Visuals fall under the category of rhetorical examples. Crowley and Hawhee define rhetorical examples as, “calling up vivid memories of something the audience has experienced” (130). Tim Urban starts his TED Talk with a bar graph consisting of the typically planned work load for an average person, depicting a consistent and gradual daily work load until the deadline is approached. The audience concludes from this visual that as the deadline grows closer, the amount of days wasted on other things increases, therefore, increasing the work load for the nights before the deadline. After the audience comes to this conclusion, they react positively and laugh in amusement.
The next visual is one of the main components of Tim Urban’s TED Talk: the “MRI brain scans” of non-procrastinators and procrastinators. He fails to establish credible evidence because he does not actually provide MRI brain scans, but instead draws stick figures that are supposedly inside the head of a person. This continues the lightheartedness that the TED Talk is based upon, but still holds positive reactions from the audience, since they seem surprised that Tim Urban was able to provide “MRI brain scans” and then understood his joke when his drawings were …show more content…
According to Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee, kairos is defined as, “a period of time in which opportunities appear to those who are prepared to take advantage of them” (38). His jokes include trying to fool the audience into thinking that he receives brain scans of a non-procrastinator and procrastinator’s brains and telling the audience they should start things they are procrastinating on…or maybe some other time (Urban). These jokes are said in the right moment because they tie in with what is being discussed, therefore, receiving positive responses from the audience. He does a good job of creating little moments of chuckles, such as when he displays his stick figure drawings (Urban). The terms he uses such as ‘Instant Gratification Monkey’ or ‘Panic Monster’ may be simple, but it makes hearing someone lecture about procrastination entertaining and easy to listen to. He does a good job of not overcomplicating concepts that are associated with his topic, which helps the audience relax more. Tim Urban creates a comfortable environment for the audience because he simplifies the strange phenomenon of procrastination and makes it easier for people to understand. The audience reacts by laughing hysterically or sharing soft chuckles; there is never really a dull moment. Tim Urban’s TED Talk “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” is entertaining and simple, yet he gets his point across. With