Birth of a Hashtag

Before this weekend, most of us did not know who Devin Durrant was, except in our outdated Fantasy Basketball Leagues. After the Sunday afternoon session, most of us would still not recognize the name, but we would immediately spot the now-famous catchphrase:

Of course, the most memorable part of the talk was the new word added to each of our church vocabularies. The method of introducing a new word gave him the opportunity to apply a definition of it, fresh from any previous connotations that would have been introduced if he had used a more common word.

Also notable was the method in which he introduced his topic. The most painful part of being a missionary is listening to poorly prepared lessons with a weak commitment glued onto the end with a gluestick so weak it couldn't hold together your kindergarten art project. Rather than sticking his commitment onto the end of his work, Brother Durrant led in with the commitment. This allowed him to grab our interest before the particulars of the challenge ebbed away at us. Eager young minds immediately answer yes when asked to do something, so by selling us an idea before telling us what was required was an excellent skill to pique our interest.

As a member of the Sunday School presidency who has never given a talk in General Conference before, Elder Durrant provided an excellent introduction. Although his own name may not be remembered, the advent of the internet as well as the message's unique tone  ensure that ponderizing will stick around for several conferences to come.

Form Affects Function!

There are many different ways to organize a speech. Some speakers choose a long, rambling style, with lots of stories and examples. Others choose a more direct style, with clear organization and tight points. The talk that I analyzed, by Carole M. Stephens, offered an integrated approach that I really liked, and which effectively brought all of the elements of her talk together in an easily digestible, yet pointed and purposeful format.



Sister Stephens started by telling us a story about her granddaughter. She could not get her granddaughter to behave, despite rewards, punishments, and begging, until her granddaughter realized that she loved her. Once she realized this, everything went smoothly. This was a great little story that appealed to ethos and pathos, but then Sister Stephens transitioned to that little girl's trust that was based on love, and in turn to our trust for our Heavenly Father that we can have because of His love for us. What started as an engaging story turned into a point by point discourse of logos on the trust that we can have in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and their servants on the earth. She then wrapped it up by relating it back to that original story of a little girl trusting her grandmother.

It was perfect. Ethos, pathos and logos were all effectively appealed to. The organization made it easy to remember, despite our occasional tendency to forget exactly what speakers said. The ending conclusion left us with the sweet feeling of a child's trust in our loving Heavenly Father, and the excellent organization of the talk was an important part of achieving that. The talk was a great example of how style can truly affect the content of a speech and its effect, rather than being simply a tool to be used.

Power in Stories

A captivating and relatable story is one of the best ways to not only set up your ethos, but to draw in and connect with the audience almost instantaneously. Howard Gardner (1995), a Harvard psychologist, wrote that “[L]eaders achieve their effectiveness chiefly through the stories they relate.”  Elder Allen D. Haynie of the Quorum of the 70 not only knew somewhat of the power of telling stories, but he mastered the art of relating to an audience of all ages, cultures and experiences.  He began his discourse with a fun memory of when he was a child digging up dirt with his friends.  He eventually got dirty because of a mud hole, and wanted to go back inside- to which his grandma rejected.  The story was funny and quickly grabbed the attention of the listeners.  Although most didn’t know who he was, they felt an instant connection, not only because of the humor, but because the story was relatable to every age- as either the grandparent scolding the child or the innocent, care-free child.  People from all countries could relate as well because most everyone has resources to getting dirty and playing with friends.  

Another tool Elder Haynie used in telling a story was the canon of memory- specifically, making one’s speech memorable.  As well as using a story to help the audience remember his speech, he also focused completely on one topic- every scripture, quote, and testimony relating directly to how the Savior’s Atonement can give us hope and make us clean.  Throughout the talk he used powerful word patterns to help his audience remember what was said.  “The Atonement makes the Saviors invitation to ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect’, perfectly possible, rather than frustratingly out of reach.”  People today LOVE these elegant phrases.  Elder Haynie realized the great power in focusing on the canon of memory.  Besides, what good is a talk if the audience can’t remember it?     

Aren't They Awesome?

My dad, who is a coach for the BYU rugby team and had to travel with them to Boise this past weekend, told me that the players were more anxious to hear who the new apostles were going to be than they were to play! Even though the BYU rugby team was only a tiny portion of the huge and very excited audience anxiously awaiting the announcement of who would be called as the new apostles for the church, this event turned out to be a major commonplace for everyone watching general conference.

 Elder Rasband started his talk by softly relaying the first couple sentences of the well known hymn: I stand all amazed. This tactic was the perfect conduit into his very humble testimony of the savior and undeviating faith. The entire arrangement of his talk had a very pathos like appeal as he thanked those special ones in his life as well as the Lord for trusting him with his new calling. His humble delivery helped us feel that he as a new general authority would have a lot to learn, but can still be trusted. From the way he and the other new apostles delivered their talks, I am very excited to hear what they will have to say in the future!

 I can't imagine what it must've been like for these new apostles to try and sum up all that they needed/wanted to say in the matter of a few minutes. I was very interested to see how they were going to show this world wide audience that they were ready for their new responsibilities. I had decided to analyze Elder Rasband's talk for that very reason. I was immediately captivated with the direction Elder Rasband took with his talk as it was a perfect way to establish his ethos and great gratitude for his new calling.

Can't Help but Love Them!

Timing is Everything

              As the finale of six sessions, Elder Bednar had the unique opportunity the wrap up and to have the final say in this October’s Conference.  This placement gave him the privilege of being well heard—as speakers placed in the middle of sessions often get muddled together for the audience.  It also helped ensure that his message would be remembered—as his words were the final echoing bells in the ears of those listening.  With such a setup in place, it was pivotal that Elder Bednar take full advantage.  And, he did.

             Elder Bednar absolutely played to his given kairos.  One, his subject perfectly summed up the previous conference addresses.  With the passing of former leaders and the calling of the new, it was fitting that he focused on the role of leadership throughout his talk.  He combined the sense of humility and capability of the church’s leaders that had been constant themes.  Two, he appealed to pathos—reminding the audience of their love and admiration for former leaders and giving them a desire to form such affinity for the newly called.

            Not only was his subject well placed in the conference setting, but it also fit perfectly with the current status of the world in general. Many question church leadership—claiming that the elderly are outdated.  As the world becomes more pressed for equality and increased social liberty, people have a hard time conforming to the “old ways.”  However, Elder Bednar addressed such concerns with logos—explaining not only that “it’s the Lord’s way” (which would generally be seen as a weak argument to society) but logically describing the “why”.
            By addressing leadership, Elder Bednar was able to created ethos for all of the previous speakers, create an increased desire in the audience to act on what they had learned throughout the conference sessions, and address/rebuttal the concerns of society on the matter. (listen to address)

Making the Most of Maxims

While many general authorities quote or reference others' proverbs and maxims, President Uchtdorf creates his own. Personally, I have always remembered President Uchtdorf for his short, profound expressions that hold weight in any context. Although I never realized it before, I now understand that these clever and inspirational ideas have always added ethos to his messages.

In the Saturday morning session, for example, he declares, "Sometimes we take the beautiful Lily of God's truth and guild it with layers upon layers of manmade good ideas, programs, and expectations". He mixes imagery and personification to intensify a quite simple idea: simplicity is always better (no pun intended). It's almost ironic how he expresses simplicity through complex and sophisticated means.

President Uchtdorf's classic use of his hands

He later summarizes his motivation for speaking by saying, "Exaltation is our goal. Discipleship is our journey." As we discussed in class, the parallelism contributes to the logos of his claim. We can easily see the differences between exaltation and discipleship, and yet we understand that one leads to the other. Such simplicity makes his claim more memorable and transposes it to a maxim as we are familiar with.

Uchtdorf prepares the audience for each of his "proverbs" through his delivery. His tone changes, he adds pauses throughout, and he uses his hands to emphasize the key words. While sometimes cliche patterns like this can remove credibility from the speaker, I feel like he maintains his originality by varying his tone and the length of his pauses.

My mission journals are filled with inspirational quotes from President Uchtdorf. I always look forward to his talks because I have the expectation that I'll walk away with a profound and original idea for improving my life. He obviously has gained credibility for me through his clever use of maxims and proverbs.

Creating Ethos Through Personability

As Elder Larry R. Lawrence of the 70 spoke, I was pleased to realize that his talk was extraordinarily easy to listen to. Gavin goes into the precise parallelism Lawrence used to accomplish this purpose in his blog post.  

I could go on for pages about the brilliance of Lawrence's arrangement, but what I would like to instead briefly focus on is how he strengthened his credibility.

I don't know about you, but during general conference, I tend to be more excited about hearing familiar speakers, such as members of the first presidency or the quorum of the 12. I wasn't expecting to get anything life-altering out of Lawrence's comments, but that attitude was quickly changed. With his confident and wise demeanor and discussion of how important it is for us to undertake the journey of discipleship, I was quickly comforted and captivated as he explained how the Holy Ghost "is an ideal traveling companion". The overarching subject of this talk was achieving perfection--but it wasn't intimidating, because Elder Lawrence emphasized that "our direction is more important than our speed"--and that he too was on that same journey.

As Elder Lawrence shared promptings received by others and by himself, I was struck by how real he was. I think that I often put apostles up on pedestal, and sometimes it's hard to imagine them ever making mistakes. Lawrence shared personal promptings that he had received, such as "don't raise your voice", "take better care of your body by eating more fruits and vegetables", and "be patient when driving. Don't exceed the speed limit....I'm still working on that last one". For me, this showed me that he knew where we were at, and that he had been there too. This built his ethos by making me want to listen to this man who was also working on navigating life and had answers on how to do it successfully. This technique even drove home the message of his talk: I'm not going to be perfect in this life, and that's okay. But I can improve as I ask the Lord "what lack I yet?"