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Cannons for effective communication

Communication is an act of transferring information from one place, person or group to

another which involves verbal (spoken and written) and nonverbal means (facial
expressions, eye contact, posture, gesture).Effective communication is about more than
just exchanging information. It’s about understanding the emotion and intentions
behind the information. As well as being able to clearly convey a message.
Cannons means “a general rule”, “regulation” or “standard”. Greek philosopher
Aristotle defined rhetoric as an approach to develop and prepare public speeches.
Rhetoric is the ancient art and science of persuasion (to induce someone), the study of
persuasion, and the individual process of persuasion. Rhetoric is about strategic choices
and approaches to communication whether textually, verbally, or even aurally and
visually. When we communicate to different types of audiences about the same topic,
we make strategic decisions on what details to include or omit what types of evidence
or support to use, and so on.
Nowadays, the Five Canons of Rhetoric are mostly used for creative thinking and clear
communication
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1. Invention
Invention is the process of coming up with material for a text. In writing, this is the
brainstorming or prewriting stage.
Example: A political candidate comes up with several major points she wants to bring up
in a debate
2. Arrangement
Arrangement is the process of deciding how to order the material in a text. In writing,
this is still part of the prewriting stage
Example: A political candidate decides that she will first talk about civil rights; next, she
will talk about the economy; finally, she will talk about international relations.
3. Style
Style is the process of coming up with the actual words that will be used in a text. In
writing, this canon is first approached in the drafting stage and continues in the
rewriting stage.
Example: A student revises sentences he wrote in the passive voice into sentences in the
active voice.
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4. Memory
Memory is the process of committing a text to memory. Although this canon is not as
applicable to writing as it is to oratory, there are still occasions when writers must
memorize their texts in order to make the delivery (the fifth canon) more effective.
Example: A student memorizes his paper (or at least the major points of it) so that he
can deliver it at an academic conference without reading off the paper itself.

5. Delivery
Delivery is the process of presenting a text to an audience. Like memory, delivery is less
prominent in writing than in oratory; however, there are many occasions when writers
must think of how to best deliver their texts.
Example: During closing argument, a defense attorney makes direct eye contact with
each juror.