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Final Compartive Analysis 1
Final Compartive Analysis 1
Final Compartive Analysis 1
Professor Arini
English 102
Comparative Analysis
The two motivational speakers I chose to compare and analyze are David Goggins and
Mel Robbins. Goggins is a former Navy SEAL who also happens to be the only person ever to
complete SEAL training and Ranger School. After Goggins completed his service for the U.S air
force as a Chief Petty Officer, he became a runner, competing in many ultra-marathons and
triathlons. Goggins tells the story of his life through his book, podcast, and videos. Mel Robbins
started her career with a law degree from Boston College School of Law, and went on to work as
a criminal defense attorney for New York City. She then went on to become a legal analyst for
CNN and helped cover the George Zimmerman case. In 2008, Robbins found herself
unemployed, her marriage and sobriety falling apart. After turning her life around, Robbins
became a motivational speaker and writer and went on to be the most booked female speaker.
Robbins was 41 years old when she was at rock bottom, she stated that she could barely
get out of bed and face what was ahead of her each day. Robbins was in debt and about to lose
her house, when she saw a commercial on tv that showed a rocket launching into space. This
helped her develop what she is known for today: “The Five-Second Rule.” This rule from her
book had life-changing effects on her motivation to tackle the many tasks of everyday life. In
June of 2011, Robbins hosted a TEDx talk in San Francisco on the “5 Second Rule” and the
psychology behind it. This Ted Talk jump-started her speaking career as her speech became one
negativity. This usually appeals to those who have just finished college, to middle-aged people
looking for that extra step they can take to improve their lives. In a podcast, Robbins explains
that her mission is to stop the main thing that is preventing us from achieving our goals, which is
the negative voice inside your head telling yourself that you cannot do it. During one of Robbins'
speeches, she told the audience to write on a piece of paper one negative thought that came about
daily. Most answered that they were not enough, that they could not complete their goals.
Robbin's mission is to help people achieve their goals and get what they want. This is where the
“Five Second Rule” comes into play, when Robbin's alarm clock goes off in the morning she
starts by counting down from five. When she finishes counting down from five she launches
herself out of bed like a rocketship, which helps her start her day.
The main idea of her talks is to convey the message of trying to get what you want and
motivating yourself to do it. Robbins is to the point and concise when she speaks which helps get
her point across to the audience. Robbins explains that she is there for the audience to help them
find and get what they want. Robbins uses a lot of hand motions to show her enthusiasm which
helps get her point across. Her tone is somewhat informal, to help connect her with the audience
by relating to them and showing them that a lot of people are in this dilemma. Robbins' word
choice is persuasive which helps the audience get into the same mindset. Robbins uses all Ethos,
Logos, and Pathos in her speech and book. In the TED talk, she starts by using Ethos to help get
the audience to trust her by using her credibility. She then continues to Logos by bringing in
facts and arguments about the way people feel and why they feel that way. For example, Robbins
used the fact that one-third of Americans are unsatisfied with their lives. She then goes on to use
Pathos to appeal to emotion by telling her personal experience of being at rock bottom. She also
is very upfront with her audience by explaining different common scenarios where people are in
a bad place and do not realize it. I did not notice any logical fallacies, Robbins' mission is to help
people get out of their negative mindset and it would be hard to get it across to the audience and
give them a false idea from the logical fallacy. She also has had experience with these types of
Robbins talked about how the first thing she wanted to do when she got up was hit the
snooze button. Instead, she started by counting down from five and getting out of the bed right
away. I liked the idea of this because it could help with getting the day started. After all, if you
keep hitting the snooze button you are just dreading when the next alarm will go off. By doing
her method, it helps to eliminate all of the negative overthinking about the tasks of the day.
David Goggins TEDx talk, his book, and his podcast with Joe Rogan all have a similar
theme to each. The theme is: how to push yourself even further than you could think was
possible and that you can always improve your life and mentality no matter what. Goggins'
audience ranges from high school to college students who could be in a tough spot to any
average person looking for some self-improvement and motivation. Goggin's moment of
exigence started after his father would beat him and his mother throughout middle school and
high school. Throughout his high school years and beyond, he gained a lot of weight, nearing
300 pounds when he finally said enough is enough and decided to change for the better. Goggins'
motive is to show that truth is a big part of growing and becoming a better person. Goggin's book
lays this out as what he calls: the accountability mirror, meaning, you have to come face to face
with who you are, or you can not start. You have to be real to yourself and to not make excuses.
He uses the Navy SEALs rule of 40%, where if you think that you can't continue anymore, then
story of his life and making them put themselves in his shoes. In his podcast with Joe Rogan, he
mainly uses Pathos to appeal to the audience's emotion which helps Goggins get his point across
and explain his struggles in life. This relates to the audience because, of course, everyone has
struggled in life and overcoming these struggles is the main idea behind Goggin's mentality. No
logical fallacies were noticed in these pieces of text. The main point that stuck out to me was
during the youtube video, where Goggins explains that you have to be real with yourself to start
somewhere.
Both David Goggins and Mel Robbins have similarities and differences throughout each
of the selected texts. The main similarities are the self-improvement aspect of each. Both
Goggins and Robbins needed to find a way to self improve within their lives after saying enough
is enough. Another similarity is the motivational aspect, Goggins was nearing 300 pounds and
deeply unsatisfied with himself. He had to find the motivation to keep going and to improve his
life. Robbins was at a similar point in her life, she was in a bad spot and wanted to change. She
used a method of motivation to help improve her life. Both speakers used Pathos the most out of
any rhetorical devices using personal stories about how they were in a dark place and what it
took to get out of it. By using these emotional and personal stories, it connected them to the
audience and the vise-versa. This appealed to the audience and helped give imagery into both
David Goggins motivational speaking through his texts has influenced a lot of people.
Many people have the issue of motivation and Goggins addresses this issue very well. By using
any rhetorical devices he motivates the audience and brings the point across very clearly. Mel
Robbins uses imagery and Pathos to get the audience to engage with her and get her main idea
across. Both of these speakers throughout their texts use very similar techniques and composure.
Goggins and Robbins' texts are very effective, this is the reason both speakers have very
successful speaking careers and inspire many people all over the world.
Bibliography
Goggins, D. (n.d.). 2018 Goggins Built Not Born, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from
https://davidgoggins.com/book/
Goggins, D. (Producer). (2020, October 26). How To Stop Bullshitting Your Self [Video
Robbins, M. (2018, April 3). How to stop screwing yourself over. Retrieved February 07,
2021, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/mel_robbins_how_to_stop_screwing_yourself_over?
language=en
Robbins, M. (2018, December 13). The 5 second rule. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from
https://melrobbins.com/the-5-second-rule/
The Joe Rogan Experience/ David Goggins [Radio series episode]. (2018, February).
The Mindvalley/ How to stop screwing yourself over [Television series episode]. (2020,
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Yz0fnXMoQrwEWHw2ToOdm