Delivery: The Primary Canon of Rhetoric

For those who don’t know, rhetoric and its practices are characterized by five main canons of rhetoric. These canons include memory, invention, arrangement, style, and, last but not least, delivery. While each of these is very important and helps to make effective presentations, I feel that one of these, in particular, carries the weight in every single speech. When it comes to crafting rhetoric for an intended purpose or audience, I feel that nothing else matters if the delivery of one’s speech or pitch lacks an effective delivery. While you can have everything you wanted to say ready from memory, the delivery of a piece is the foundation upon which a speaker’s style, arrangement, invention, and memory depend on. For instance, a personal speech does not have to have the factual and intellectual merit an unplanned speech does if the delivery of the message is strong. The devil is in the details and even the most knowledgeable speakers will pale in comparison to a speaker who knows how to deliver their content in a way that touches the entire audience.

The best speeches are those that move a crowd through the appeal a presenter gives as they speak. For me, delivery is more important that invention because, while you may create a great ideal, it is meaningless if you cannot give this point or appeal in a way that catches the eye of your observers. The same goes for style. You can have great style but will never portray this if you cannot deliver your words efficiently to your audience. The same goes for arrangement as it is a structural aspect very similar to style. For these reasons and more, I feel that delivery is truly the cement that holds together all five canons of rhetoric.