Kelly Mcgonigal How To Make Stress Your Friend Speech Analysis (Essay Sample)

A lot of controversy surrounds the ideal way to handle stress, and one way is to

avoid viewing it as your enemy. In Kelly McGonigal’s speech “How to Make Stress Your Friend”, she is giving this speech with the purpose of informing the people in her audience and beyond. She exhibits logos when she describes the effects stress has on a person. Next, she uses ethos to establish herself as a trustworthy health psychologist. Finally, she appeals to pathos when she shows how the audience can use stress to their advantage. Her goal is to provide information on different viewpoints you can have when tackling stress, and she does.

Within the whole of Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she exhibits logos by describing the varying effects stress can have on a person. She describes a study that was done at Harvard where its participants were instructed to consider their stress as beneficial rather than harmful. The study showed, “That pounding heart is preparing you for action. If you’re breathing faster, it’s no problem. It’s getting more oxygen to your brain. And participants who learned to view the stress response as helpful for their performance, well, they were less stressed out...” (McGonigal 5:04). This study is showing how stress will positively impact your body once someone changes their view on what the stress is being used for. This kind of research, along with others noted in the speech, add to the argument that shows stress in a positive way. As I was listening, I reflected back on my

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past interactions with stress and how having a fixed mindset on the negativity surrounding stress did more harm than good. Kelly McGonigal effectively uses this information as an example for logos, which makes the audience think about their own personal battles with stress.

Along with logos, Kelly McGonigal also uses ethos to establish herself as a trustworthy health psychologist. She starts by introducing herself by saying, “...I am a health psychologist, and my mission is to help people be happier and healthier. But I fear that something I’ve been teaching for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good, and it has to do with stress” (McGonigal 00:32). The effectiveness of this statement comes from both her title as a psychologist and her time spent educating. The acknowledgement of her working for ten-plus years is making the audience view her as an experienced professional who knows what they are talking about. Kelly McGonigal has the proper credentials, which makes her seem like someone myself, or any other viewer, could trust.

The last of the three strategies is pathos, which Kelly McGonigal is using to show how the audience can use stress to their own advantage. The place where one feels and expresses their emotions comes from the heart. The speaker is connecting to her audience by saying “Stress gives us access to our hearts. The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning in connecting with others, and yes, your pounding physical heart, working so hard to give you strength and energy” (McGonigal 11:51). She is using very descriptive words to paint a picture for the crowd. She is trying to enable their capacity to feel emotions, and as a listener I felt my heart beating as she said those words. Kelly McGonigal adds on by saying “And when you choose to view stress in this way, you’re not just getting better at stress, you’re actually making a pretty profound statement.

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You’re saying that you can trust yourself to handle life’s challenges” (McGonigal 11:51). She is explaining the importance of seeing the bright side of things and therefore using it to one’s advantage. She is giving a heartfelt message, which effectively gets the audience to reflect and consider the information she has given them. She is calling them to do something, and it is only up to them to change their viewpoint on stress. I know stress can sometimes feel overwhelming, and I am sure many of the audience members could agree, but Kelly is proposing a new way of thinking that can be used to alleviate the stress. As she is finishing her speech, Kelly tells the audience that stress is something that they do not have to face alone. By using words of encouragement and consolation, Kelly McGonigal is effectively leaving an impact on her viewers and is using their emotions to support her argument.

Within Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she has the intention of informing her audience on ways to view stress as a positive thing. She has effectively informed her audience by using logos, ethos, and pathos to support her standpoint. She is clearly showing the influence stress has while also establishing herself as a credible psychologist. Lastly, she is using emotion and connection to really leave a lasting imprint on her audience. All of these aspects allow us to consider how we personally view stress in our lives, and how we can ultimately make it our friend.