The occasion is the place and event where the speech is given. It may be a community
meeting, a classroom speech assignment, a business presentation, a local
fundraising reception, an informal group gathering, or any other time and place
where people assemble and relate to one another.
Some speech occasions are ceremonial (this is also known as epideictic, and
is discussed in Chapter 16), such as presenting or accepting an award, introducing
someone, delivering a eulogy, or commemorating an event. Others are primarily
deliberative, such as making an oral report, delivering a sales presentation
advocating a policy, or refuting another person’s argument. Ceremonial speaking
focuses on the present and is usually concerned with what is praiseworthy in the
subject. Deliberative speaking focuses on the future and is usually concerned with
what should be done.
Many occasions combine ceremonial and deliberative elements. For example, a
chief executive officer (CEO) who has been newly appointed in the wake of a fiscal
scandal in the company will likely have to speak to the company’s employees and
stockholders. The occasion is deliberative in that the CEO speaks about the state
and the direction of the company in light of the financial circumstances. The occasion
is also ceremonial, though, because the CEO’s presence demonstrates both a
new chapter in the company’s history and a personal interest in the well-being of
the workers and stockholders, and also because the speech seeks to reassure and
reaffirm the company’s dedication to employees and investors.
Similarly, the president’s State of the Union address is a ceremonial ritual prescribed
by the U.S. Constitution. But, especially in recent years, it’s the occasion
when the president is expected to persuade the public to support, and the Congress
to enact, the administration’s legislative proposals. This expectation makes
the State of the Union a deliberative occasion as well.
A third category of speech occasion, traditionally known as forensic, is concerned
with rendering judgments about events in the past. Although this is the
dominant form of speaking in courts of law, it plays only a small role in public
speaking elsewhere.9
Whatever the occasion, the audience arrives with ideas about what is and what
is not appropriate behavior. Such expectations have developed over time, and they
limit what a speaker can do in responding to the rhetorical situation. For example,
listeners expect a eulogy to offer a favorable view of the deceased, and they normally
would think it inappropriate for a speaker to dwell on the person’s failings.
On the other hand, an after-dinner speech is usually expected to be lighthearted; a
speaker who instead presents a highly technical lecture would not be responding
appropriately to the occasion.
Simultaneous events further define the occasion. For example, the fact that a
presidential campaign is under way helps to define the occasion for a speech about
health care reform. The retirement of a popular athlete helps to set the stage for
a speech about retirement trends in industry. And if listeners only last week were
urged to give up tobacco, that may affect their judgments about a speech that now
asks them to give up red meat.
Another way to think about the occasion is to note that it presents the speaker
with an exigence—a problem that cannot be avoided but that can be solved, or at
least managed, through the development of an appropriate message. Of course,
the exigence is not always clear-cut. In designing the speech, often the speaker will
play a major role in describing what the exigence is. In any event, satisfactorily addressing
the exigence is the goal of the speech.
“A commencement speech about school reform, delivered at Western State University
in June 2013” is an example of an occasion; “growing unease about the quality of
public education” is the rhetorical situation to which this speech was a response. The
speech responds to the rhetorical situation of growing unease among people about
the quality of public education, but the expectation that a commencement speech will
inspire the graduates also helps to define the rhetorical situation.
Each type of occasion raises certain expectations about what is appropriate behavior,
and these expectations help to define the rhetorical situation. For example
if an engineer is presenting the features of a new product to the marketing group,
everyone will be focused on the product’s best features and how to make them
more salable. The occasion will be deliberative. Unlike a ceremonial occasion, it
will not emphasize good wishes or feelings about the product or the staff. And
unlike a forensic occasion, it will not concentrate on the company’s past sales performance
with other products. Rather, the focus will be on how best to design the
new product to achieve a strong sales record in the future.