Ronald H. Carpenter Ph.D. is Professor of English and Communication Studies at the University of Florida. A
prolific and prize-winning scholar in rhetorical theory and the history of American public address, he is the author
of the History As Rhetoric, other books on rhetoric of Douglas MacArthur, Father Charles E. Coughlin, and
Frederic Jackson Turner, and numerous journal articles about the language of political discourse. Dr. Carpenter
conducts his "Write Well - Write Now" training program for corporate executives, business groups, lawyers
and judges, public relations professionals, incoming classes of officers at the U.S. Naval War College, and other
people whose success and leadership depend upon persuasive communication.
Summary
Under the influence of the media, it is easy to forget the tremendous impact of the speaker on an audience.
Today's media enables speakers who once addressed hundreds in auditoriums to increase their public to millions
through television. Dr. Carpenter's relevant research and careful scholarship about how to pick the best words
and arrange them in the best orders will help the speaker become a stylist and slogan-maker whose sentences may
become sound bites on the evening news or quoted in newspaper accounts the day after the speech has been made.
Design speeches so that listeners anticipate key words.
Depart from the common idiom by using "rhetorical shorthand".
Create credibility without a publicity advantage.
Table of Contents
1. Orality, Rhetoric, and Eloquence.
2. Antitheses Everywhere.
3. Content and Credibility.
4. Metaphor: The Rhetorical Shorthand.
5. Repeating and Omitting � Point and Counterpoint.
