The analysis of Inaugural speeches of presidents in the Republic of Croatia

Retorika je moćno sredstvo uvjeravanja. Ona ima moć utjecaja na stavove, emocije i djelovanje ljudi. Zbog toga je političari koriste u svojim inauguracijskim govorima kako bi pridobili naklonost svoje publike. Grčki filozof Aristotel smatra kako na publiku utječu karakter govornika, logička argumentacija govornika i emotivni apel govornika. Za Aristotela je primarni element bila logička argumentacija, dok je u današnje vrijeme na prvome mjestu karakter govornika. Kada publika vrednuje govornika, ona najprije ispituje njegovu vjerodostojnost i poštenje. Tako više nije na prvome mjestu sadržaj govora i njegova argumentacija, već osobna procjena govornika od strane publike. Tako Weissman (2010: 2) navodi kako na publiku najviše utječe govornikov izgled i njegov govor tijela (55 posto), zatim govornikov glas i način na koji priča (38 posto), dok sadržaj koji priča na publiku utječe najmanje (tek 7 posto). Zbog toga je neverbalna komunikacija važan dio svakog govora. Njome govornik svjesno ili nesvjesno komunicira ono što zaista osjeća i misli. Prvi dio ovoga rada obuhvaća teorijski prikaz retorike i njenih zakonitosti, a drugi praktični dio obuhvaća analizu inauguracijskih govora Franje Tuđmana, Stjepana Mesića, Ive Josipovića i Kolinde Grabar-Kitarović na verbalnoj i neverbalnoj razini. Verbalna razina obuhvaća analizu: strukture govora, korištenje stilskih figura, modalnih izričaja i stručnih termina. Neverbalna razina obuhvaća: korištenje stanke u govoru, naglašavanje riječi intenzitetom glasa, gestikulacija, mimiku, i kontakt očima.Rhetoric is a powerful tool of persuasion. It has a power to influence on people's attitudes, emotions and action. Because of those perks, politicians use it in their inaugural speeches in order to gain the audience's favor. Greek philosopher Aristotle thinks that audience is influenced by the speaker's character, his logical argumentation and emotional appeal. For Aristotle, the primary element of communication was logical argumentation, but in the present time, that role belongs to the speaker's character. When the audience evaluates a speaker, they examine his credibility and honesty first. The content of speech and his arguments are no longer in the first place - they are being replaced by the audience's personal assessment. Weissman (2010: 2) states that speaker's appearance and body language have the biggest impact on the audience (55 percent), his voice and the way he talks are on the second place (38 percent) while the content of the speech is completely behind (only 7 percent). This is the reason why nonverbal communication is an important part of every speech. Speaker can use it consciously to express what he really feels and thinks, or he can unconsciously reveal his emotions. The first part of paper covers theoretical view of rhetoric and its legalities, while the second, practical part covers the analysis of inaugural speeches of Croatian Presidents (Franjo Tuđman, Stjepan Mesić, Ivo Josipović and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović) on verbal and non-verbal level. Verbal level includes the analysis of speech structure, use of stylistic figures, modal expressions and terminology. The non-verbal level includes use of speech breaks, emphasizing words with voice intensity, gestures, mimicry and eye contact