Andrea Blake Blake I

Dr. Arini
English 102
Nov. 1, 2019
Comparative Rhetorical Analysis

Motivational Speakers

I would like to introduce the two motivational speakers that I will be

analyzing. First, there is Thomas Harv Eker, who was born in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada on June 10, 1954. He is an author, businessman and

motivational speaker known for his theories on wealth and motivation.

He moved to the United States when he was a young adult and started over a dozen

unsuccessful businesses. Eker came to believe, that we all have a financial blueprint and that if

we change our blueprint, then we can change how we accumulate wealth. He has been

producing seminars since 2001 and founded the seminar company “Peak Potentials Training.”

Second, I will introduce Louise Hay, who was originally born Helen

Vera Lunney in Los Angeles on October 1, 1926. She came from a poor

family and had an abusive step-father. Hay states that she was raped at

age 5 by a neighbor. She dropped out of Highschool, became pregnant

at age 15, and gave her baby up for adoption. She moved to Chicago

and then to New York, where she changed her first name. She became a successful fashion

model and in 1954 married an English Businessman named Andrew Hay, who left her after

fifteen years of marriage for another woman. Hay became a Religious Science practitioner, she

wrote several self-help books, affirmations, established the Hay Foundation and Hay House

Publishing. She died at age ninety in her sleep on August 30, 2017.
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In Eker’s video, “The Millionaire Mindset” he sits in front of the camera as if he was sitting

right in front of you; his volume is soft and friendly. He does not move much and always has a

semi-serious expression, but he does smile every now and then. The way he talks to the

camera, reminds me of how a good friend would talk about their life experience and how they

want you to walk away with a better perspective on life. He is using Pathos to make you feel

comfortable and more susceptible to what he is talking about. The background in the video has

the words “Practice Happiness Now” on one wall and a book shelf on another wall. It does not

seem extravagant like a millionaire’s house, instead it is plain and small. He automatically tells

you he is the bestselling author of, The New York Times, “Secrets of The Millionaire”, which, is a

hook to draw in those, who want to accumulate money. He came from being poor, having

nothing, dropped out of college, struggled with jobs and has been through it all, so he can be

trusted (Invented Ethos.) He says, he has had dozens of different unsuccessful businesses, yet

he is giving advice now because he has learned the secrets to his mistakes. Has he really

learned the secrets of becoming a millionaire? He says, he was taking seminars, reading books

and listening to tapes, which was working for everyone else, but did not work for him. I wonder

if he realized how much those people who held seminars made and decide to make his own. He

then, brings up a fear for most young adults, having to move back in with his parents. Again, he

is using Pathos to prey on one’s emotions because that would be a hit for a lot of people who

fear moving back home and are determined to do it on their own. Next, he states that his dad’s

friend, who is a very wealthy man, gave him some good advice, and it led him to study rich

Business’s. Later, he was still not rich and broke down in tears because he did not want to fail
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again. Nobody wants to be a failure in life or in anything, so this plays on their emotions.

Emotions are what hits us the most and if you know how to trigger that, then you can hook

anyone. With tears in his eyes and fear of failure in his heart, he prayed to the heavens that if

he makes it, he would help others do the same; that was his moment of Exigency.

Louise Hay was very devastated after her husband left her for another woman; that lead

her to the First Church of Religious Science. There she learned the transformative power of

thought, that was her moment of Exigency, and by the early 1970s she became a Religious

Science practitioner. She had a very traumatic life and believed that her resentment caused her

to develop uncurable cervical cancer around 1977. She refused treatment and healed herself

through a regimen of forgiveness, therapy, reflexology, nutrition, and occasional enemas. She

declared that there is no doctor, who can confirm this story. In a lot of Hay’s statements, there

is only her word because ironically, everyone who can confirm anything about her has died. I

find that kind of fishy.

In Hay’s advertisement video, “A Special Message from Louise Hay” she is talking about

changing your thoughts. The video starts of with a little girl, smiling and running with a kite in

her hand. You automatically see how happy she is and hear Hay’s positive words about letting

unneeded thoughts go, just like the little girl lets go of the kite. This video is made for those

who want or need positivity in their lives. The music and her voice are both, sweet and inviting;

the video makes you feel calm and acceptive of the positive message. One thing she says is “I

am willing to release the pattern within me, that is creating this condition.” It is touching and

she uses Pathos just like Harv does in his video, to play on your emotions.
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On Harv’s Twitter page the first thing you see is the names Men’s Health, USA Today, CNN,

Fox News, and International #1 Best Selling Author (Ethos.) You automatically think this is a

good credible person because of those first words. Then, you see his smiling picture next to

357K followers. He looks like a happy, trustworthy guy and has a lot of other people who think

the same thing. He tweets about having positive thoughts and good choices in your life

(Pathos.) Such as, “You have the natural ability to install self-empowering thoughts in your mind

at any time, simply by choosing to focus on them. Yes, you do have the power to control your

mind.” He also adds links to his tweets and his followers reply with positive thoughts.

Louise Hay’s Facebook page plays on Pathos too and is also, filled with positive thoughts.

Her page begins with announcing that she has passed, is well loved and will be missed. The

colors are down to earth and inviting. Affirmations are her main posts, such as, “I radiate

acceptance, and I am deeply loved by others. Love surrounds me and protects me.” She posts

links to Hay House and tells you to start your healing today, so she is also using her page to

advertise her products. It shows, that she likes her other pages that she has made, probably so

you will see them and be a follower of all her sites.

On T. Harv Eker’s, official website he advertises a lot of different teaching programs for

different types of people, businesses or needs. He can draw in almost every type of person out

there looking for advice on money or running a business, he is the ultimate makeover coach.

What he is selling to his customers is secrets, secrets and secrets, which, is a vague way to draw

potential followers in because everyone wants to know secrets. If I was in a bad place, then I

would pay for him to be my coach and tell me all his secrets. Hay’s official website talks about
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the Hay Foundation, which, is a non-profit foundation, that you can make donations to. There is

a whole list of hearts they have touched, such as, Women, Children, Animals, HIV/AIDS projects

and International needs. It is short, sweet and heart felt (Pathos.) Though, there are no links to

the list of people they supposedly helped.

Eker and Hay both play on the emotions with Pathos in all their Rhetorical devices. They are

two very different speakers, yet their tactics are very similar. They both say, they came from

poor backgrounds and have been through many life challenges. I tried looking at them as

credible, but neither of them had supported evidence, therefore, I cannot believe them. I can

only take their positive words and process them according to the way I think myself. Yes, they

sell millions of books, but that does not make them trust worthy.
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Works Cited

Eker, T. Harv. “T. Harv Eker (@T_Harv_Eker).” Twitter, Twitter, 2 Nov. 2019,
https://twitter.com/T_Harv_Eker.

“Hay Foundation: Louise Hay's Non-Profit Foundation.” Louise Hay,

https://www.louisehay.com/hay-foundation/.

House, Hay. “A Special Message from Louise Hay - This Is Where the Change Begins.” YouTube,
YouTube, 20 June 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8raJKFf0Y.

“Louise Hay.” Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/louiselhay/.

Mindvalley. “The Millionaire Mindset | T Harv Eker.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2017,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qKEicGm_H0.

T. Harv Eker. “Education.” T. Harv Eker, T. Harv Eker, 15 Feb. 2016,

https://www.harveker.com/education/.