA0yAIam-yG6KLzg55tHRZBpw3A/edit#slide=id.g11a694513f0_0_98

Let’s move on to the conclusion.

  1. Call back to your introduction. Whatever the subject is, think about your rhetoric like a story - it has a beginning and an end. People forget loose ends. They remember complete narratives. That’s why your conclusion should somehow “complete” your introduction, or at least reference it.
  2. Offer a new perspective. Your conclusion shouldn’t just be a repetition of what you said in the introduction. This is your opportunity to end the speech with a powerful one-liner or the conclusion to a relevant anecdotal story. This keeps your speech fresh, engaging, and interesting.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Having a cohesive introduction and conclusion is the foundation of rhetorical narrative. Learn about more advanced rhetorical techniques in congress here.

</aside>

A Note on Delivery

Judges expect you to deliver rhetoric without looking at your pad. When delivering the content of your speech, especially evidence, judges won’t really care that you glance at your pad. Meanwhile, the delivery of your rhetoric can be deeply impacted by your presentation - how can you establish an emotional connection with your audience if you’re not actually looking at them?

It’s also uniquely important that you focus on gesticulation, pacing, intonation, emphasis, and movement. Judges are paying special attention to your delivery while delivering lines of rhetoric. Every aspect of your presentation is part of creating that emotional connection between you and the audience.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Read more about mastering presentational techniques in our delivery guide.

</aside>

Transitions

Aside from introductions and conclusions, rhetoric is most often used to transition into different parts of your speech, like your contentions. For example, on a speech about public option healthcare or medical research, you could label your description of the status quo the “diagnosis,” and the solvency of the bill as the “cure.” This analogy not only gives your transitions a rhetorical flair, it can also improve the clarity of your speech.

Rhetoric is also very commonly used to emphasize impacts and weighing. This part of your speech tends to deal most directly with the actual human impact of the legislation - simply because of the subject matter, debaters often capitalize on the rhetorical opportunity by driving their point home with a hard-hitting line right after describing their impact, or by weighing the comparative worlds in the debate.