When It All Comes Together: Description, Context, and Analysis of Effective Communication

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Have you ever wondered what the line is between crazy or sane? Is there a way, a definitive test, that can tell for sure whether or not a person is crazy? If you take the time to study psychology and specifically the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, you are sure to find out that you can easily be diagnosed with some level and type of mental disorder. This line of questioning is what begins, in my opinion, one of the best TED talks I have viewed. In his speech, Answers to the Psychopath Test, writer and filmmaker Jon Ronson takes the listener on an amazing journey that explores the strange and maddening world of psychopathy.
Right from the beginning there are several ideas from the Communication: Principle for a Lifetime, textbook that overwhelm the listener, and add to the successful delivery of the speech. The first idea, even before Ronson begins speaking, is the use of attention-getting support material. The stage is a dimly lit bright red circle with Ronson standing in the middle. Behind him are two support assistants providing lighting, visual, and sound presentations. In big ominous letters on the wall behind Ronson are the initials DSM alluding to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual which he refers to in his opening.
Ronson's speech starts with a personal story intended to connect the listener, and shed some light on what got him thinking about the idea in the first place. In analyzing this first part of the speech, as described by authors Steven A. Beebe, Susan J. Beebe, and Diana K. Ivy in Communication: Principles for a Lifetime, Ronson's presentation type falls into the category of a presentation about ideas (Beebe 364). As he speaks he connects the listener to a short chronological history of the DSM, and explai...

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...sual and audio symbolism sets the mood for the points Ronson is speaking.
In the end, Ronson sums up his speech by asking the question, “What would you do?” In this question it somewhat compels a discussion between listeners, and yet, at the same time is rhetorical from the speaker, because he has already answered what he would do. By using this technique he has planted a seed of discussion. The discussion however, was to be between others, and not him, because he has already set his position. Overall it was an intriguing and deeply provoking way to end a speech.

Works Cited

Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Diana K. Ivy. Communication: Principles for a Lifetime. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.
Ronson, Jon. "Jon Ronson: Strange Answers to the Psychopath Test." TED 2012. 28 May 2014. .

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