A Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By Bryan Stevenson

The speech I chose to analyse was given by Bryan Stevenson in an official TED conference, where he talks about the importance of identity and the hard truths about America’s justice system that affects primarily young black men. Stevenson is a human rights lawyer and also the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative where he fights poverty and challenges racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. In this persuasive speech, Bryan Stevenson delivers a very well organized and informative talk about the social injustice against people of color, he opens up with a great way to grab the attention of the audience by stating- “ I spend most of my time in jails, in prisons, on death row.” (0:26). His simple yet powerful opening creates a mystery for the audience and instantly pulls them in by wanting to know more about what direction his speech is going, leaving everyone in suspense and wanting to know

He mentions that- “ One of the things that’s emerged in my short time here that TED has an identity. And you can actually say things here that has impacts around the world. And sometimes when it comes through TED, it has meaning and power that it doesn’t have when it doesn’t.” (0:36). By emphasizing that fact in his speech he is able to persuade his audience into accepting his information as important and worth hearing, Stevenson also goes on to say that TED has an identity that gives those who want to bring awareness to a matter can be sure that if spoken through TED it carries more value. From the beginning Stevenson has accomplished establishing himself as someone that, we the audience; should take seriously and has the credentials to speak on matters of social injustice and the importance of