Identifying Persuasive Techniques: Identify and describe 3 of the persuasive techniques used by Colin Stokes in his TED Talk ‘How Movies Teach Manhood’. Explain how these techniques are used. Do you find them effective?
There are a number of different techniques that Colin Stokes uses in his TED Talk ‘How Movies Teach Manhood’. Firstly, he makes use of emotive language. This is when words are included that are aimed at sparking strong emotions within the listener. Examples of the emotive language that Stokes uses include the words ‘courage’, ‘loyalty’ and ‘alarming’. He uses this technique to emphasize the points that he makes and to ensure that the listeners stay interested. This is an effective method for putting forward his argument.

Stokes also uses personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘we’ to build his relationship with the audience members and make them feel included and important. This helps to engage the listeners and keep them on side. It succeeds at creating the impression that the points that he makes are for their benefit and that he is genuinely concerned about them.

Finally, Stokes uses repetition, for example when he repeats the notion that something needs to be done to demonstrate to young boys what manhood should actually entail. This helps to reinforce his points and embed them in the audience’s brain. It achieves its purpose, as it makes his speech more memorable and helps the information that he conveys to sink in.