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Part I: Honing Your Communication Skills
Swapping phrases to make a point
Rhetoric is the art of conversation
that speakers employ to motivate
or persuade their listeners. One
rhetorical technique you can use to
draw attention to a particular point
is to relate two or more clauses to
each other by reversing the structure
of the sentence. One of the
best-known examples comes from
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll:
‘Then you should say what you
mean,’ the March Hare went on.
‘I do,’ Alice hastily replied, ‘at
least. . .at least I mean what I
say. . .that’s the same thing, you
know.’
‘Not the same thing a bit!’ said
the Hatter. ‘Why, you might just
as well say that “I see what I
eat” is the same thing as “I eat
what I see”!’
A famous modern example is John
F. Kennedy’s ‘Mankind must put an
end to war or war will put an end to
mankind.’
Edward had the habit of using vague and uncertain wording.
Whether he said ‘I’ll try to call you’ or ‘hopefully, I’ll have this
report in by the end of the week’ he sounded weak and his
friends and colleagues doubted his intentions. Edward developed
this habit as a protection against disappointing others.
It gave him an ‘out clause’ so that if he didn’t follow through
he was able to offer an acceptable excuse. Sadly, his intention
backfired on him and he gained a reputation for being inconsistent
and not to be trusted.
When Edward realised this negative impact, he practised
saying ‘I will’ instead of ‘I’ll try’. By making this alteration and
a verbal commitment to his intention, he confirmed his commitment,
and followed through on what he said he would do
to prove that he’s a man of his word. While following through
is a habit Edward still struggles with, by changing his language
pattern, he no longer gives himself an excuse for not
doing what he says he’s going to do.
As Yoda from the Star Wars films says, ‘There is no try. There
is only do.’
You can enhance your meaning by selecting specific descriptive
words and examples for clarity. For example, instead of
saying that you’d like your assistant to create a template for
contracts, be explicit about the details, as in: ‘I’d like separate