The environment and animal consumption, a speech deconstruction
Speeches serve a significant role in communication processes. Speeches aim to pass the message, inform the audience, entertain, and persuade the audience towards a sure thing. Resultantly, the address follows this process to attain the ultimate goal. However, it is essential to consider several perspectives like the target audience, the communication mode, speech structure and organization, and persuasion factors. These are a few factors to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of speech in its communication. The paper focuses on analyzing Genesis Butler’s lecture on “A Vision of Healing the Planet” using the target audience, communication mode, speech structure, organization, and persuasion factors.
Significance of the Speech
The speech is given by a ten-year-old animal rights activist known as Genesis Butler. Butler is exploring the introspection and interconnection between the environment and animal consumption. Using unsettling evidence and humor, Butler offers insightful knowledge and experience on how minor decisions destroy the universe. The speech is informing and persuading people on how to conserve the environment by reducing animal consumption. According to D’Silva, Joyce, and John Webster, the social significance of Butler’s speech was a herald call against the consumption of animals by human beings. The speaker cites the wrongful nature of killing animals like cows for meat to sustain humanity (Butler, 00.01.09-00.04.02). There are better alternatives for nutritional feeding from plants instead of killing animals.
Target Audience
The target audience for this beautiful speech on animal consumption is non-vegan people across the globe. The lesson is addressing people who take or consume animal meat/products for the meal. However, the speech’s intake and its effects vary across the spectrum since some audiences are likely to agree with Butler’s ideas, while others will disagree with her.
Delivery Techniques
Butler has used persuasive techniques to deliver her speech. Specifically, she has applied caricatured persuasion, where she focuses on convincing the audience against animal product consumption. She persuades the audience that animal consumption is inherently and ethically wrong but being vegetarian is right. Besides, Butler has applied both verbal and non-verbal cues effectively to deliver the intended message. In this case, she has successfully used the facial expression, tonal variations, dramatic pauses, and pacing the podium to ensure the message is delivered as intended. Ultimately, Butler’s delivery technique in her speech is useful because it keeps the listeners intrigued and keen throughout her address.
Organization Technique
The structure and organization of the speech are suitably developed. The plot and the flow of ideas are chronologically organized. The organization of the address is subtle and easy to follow. For example, Butler has organized her speech into three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. She starts the address subtly, providing examples touching the subject of animal consumption covered in the speech (Butler, 00.01.07-00.03.10). After this critical introduction, Butler takes a position on animal consumption, basing the discussion on the introductory part. In the body, she argues that animal consumption is ethically wrong. Conclusively, Butler summarizes her speech with a reiteration of her position that animal consumption is wrong. She proclaims a herald call to the subject matter.
Persuasive Techniques
Aristotle classified rhetorical appeals into three: pathos, logos, and ethos (Stucki & Fritz Sager 376). Butler has applied the appeal to emotions (pathos) in her speech, especially the delivery technique. She opens her address by noting that she asks her mother to get milk, to which she responds as calving cows. She then asks how it made her feel if people would take her milk and give it to others for their nourishment (Butler, 00.01.09-00.01.15). Her mother is amazed by a totality of attempts to sway the audience to her perspective on animal consumption by employing emotions.
Personal reflection
I chose this speech as I believe it touches a lot on humanity. The connection I had with the lesson is that it highlights the hypocrisy of the vegan population. This is the case as a truly vegan individual should refrain from animal products and only not food alone. It is hypocritical that one wouldn’t have a beefsteak but would happily strap on leather boots. This is also the feedback I would relay to the speaker: in as much as her organization and persuasion techniques were on point, a better analysis of opposing views would serve as prudent in the speech.