Core Skills

From Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals to the logical core and the ethics of persuasion: build a foundation for persuading people in a way that is both effective and morally defensible.

Unit 1

The Three Rhetorical Appeals

Understand Aristotle's three means of persuasion — ethos / pathos / logos — the enthymeme as a tool of persuasion, the differing purposes of the three speech genres, and how to avoid the manipulation trap of 'just stir up emotion and you'll win.'

1The Three Rhetorical Appeals: Who You Are × How You Make Them Feel × Whether Your Argument Holdsethos / pathos / logos work together — but argument is the foundation; pure emotion without reasoning becomes manipulation10 Q

Unit 2

Structured Messaging

Use Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle to build your message into a pyramid — answer first, governing point on top, MECE groups, logical order within a group — and open with SCQA, so reports and speeches grab the main point from the very first line.

2Structured Messaging: the Pyramid Principle + SCQA, so people grab your point in one sentenceAnswer first, governing point on top, group by category (MECE), logical progression — think bottom-up, then present top-down10 Q

Unit 3

Storytelling in Speeches

Understand why stories actually change the audience's brain chemistry (oxytocin), build a backbone with the dramatic arc and the Chinese qi-cheng-zhuan-he, use Duarte's sparkline to pull between 'what is' and 'what could be,' cast the audience as the hero and yourself as the mentor by opening on one concrete person, and bust the myth that 'hard data means you don't need stories.'

3Storytelling in Speeches: Use One Concrete Person to Plant Your Point in the Audience's BrainStories really change the audience's brain chemistry (oxytocin) — but they must ride a tension arc, cast the audience as the hero, and carry one point per story; otherwise they're either dry and forgettable, or hollow emotional manipulation10 Q

Unit 4

Stage Presence & Composure

Manage stage fright down to a non-issue with preparation and rehearsal, the illusion of transparency, and reframing anxiety as excitement; then build stage presence through pace, pauses, volume and body language; and see through two popular myths — the 7-38-55 rule and power posing.

4Stage Presence & Composure: You Don't Have to Kill Stage Fright — Delivery Can Be PracticedStage fright is common and trainable — steady your mind with preparation, the illusion of transparency, and reframing anxiety as excitement; then build delivery through voice and body — and don't believe in 7-38-55 or power posing10 Q

Unit 5

Slides & Visualization

Treat slides as a 'visual aid,' not a script: use Mayer's redundancy / coherence / signaling principles, Alley's assertion-evidence approach, one-idea-per-slide, and Tufte's data-ink to subtract, and dodge the wall-of-bullets trap of 'death by PowerPoint.'

5Slides & Visualization: Put What Should Be *Seen* on Screen, and *Say* What Should Be HeardSlides are a 'glance medium' that aids you, not a script — use the redundancy / coherence / signaling principles, assertion-evidence, one-idea-per-slide, and data-ink to subtract, and dodge 'death by PowerPoint'10 Q