This book provides a rhetorical manual for political and business leaders to motivate followers even in times of hardship. It covers the fine art of persuasion and argues that there are four speeches every leader has to know: the opening speech, the executioner speech, the consolation speech, and the farewell speech. The authors explore how leaders could speak in order to appear credible to an audience, and they argue that the leader has to take on suffering and give meaning to the suffering people experience. The book analyzes speeches from a wide variety of speakers, including Sir Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, and Angela Merkel, and ends with a rhetorical dictionary for leaders to help readers familiarize themselves with helpful terms from rhetorical theory.

Provides an insightful practical introduction drawing upon classical rhetorical theory

Includes a rhetorical dictionary for political and business leaders

Explores speeches given by world leaders, from the political sphere and beyond

Highlights the significance of suffering as something a leader must take on

Autorentext

Joar Haga is Associate Professor II of Church History at NLA University College, Norway, and Associate Professor of Church History at VID Specialized University, Norway.

Bård Norheim is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at NLA University College, Norway.

Zusammenfassung
"With all the talk of suffering, one might assume this book is just one long grim warning about the perils lurking around the podium, ready to snare an unsuspecting speaker (as if in a horror movie). The Four Speeches is much more than that. Bård Norheim and Joar Haga have produced a thoughtful and lively volume focused on a difficult aspect of executive communications with which every speechwriter wrestles. Every scribe should read it." (Neil Hrab, Vital Speeches of the Day, December 13, 2019)

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction: A Rhetoric of SufferingChapter 2. The Opening Speech: Envisioning the FutureChapter 3. The Executioner Speech: Communicating Tough DecisionsChapter 4. The Consolation Speech: The Leader as ComforterChapter 5. The Farewell Speech: Leaving a Legacy Worth Suffering ForEpilogueRhetorical Dictionary for LeadersIndex