ABSTRACT
The author discusses the importance of sonic rhetoric; that is, the persuasive power of prosodic features, including voice quality, tempo, loudness, rhythm, intonation, emphasis, pitch and pitch range, and other factors. Each of the features is explained, and its influence on persuasion is illustrated with examples and supported with empirical research. The author separately discusses the influence of prosodic features on ethos, pathos, and logos. She connects prosodic features and perception of emotions to persuasion via pathos. Furthermore, she connects the perception of a speaker’s personality traits and prosodic features to persuasion via ethos. And, finally, she discusses examples in which prosodic features are an essential part of persuasion via logos. The main goal of this chapter is to show how prosodic features are more than just mere “packaging” of the verbal message, and that they contribute to the persuasive potential of language.
