Mastering Rhetoric #3: Balancing statements

Balancing sentences are more likely stick in the mind of the audience and the human mind is drawn to the symmetry of the statement. A balanced statement is a believable statement.

The next rhetorical building block to master is to use up to three statements which balance each other. Such as Clinton’s ‘there’s nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America’ 

When we hear a statement that is balanced in this way, we will often make the assumption that the underlying argument or reasoning is also balanced and so is also believable. 

There is no house without a dog that will not become a happier home with a dog.

Even if the balancing statements are unprovable or otherwise cliché they can still have influence when used as part of this balancing act:

A balanced statement is a believable statement. 

We are working together, not against one another

We are looking to the future, not the past

Mastering Rhetoric is one of the modules in our Online Speakers Masterclass. Learn how to write, practice and deliver influential and inspiring speeches and presentations and get personal feedback from your coach by video. Learn more and join the next class.