Zelensky's armoury of rhetoric

Volodymyr Zelensky’s way with words is a formidable weapon in the war for his country’s and his own survival, rallying national and international support against Russia.

His recent brave tweets from the streets of Kyiv, disproving Russian propaganda claims against him, displayed to the world his mastery of modern communications methods.

He’s also an excellent public speaker in a more formal setting. For evidence, take his inaugural speech in May 2019 to the Ukrainian Parliament. Here’s a quick look at some aspects of that speech, examining how he made deft use of the full panoply of rhetorical devices to achieve his aims.

?Watch the first couple of minutes of his speech to see him spin a cute anecdote about his six-year-old son into a soaring appeal to the personal responsibility of every Ukrainian citizen.

He hammered home the idea of national unity with the insistent repetition of phrases like “everyone” and “each of us”, an old but ever effective technique known as “anaphora”. ?

“Every one of us is President now,” he said. “It’s not mine, it’s our common victory. And it’s our common chance for which we take shared responsibility. And it wasn’t just me who took the oath now. Each of us — each of us — put a hand on the Constitution, and each of us has sworn loyalty to Ukraine.”

Zelensky tells every Ukrainian that Europe must be there in their heads (2’30”)

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The second big idea in his speech is that Ukraine is a European country, respecting European values, and that it should start behaving as such in order to roll back the corruption and decadence of previous regimes.

You will see in the clip how he taps his own head as he speaks of where those European principles are lodged. “A European country starts with everyone. Yes, we have chosen a direction to Europe, but Europe is not somewhere there, it’s here. And when Europe is here, it will come to our country.”

Using a part of the body (or indeed, part of anything) to represent the whole is called “synecdoche”, another tried and true rhetorical device, ever used to good dramatic effect.

?A third theme of President Zelensky’s inaugural speech certain to get up Vladimir Putin’s nose was his call to Ukrainians around the world to return to their homeland to build a new, better country. “To everyone who is ready to build a new and successful Ukraine, I will happily give you Ukrainian citizenship… Bring us your knowledge, experience, and values. All of this will help us start a new epoch. Skeptics will say it’s a fantasy, it’s impossible. But maybe this is just our national idea: to unite and do something that’s impossible, in spite of everything.”

This technique of raising objections up front to better dismiss them is known as “procatalepsis”, a valuable trick for any public speaker keen to stay one step ahead of the inevitable critics.

?I urge you to watch the full 18-minute speech, available here. It’s powerful stuff. His closing remarks are especially poignant today:?“During my life, I have been doing my best to make Ukrainians smile. I felt that it wasn’t just my job, it was my mission. In the next five years, I will be doing everything, Ukrainians, for you not to cry.”

?Charles Fleming, 28th February 2022

?You can read my other articles about public speaking and interview techniques on the Expression/Impression blog, available?here.?

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