Rhetorical Devices and Non-verbal Cues - Tools for Effective Political Oratory in India

The aim of this paper is to find out rhetorical devices and nonverbal cues present in Indian political speeches. Though many Indian politicians seem to master the art of oratory; their speeches were rarely analyzed. This paper deals with two out of five canons of rhetoric i.e. ‘Style’ and ‘Delivery’ in Indian context. Two full-length speeches of 21st century Indian Prime Ministers have been analyzed to find out the purpose served by rhetorical devices and nonverbal cues in Indian context. Although the authenticity of the information produced by the orator has not been checked; the study did reveal different rhetorical devices used by Indian Prime Ministers and their non-verbal cues i.e. facial expressions, intonation, eye-contact, gesture, posture surfaced during speech