Uppsala - Stanford || Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Video Conference || April 26, 2010
Activity: Exchange of International Perspectives on Speeches focused on leadership.
I. 18:10- 18:20 / 9:10- 9:20am (10 Minutes)
Getting to Know Teams in a Cross-Cultural Context
Location: Rooms A, B, C, D at http://switchboard.stanford.edu.
Introduce yourselves by name, age, course of study, place of origin.
Type your names and emails on the whiteboard;
What kind of leader are YOU? Share something about your own life or university
Uppsala University (http://www.uu.se/en/) & Stanford University (http://www.stanford.edu)
II. 18.20-19.00 / 9.20-10.00 am (40 minutes)
Analysis of Rhetoric in Speeches
Activity: In your globally-distributed team, rhetorically analyze the speeches assigned to your group. Have
the discussion together, exchanging perspectives on some of all the following focus questions:

Think about rhetorical situation: persona, audience, context.
o How does she or he embody the persona of a leader in the use of oral rhetoric as well as in
physical appearance, gesture, voice, etc?
o What rhetorical strategies does the speaker use to address a specific audience (appeals to
ethos, pathos, logos, kairos) in his/her speech?
o Finally for the rhetorical situation: How do the context and moment seem to affect the
content and delivery of the speech?
o How do your group members react to the rhetorical choices? What works or not for you?
o Which strategies would work or not in your community for a speech on this topic?
o How would your group members respond (if giving a speech) to this rhetorical situation
differently than the speaker did – and why?

Think about cultural identity factors: ethnicity, gender, religion. How does the speaker address
issues of ethnicity, gender, and religion? How do factors like ethnicity, gender and religion affect
the rhetoric of this leader (choice of language, stories, metaphors, allusions or even assumptions)?
o What do you learn about how leaders address ethnicity, gender, religion?

Think about cultural values: doxa and nomos. How does the speech reflect or construct particular
cultural values (doxa)? Through what word choice, allusions, jokes, historical references? How
might other audiences respond to these parts of the speech? How do the speaker’s choices help
shape cultural values as well (nomos). What new vision is the speaker trying to communicate?
o What do you learn about doxa, or cultural values, concerning this issue?
o How does this model correspond or not to YOUR idea of an ideal global leader?
As you discuss the speeches, please feel free to analyze or discuss any other videos you want to
examine together. Also, you can ask each other questions about your future research projects – this
is a chance for you to exchange ideas with students from across the globe in small teams!
Note: All speeches and transcripts are linked at http://ccr.stanford.edu/workshops/2010.04.26.html
Tech tip: You cannot open speeches to watch simultaneously through Marratech; it will crash the system.
If necessary, watch separately on an Internet browser on each side, while discussing it together.
 continued
Page 2 of 2
CCR Video Conference: April 26, 2010
III. 19.00-19.20/ 10.00-10.20 (20 minutes)
Collaborative Group Work
Activity: Imagine that your team has been asked to WORK TOGETHER, as a group of international
student advisors to Philanthropist Bill Gates, who challenged students at Stanford in a talk last
Monday (April 19, 2010):
What problem are you working on? What draws you to it? How will you draw other people to it?
See full story here: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/april/bill-gates-lecture-041910.html
See facebook posts here: http://www.facebook.com/billmelindagatesfoundation
For your team activity, together you will need to synthesize what you have learned from
analyzing your leader’s speech – both his/her rhetorical appeals (delivery) AND his/her
proposed solution (content) – then apply these lessons and craft your team message AND
post it the Bill Gates facebook page! You will also share your post with us in report out.
IV. 19.20-19.35/ 10.20-10.35 (15 minutes)
Presentation of Team Statements and Closing Remarks
Location: In Marratech, switch to CCR LOUNGE at http://switchboard.stanford.edu
(Stanford students, wait for tech assistants to come into your room to help you switch in Marratech – thanks!)
Instructions:
1. Each Team will present a statement on what you learned as a team working together and what you posted
on the Bill Gates facebook page
2. Listeners can type into the chat words of praise or feedback.
3. Closing Remarks by Professors Patrik Mehrens, Håkan Möller, and Alyssa O’Brien.
VI. After the Video Conference
1. Debrief at Individual Universities:
What did you learn about intercultural communication and global rhetoric across cultures?
2. Please post a reflection on today’s video conference as a comment on the CCR blog at
http://ccr.stanford.edu – click on Blogging, then “Read the Blog” Select the April 26 Entry
3. Keep in touch on Facebook! Join the Group “Cross-Cultural Rhetoric”
** Thank you for your active participation! We hope you enjoyed this opportunity to for
speaking and writing with real audiences across the globe.**
-- Alyssa, Håkan, Patrik, and the whole CCR team