Lisa Bu’s TED Talk, supporting how books open one’s mind, uses the persuasive techniques of personal stories and diction to allow the reader to have a better understanding of the argument she is presenting. The use of personal stories allows a listener to have a more emotional connection to the speaker. This technique is used by Lisa Bu throughout her speech to support her statement that books have the ability to open an individuals mind. First, when she begins her speech, Bu immediately begins to talk about her childhood. Her dream following the end of her gymnast career was to become a Chinese Opera Singer. Although, her parents were strongly against this decision and instead wanted her to become an engineer and have a stable salary. Yet,…show more content… The first example of diction that influences the audience is during the beginning of her talk. Reflecting back to when Bu is describing her dream of being an opera singer, she explains that no adult thought it was a good idea. Her feelings are recalled as“being powerless” (Bu 1:14) during this time period. Within this quote, she uses the word powerless, which inflicts pity and emotion upon the audience. Another example of diction during this TEDtalk is when Bu reflects on what books mean to her. A Book is viewed by Bu as a“magic portal to connect with people of the past and the present” (Bu 5:04). The well known idea of a magic portal is a simplistic way to describe Bu’s emotional connection to books. By including this idea that everyone is familiar with, it allows people to connect back to their own experiences. The final example of diction used, is towards the conclusion of Bu’s speech. The reasonings behind Bu’s idea, begin to come together. Lisa Bu’s eyes begin to widen after reading a multitude of books and how they affect her life. The idea of this is demonstrated when Bu announce“having a dream shattered really is nothing compared to what many others have suffered” (Bu 5:16). The diction she uses in this quote such as shattered and suffered have an emotional tone that make the listener feel in depth with the story and argument in which Bu is conveying. With her emotion and clarity while speaking, her idea is producing a more in depth part to her argument. Through diction, Lisa Bu is causing the reader to have a sense that books are a portal of endless
