Recent Articles in Rhetorical Devices
March 14, 2023
Engage the Audience: Making Rhetorical Questions Work
Public Speaking , Presentation Tips , Rhetorical Devices
A rhetorical question can be a simple yet effective way to wake up an audience. How can you make the most of it?
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December 16, 2020
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Anacoluthon
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , The Buckley Experience , Just For Fun
Want to seem as if you're making your presentation up as you go along? Turns out, rhetoric has a word for that.
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August 5, 2020
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Diacope
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , The Buckley Experience , Resources , Public Speaking
Dream of having audiences quote lines from your presentations? Maybe this little rhetorical device is just the can of spinach to make your next speech pop...
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May 20, 2020
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Zeugma
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , The Buckley Experience , Resources
It's a double entendre that can make your listeners do a double take--which might be just what your message needs! (It can also win you points in Scrabble.) Zoom on over and check it out...
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December 16, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Anastrophe
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , The Buckley Experience
Churchill may have employed it first, in a galaxy not that far away, but no one has done more to popularize this speaking technique than the wise green guy with the pointy ears...
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November 21, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Pleonasm
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , The Buckley Experience
This year, get more from your Black Friday shopping. As you're out looking for that added bonus or free gift with purchase, see if you can spot our rhetorical device of the month!
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September 30, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: ASTERISMOS
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , Public Speaking , Resources
Verbal tic of a careless speaker? Or smart tactic to make audiences aware that something worth starring and remembering is coming their way? Behold, asterismos...
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August 29, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Antonomasia
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , Public Speaking , Just For Fun
What's in a name? Perhaps a lot more when you employ this rhetorical device in your public speaking. Here's how it's used for good and for evil...
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July 29, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Adynaton
Rhetorical Devices , Instruction , Public Speaking , Resources
What happens when you super-size your hyperbole? You might get a more memorable expression for your next presentation. A look at flying pigs, whistling crawfish and adynaton...
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June 27, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Tmesis
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , The Buckley Experience , Just For Fun
Un-friggin-doubtedly, you’ve used this one before. Here’s why that’s probably a fan-blooming-tastic thing…
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May 30, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Metanoia
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , Public Speaking , Just For Fun
Want to contrive to sound more spontaneous in a speech?To make a harsh point without having the audience dislike--nay, kill the messenger? Consider using the "backspace" of rhetorical devices...
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April 25, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Anthimeria
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , Resources , Public Speaking
It can bring delight. It can make you wince. You can reject it, even return it. See how this rhetorical device "gooses the English language" as we gift you a look at anthimeria...
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March 13, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Tricolon
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , Public Speaking , The Buckley Experience , Just For Fun
What public speaking technique can bring a certain fullness, roundness, or tension to help your message take off? Try this month's rhetorical device...
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February 20, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Antithesis
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , Public Speaking , Presentation Tips , Great Speeches
Why are we pro-antithesis? Here's how this artful juxtaposition can sharpen your point, challenge injustice, or make hearts soar--and make your words more memorable.
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February 5, 2019
State of the Union: Rhetorical Device Bingo
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , Significant Speeches
What rhetorical devices will make their way into the State of the Union address? And will you be able to spot them all? Play Rhetorical Device Bingo with us and see if you're a winner...
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January 11, 2019
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Asyndeton
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , Instruction , Just For Fun
No ands or buts, if you use this rhetorical device you can improve the odds that your speech will pack some punch.
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November 29, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Epizeuxis
Rhetorical Devices , Instruction , Just For Fun
Deliberate repetition is one of the most powerful techniques a public speaker can use. Perhaps that's why there are so many rhetorical devices related to repeating. Here's why this one has us saying "dilly, dilly"...
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October 30, 2018
Paranomasia: How punny is that?
Rhetorical Devices , Resources , The Buckley Experience , Just For Fun
That queasy feeling you get when you hear a corny pun in a speech? Our rhetorical device of the month diagnosis: Looks like a case of paranomasia.
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September 26, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Dysphemism
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , Resources , Public Speaking
If a euphemism is a substitution that softens an expression, then the opposite of that would be...our latest rhetorical device of the month.
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August 27, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Anadiplosis
Public Speaking , Resources , Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , The Buckley Experience , Instruction
A rhetorical device put to good use by Yoda, Shakespeare, Malcolm X, and Jay-Z: Here's another way to build a powerful statement through repetition...
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July 27, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Litotes
Rhetorical Devices , Just For Fun , Resources , Public Speaking , Instruction , The Buckley Experience
With hyperbole the likes of which the world has never seen and "double negative" trending, it's not a bad time to explore understatement and the potential of this rhetorical device for your public speaking...
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June 19, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Synecdoche
Resources , Public Speaking , Just For Fun , Rhetorical Devices , Instruction
The rhetorical device we all love using, whether we know it or not: Here's to more colorful public speaking by way of synecdoche!
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March 23, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Enallage
Resources , Instruction , Rhetorical Devices
Should you ignore the rules of grammar in order to make a memorable statement in your next business presentation? Our rhetorical device of the month says it ain't such a bad idea....
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February 26, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Chiasmus
Public Speaking Books , Speaker's Bookshelf , Rhetorical Devices , Public Speaking
How do you turn the ideas in your speeches into lines people will remember? One rhetorical device you can use is the literal turn of phrase called chiasmus....
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January 15, 2018
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Anaphora
Seen|Read|Heard , Rhetorical Devices , Public Speaking
It's hard not to think about public speaking and this rhetorical device when we remember and honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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December 11, 2017
Rhetorical Device of the Month: Paralipsis
Public Speaking , Seen|Read|Heard , Faculty , Rhetorical Devices
It's the rhetorical device that let's you be naughty AND nice...and it happens to be a Donald J. Trump favorite...
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