Rhetorical Analysis Of Ted Talk By Wendy Suzuki

Many people experience a moment in their lives when they walk into a room and forget why they entered the room in the first place. Forgetting can be a very annoying because it consumes time and can be very irritating. Fortunately, there is a simple technique that avoids confusion and memory loss. According to Wendy Suzuki, a professor of neural science and psychology, exercise does not only improve a person’s physical and mental condition, but also their memory. In the TED talk, “The brain-changing benefits of exercise”, Suzuki utilized Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, idea of artistic proof to inform and persuade her neutral audience to take action on the long-term impacts that exercise has on the brain. In order to convey her message to the

The speaker’s choice of topic relates to the audience’s interest since it dealt with improving their health conditions. She kept her audience engaged by asking questions such as “What if I told you there was something that you can do right now that would have an immediate, positive benefit for your brain…what if I told you that same thing could actually last a long time and protect your body from conditions like depression, Alzheimer's disease or dementia” (Suzuki 00:12-00:39). By starting with an open-ended question, directed towards the audience, Suzuki created a connection with the audience that would allow them to believe the upcoming content. This method was a pertinent way to express the main rhetorical exigence which is to inform the public about the benefits of memory retainment that results from exercise by making it relevant to their safety

Suzuki mentioned that exercising can increase the level of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline. This is one aspect where she was able to gain more credibility from other people such as students who have taken a psychology course before. However, I noticed that the speaker did not explain some scientific terms to the audience, so some of the content may seem vague to the audience unless they had some source of prior knowledge. Defining terms such as neurotransmitters would have helped the audience follow along better and increase the effectiveness of the persuasive process. In this case, I would further explain the scientific terminology to avoid any confusion and appear more trustworthy. Even though Suzuki demonstrated goodwill, she lacked to illustrate good moral character within the content. However, since she excelled in the other areas very well, her credibility increased along with the quality of the message, her reputation, and the audience’s perception of her.
Another mode in which the speaker demonstrated very well was the use of pathos. Pathos is the connection between the speaker and the listener that is created by appealing to the listener’s emotions, beliefs, and interests. Pathos provoke the listener to respond emotionally to the content of the message and pinpoint the speaker’s viewpoint. In order to sustain her integrity,