HOW NOT TO EMULATE AWOLOWO: PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES USED AS DISCOURSE CUES IN FELA DUROTOYE’S MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH

Abstract

Motivational speech is an overt psycholinguistic communicative discourse which is embedded with diverse human emotionally inspiring linguistic cues. Existing studies on public discourse have not sufficiently examined how persuasive strategies function as linguistic therapeutic cues through which discourse recipients’ minds are motivated. Therefore, this study investigates the discourse persuasive strategies employed by Fela Durotoye to motivate his audience in his speech: How not to emulate Awolowo. This selection is based on the copious persuasive strategies embedded in Fela Durotoye’s motivational speech delivered at the 2014 edition of The Obafemi Awolowo Annual Public Lecture in Lagos, Nigeria. Aristotelian rhetoric strategies of ethos, pathos and logos served as the framework. Analysis was done through a descriptive qualitative method which allowed us to provide verifiable explanation of what and how persuasive strategies are used in the speech.  The analysis revealed that the speaker effectively engages ethos, pathos and logos for the purpose of persuasion. Ethos is achieved through the sharing of the speaker’s life experience, reference to events and well-known icons, by showing his credentials as a well-informed researcher. He creates awareness, loveliness and friendliness. Pathos occurs as he engages audience’s emotion through narrativisation, repetition, rhetorical questions, etc. Logos is established by giving some logical evidences, imagery, imperatives, parallelism and negative structures. The study concludes that persuasive strategies are the backbone of a successful motivational speech, as Durotoye has established his credibility, connected emotionally to his audience by harnessing the power of ethos, pathos and logos.

Keywords: Motivational speech, Persuasive discourse, Ethos, Pathos, Logos.