Applause Invitations in Political Speeches: A Comparison of Two British Party Political Leaders (Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn)

Abstract

This study was focussed on 11 rhetorical devices used to invite collective applause in speeches by two opposing British party political leaders, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. The analysis was based on 14 speeches (delivered at party conferences in 2016 and during the general election campaign of 2017), transcribed verbatim from video recordings. These speeches were closely matched between the two politicians in terms of speech duration, and when and where they took place. Almost all the incidents of collective audience applause (98%) occurred in response to the 11 rhetorical devices. Regardless of their opposing political views, the two party leaders used similar devices when delivering a speech. While they did not differ significantly in the mean duration of collective applause received, Corbyn was significantly higher in terms both of the frequency of his rhetorical devices and in the frequency with which he received collective applause. Given the careful matching technique employed in this study, it arguably provides us with the clearest demonstration to date of the role played by rhetorical devices in inviting collective audience applause.