When you think of framing you may think of putting a picture into a frame to hang on the wall. In rhetoric framing is not simply hanging a picture on the wall. In rhetoric framing is the act of resetting the argument. Framing lets a person reset an argument and put the ball back in their court. This allows the person to get the upper hand on the argument by allowing them to put the topic and the opponent where you want them.
Framing requires three different steps. The first step is to find the commonplace words that work towards your goal. Commonplace words are the words that boil down the opponent’s argument. These words are what really matters to the audience and what they want most of all. Identifying the commonplace words allows you to switch the direction of the argument by making it appear that you want the same things.
The next framing step is broadest context. This is defining
the issue in a way that appeals to the widest amount of people. The broadest
context is what it sounds like, the less descriptive definition of the issue
that the most people can relate too. Let’s pretend that a group of people are
arguing about whether Reese’s candy is good or bad. A person may get up and say
that they like candy in general, most people will agree with this. This is an
example of broadest context.
The third framing step is to deal with the problem by speaking in future tense. By speaking in future tense, it makes it where it seems that nothing has to happen in that moment. When people think that they won’t have to deal with an issue til later on they are more likely to be okay with that solution. An hypothetical situation could be that someone’s car is on it’s last leg and will probably die within a couple months. The repair person could say that their car is dead and needs replaced as soon as possible but this would make the person upset. The repair person could also word it as though the car will need to be replaced in the future. Even though in both wordings the car will need replaced soon, the second one makes it appear as though it is a future problem and does not need to be worried about at that moment.
These are the three different framing techniques and how they are useful to change a conversation in your favor.
This is a very interesting and useful tactic to winning an argument. I never thought about going to the broadest context but it sounds very effective. If done correctly, I think this would be very easy and successful.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you wrote about this topic because I had no idea it was so important. Resettling the argument can renew any argument and create a new foundation for persuasion. When this is done, there are endless opportunities and outcomes, which is key in rhetoric; we sometimes need a "reset" button when things don't go our way!
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very important. Its very effective and a way of using persuasion. I think when people use this they have to use it in the right context or it won't be useful.
ReplyDelete