Any speech sets its clear goals depending on the audience to which it will be addressed. Therefore, Jim Carrey’s speech entitled The Need for Acceptance Will Make You Invisible is most likely addressed to an older listener who is fully aware of his actions and makes critical decisions. However, it is also worth noting that this motivational speech may also concern the adolescent category of the audience, as it shows the importance and influence that a person’s actions have on the rest of his life. A valuable aspect of how the speaker takes the audience into account is using the direct address “you”, asking questions and usage of repetition (“The Need for Acceptance”). This helps to gain a sense of intimacy with the author and build trust with the audience. Consequently, it is not possible to determine precisely what the audience may be since the speech covers a reasonably large number of categories of people, but it can be said that they may be experiencing difficulties in life and need support and motivation.
Rhetorical techniques allow people to give the effectiveness of speeches and provide a better process of conveying information. One of the strengths that can be noted in the studied speech is the hypophora technique. This technique consists in posing a question and answering it immediately. In the analyzed speech, the author asks a question about the weight and importance of the human ego and immediately answers that it is necessary to focus on entirely different aspects of life. The reason for this choice is that hypophora helps direct people in the right direction for action.
Another rhetorical technique that not only helps to attract the attention of listeners but also to reach their feelings and emotions is repetition. In the speech under study, the following sentence becomes the example of repetition, “that peace that we are after lies somewhere beyond personality, beyond the perception of others, beyond invention and disguise, even beyond effort itself” (“The Need for Acceptance”). The effect that this take has helps to emphasize the transmitted message and the importance.
Emotional appeal or pathos, logical approach or logos, and the authority of the speaker or ethos play essential roles in the effectiveness and usefulness of speech. This contributes to the creation of intimacy and trust between the audience and the speaker. Addressing the fear of “being not like others and standing out” assists in building an atmosphere that helps the author of the speech convey the value of motivation and desire to follow his own goals and desires. In Jim Carrey’s speech, ethos is reflected in his authority as a well-known personality and the emphasis on the fact that he also went a long way to achieve what he has. Logos is reflected in the rationale for why people should be unique and distance themselves from the drive to be like everyone else.
The presented speech is characterized by an effective word choice, which influences the quality of the transmitted message. In addition to rhetorical techniques and persuasive tactics, the author uses various motivating expressions that can awaken a person the desire to move on and make critical decisions based on personal emotions. An example would be, “The effect you can have on others is the most valuable currency there is” (“The Need for Acceptance”). Using such expressions helps bring the audience closer to the author for a better perception of information.
Work Cited
“The Need for Acceptance Will Make You Invisible-Jim Carrey.” YouTube, uploaded by After School, no date.