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Communication, Media and Rhetorical Techniques

Cover of the Will Camden eBook called Trust Me, the secret history of the third-party technique of persuasion

Edward Bernays Propaganda Modern Edition eBook cover

eBook cover for Ancient Bloodlines by Will Camden

ebook cover Gustave Le Bon The Crowd A Study of the Popular Mind, Modern Edition by Will Camden

If you like this type of material, you can read more with our collection of books looking at influence and persuasion.

PLEASE NOTE: This hub used to be split into three areas of research and information. This was section 3, Communication, Media and Rhetorical Techniques.

The website has now been restructured and revised. All articles can now be found at the main content hub page here.

The material in this post is largely irrelevant to the form and structure of this hub, but has remained on-line for references purposes.

If psychology explains why certain messages resonate, and sociology explains how they spread, communication explains how they are built.

This pillar examines the techniques, structures, and media systems used to shape persuasion, interpretation, and belief.

What This Pillar Covers

This section focuses on how messages are crafted and delivered — through language, images, repetition, narrative design, framing, metaphors, media structures, and strategic communication. These techniques influence the way information is perceived before we consciously evaluate it.

Why It Matters

Persuasion rarely appears as raw data. It arrives packaged: through headlines, advertisements, political speeches, branding, public relations, entertainment, and digital platforms. Understanding these framing devices helps explain why some ideas appear compelling, coherent, or urgent, and why others struggle to gain traction.

Key People

This pillar draws on:

Aristotle and Cicero — classical rhetoric
Kenneth Burke — dramatism and rhetorical form
George Lakoff — framing and political metaphor
Marshall McLuhan — media theory
Stuart Hall — encoding/decoding and representation
Roland Barthes — mythologies and semiotics
McCombs & Shaw — agenda-setting
Walter Fisher — narrative paradigm

Their insights form the basis of how strategic communication is studied today.

Core Topics

Examples are drawn from news reporting, public campaigns, advertising, political communication, corporate PR, and social media.

Framing

Presenting information in a way that guides how it is interpreted.

Example

News coverage of a rise in prices can be framed as a “cost-of-living crisis” or as “temporary inflation,” shaping whether the public feels fear or reassurance.

Metaphor and Analogy

Using one idea to describe another in order to shape understanding.

Example

Calling the economy “a machine” suggests it needs engineering and control, while calling it “an ecosystem” implies balance and care. The metaphor steers the solution.

Agenda-Setting

The media’s ability to influence which issues the public perceives as important.

Example

When every front page leads with hospital waiting times, people begin to view healthcare as the nation’s biggest problem — even if conditions haven’t changed overnight.

Narrative and Storytelling

Organising information into a coherent story that shapes meaning and emotional response.

Example

Political campaigns often build a narrative of “decline and renewal,” offering voters a hero (the candidate), a villain (the cause of decline), and a hopeful ending.

Repetition and the Illusion of Truth

Repeated statements become more believable simply through familiarity.

Example

Advertising slogans like “Probably the best lager in the world” feel credible after years of exposure — repetition creates a sense of truth.

Visual Rhetoric and Symbolism

Using images, colours, and symbols to communicate persuasive meaning.

Example

A politician wearing high-visibility gear on a factory visit signals alignment with “ordinary workers,” even though the image communicates more than the words spoken.

Political Messaging

Strategic communication designed to frame issues, shape opinion, and mobilise support.

Example

Slogans like “Take Back Control” condense a complicated political argument into a phrase that speaks to emotion, identity, and desired action.

Rhetorical Appeals (Ethos, Pathos, Logos)

Classical strategies of persuasion based on credibility, emotion, and reasoning.

Example

A charity advert may combine ethos (expert testimony), pathos (moving stories), and logos (facts about impact) to increase donations.

Semiotics

The study of signs, symbols, and meanings in communication.

Example

A luxury brand’s minimalist packaging and black-and-gold palette signal exclusivity — the design communicates status without saying it directly.

Language Choices and Connotation

Selecting words that carry emotional or cultural associations beyond their literal meaning.

Example

Calling a policy a “benefit” versus a “handout” changes how it is morally judged, even though both describe the same payment.

Encoding and Decoding

The idea that messages are produced with intended meanings but interpreted differently by audiences.

Example

A TV advert may intend to show a family as “aspirational,” yet some viewers interpret it as unrealistic or exclusionary. The meaning shifts in the decoding process.

Priming Through Media Placement

Influencing interpretation by presenting certain cues immediately before a message.

Example

A news segment showing images of crowded hospitals just before a discussion on healthcare funding primes viewers to perceive the topic as more urgent and emotionally charged.

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