Essay on Rhetoric: Nonverbal Communication and Rhetoric

Submitted By debicker
Words: 873
Pages: 4

David Bicker
Writing 2010
2-5-13
Rhetoric Rhetoric is something most people know how to use but do not use on purpose. Forms of rhetoric can be used through spoken, written, or body language. As a child two of the first forms of rhetoric one learns are to smile in response to a positive stimulus and to cry when upset. Rhetoric is a way of communicating to get a point across, with some impressive effect. It is most commonly used as a way to manipulate, or persuade people. Rhetoric makes communication easier and more interesting. Body language is the first form of rhetoric a person learns. When trying to impress someone a person will stand with better posture and appear confident without needing to say much, the person has already shown how he/she wants to be viewed. However, body language can also demonstrate disinterest as well. For example avoiding eye contact is a common way people skip past awkward conversations with others. Using rhetoric in body language is tough but, people use this type of rhetoric every day and it is easy to practice. Understanding body language rhetoric and how it can be used consciously to communicate a point more effectively is a start to become an efficient user of rhetoric. Even a person who understands rhetoric may not be the best at using it. As previously mentioned, a person can use rhetoric without knowing but, what are good ways to consciously use it to better communicate a point. An example of this could be trying to tell a person you have not met that you like adventurous things, by sharing you have visited odd places and done things most people do not want to try. Explaining to the stranger that you went sky diving in Australia shows that you like to travel and want to do adventures activities. Letting a person know more specific details will better communicate who you are as a person and how you want to be portrayed.
Learning how to use two types of rhetoric consciously can help make one even more easily understood. For instance if a teacher asked each student to say one thing about him/herself and a student talked about how he broke his leg skiing, yet he is still skiing a year later. This student also used his body rhetoric to show how excited he is about skiing through wearing the logos of ski companies. By using both types of rhetoric the other student can assume that their peer will not let a broken leg stop him from enjoying skiing. Using one type of rhetoric can be good but adding two types will be easier and more precise for others to understand.
There are two types of people when using rhetoric, a producer and a consumer. A producer is a person who typically understands how to use rhetoric and make their point. The consumer is someone who is on the receiving end of the rhetoric the producer is using. However, to be a good producer, one must have an understanding of the consumer’s point of view of the situation. The producer will look at the consumer and think of a way to best approach the consumer so that the producer can get what he or she intended to get. For example a person looking to find out what time it is, will seek out a person with a watch on; the person