摘 要

公共演讲是指在公众场合的讲话，它以有声语言为主，辅以肢体语言，针对某个具体问题，清晰并完整地发表自己的观点及见解，进行宣传鼓动活动，从而达到传播思想的意图。公共演讲历史悠久，几千年来一直在全球文化中占有重要地位，它不仅是一种语言交际活动，更是一种文化活动，因为它是公民参与众多活动的重要形式，影响着人们的表达和思想并进而影响社会发展的进程。本文以美国总统大选期间伊万卡·特朗普的演讲“我的父亲是一名斗士”为例，研究了公共演讲中劝说策略的类型及重要意义，并从语内和语外两方面深入介绍了伊万卡在演讲中所使用的劝说性策略：演讲词所使用的修辞手法，伊万卡个人的肢体语言，以及她在演讲中对听众产生的情感激发等。文末进一步阐明了伊万卡能够力挽狂澜，帮助她的父亲唐纳德·特朗普成功竞选总统的原因。

关键词：劝说策略；修辞手法；肢体语言；情感激发

Abstract

Public speech is a formal talk that orators focus on specific issues and illustrate their opinions exactly to the audience in order to propagandize their ideas or instigate the audience so as to convey their opinions and achieve their aims. The orators give speeches in public with sound language and body language. Public speech which has been vital in human cultures around the world for several millennia is not only a kind of language communication activity but also a kind of cultural activity. More than a manner of influencing people’s ideas, it’s a vital form of engaging various activities through which people express ideas and affect society. This paper studies the types and functions of persuasion strategies in public speech in a case study of My Father Is a Fighter given by Ivanka Trump during the period of American presidential election. It exemplifies the functions of persuasion strategies in the aspects of intralinguistic and extralinguistic factors, including rhetoric devices, her body language, and emotional evocation in her speech. What’s more, this paper also describes Ivanka’s magnificent feats and the reasons why she can help her father, Donald Trump, run for president successfully in detail.

Key Words: Persuasion strategies; rhetoric devices; body language; emotional evocation

Contents

1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 3
   1. Conception of public speech 3
   2. Types and functions of public speech 3
   3. Reasons and purposes of studying persuasion strategies in Ivanka’s speech 4
3. Introduction to Ivanka’s My Father Is a Fighter 6
   1. Background of Ivanka’s speech 6
   2. Intralingual and extralingual persuasion strategies in Ivanka’s speech 6
4. Intralingual Persuasion Strategies in Ivanka’s Speech 8
   1. Definition of intralingual persuasion strategies 8
   2. Rhetoric devices and their effects in Ivanka’s speech 8
5. Extralingual Persuasion Strategies in Ivanka’s Speech 12
   1. Definition of extralingual persuasion strategies 12
   2. Body language and its effects 12
   3. Emotional evocation and its effects 13
6. Conclusion 15

References 16

Acknowledgements 17

Persuasion Strategies in English Public Speech

-- A Case Study of Ivanka Trump's My Father Is a Fighter

Introduction

Throughout history, people have used public speech as a vital means of influencing people and society. “What the Greek leader Pericles said more than 2500 years ago is still true today: ‘One who forms a judgment on any point but cannot explain’ it clearly ‘might as well never have thought at all on the subject’ (Stephen, 2004: 4).” Public speech is a way of sharing the speakers’ ideas with the audience in public and influencing them.

During modern times many orators have spread their ideas and influence their audiences through public speeches. In the United States, the famous orators include Martin Luther King, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Hussein Obama and so on. These celebrities have influenced their society and have turned the tables by giving public speeches. As soon as you hear these names, you will think of their magnificent feats. For instance, Abraham Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address. “Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” This is a part of Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln. This persuasive speech is more than a bunch of words. It’s powerful. Lincoln speaks to express his ideas and to make his feelings and attitudes known. And he succeeds. Now almost every people all over the world are impressed by the sentence that “all men are created equal”.