By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Once you’re aware of “dehumanization” as a feature of communication, you start to see it everywhere. Characterizing a group as less than human in one or more ways is often part of the rhetorical landscape on the most divisive issues. If economic or political migrants, for example, are viewed as animals, […]
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Generally speaking, the “exigence” refers to the needs or demands of a situation, as in “the exigences of city living.” However, within the fields of persuasive communication and rhetoric, the exigence has a more particular meaning. Theorist Lloyd Bitzer first applied that meaning in a 1968 piece called “The Rhetorical
Know Your Exigence Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Just before Thanksgiving, the White House released a statement on U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia in the wake of the brutal murder of U.S. journalist and Saudi expatriate Jamal Khashoggi. The short version of President Trump’s message? Nothing has changed. Despite the fact that Mr. Khashoggi was a permanent U.S. resident, a
Beware of Paraleipsis (and Other Shady Rhetorical Strategies) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Defendants, and some plaintiffs, can have a source problem when it comes to legal persuasion. They’re already seen as morally questionable, and that makes whatever claims are coming from them already suspect. For defendants, they’re tainted because something bad happened and they’re “the accused.” And some plaintiffs also get that
Make Your Language More Personal and Less ‘Polite’ Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A few days ago, after the National Rifle Association got wind of a new issue of Annals of Internal Medicine which included several articles on gun control, the organization tweeted back at the doctors: “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane.” Once various other conservative commentators jumped aboard, the
Stay in Your Lane (But Own That Lane) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: You know how the joke begins: “A guy walks into a bar…” But wait, for you to know the punch line, this has to be past tense. So wouldn’t it be, “A guy walked into a bar…?” It could be. But usually it is “walks” – present tense. Why? Because
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As our team was conducting a recent social media analysis on a jury pool, one particular potential juror stood out. He was, as he proudly proclaimed in his public online messages, a “flat-earther.” And this belief of his, that we live on a flat plane rather than on a globe,
See the Threads of Conspiracy Thinking Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The U.S. midterm elections are now in the rearview mirror, with the ballots counted and the races — most of them at least — settled. But with a mixed result, it is no surprise that we’re hearing complaints from both sides about possible corruption, with liberals focusing on online misinformation,
Expect that Jurors Might Think the System is Rigged Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: How do humans assess large sets of evidence? We start by simplifying and internally summarizing. One of the main ways we do that is to boil the information down to a limited number categories, usually two. For example, let’s say you’re trying to assess the health effects of a glass
Understand the Binary Bias Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Experts have a tough job translating sometimes technical detail to lay audiences and working closely with a party to the litigation while still maintaining the role of “teacher” rather than “advocate.” Some excellent and wide-ranging advice on how to thread that needle comes in the form of a couple of