Cover not available
Part of
Engagement in Professional Genres
Edited by Carmen Sancho Guinda
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 301] 2019
► pp. 217–242

Chapter 12
Verbal and nonverbal engagement devices in business persuasive discourse

The elevator pitch

| University of Alcalá, Spain
The present chapter analyzes verbal and nonverbal engagement devices in four business pitches delivered by entrepreneurs in the British TV program Dragon’s Den. Taken for granted their eminently persuasive character, the purpose is to analyze the expression of engagement in verbal and nonverbal signs aiming at convincing potential investors of the product’s worth. A tridimensional analysis is carried out: firstly, structural features are identified following Daly and Davy’s (2016a and b) proposal. Secondly, verbal engagement devices are examined according to Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal System and Hyland’s (2005a and b) Engagement Model. Thirdly, persuasive nonverbal signs are identified applying Cestero Mancera’s (2016 and 2017) taxonomy. Results show that while pitches are grossly monoglossic in their verbal realizations, nonverbal persuasive signs seem to acknowledge and guide the audience’s perception.
Keywords: engagement, persuasive discourse, nonverbal communication, Appraisal Model, argumentative strategies, rhetoric, elevator pitch
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Persuasion and engagement in discourse
    • 2.1Persuasion and other related concepts
    • 2.2Engagement
  • 3.General methodological framework for the study of business persuasive discourse
  • 4.Empirical study: Research questions, data collection and method of analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Results for engagement in verbal communication
    • 5.2Results for engagement in nonverbal communication
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 24 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.301.12die
References (38)
References
Alexander, Patricia A., Michelle M. Buehl, and Christopher T. Sperl. 2001. “The Persuasiveness of Persuasive Discourse.” International Journal of Educational Research 35 (7–8): 651–674. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Argyle, Michael. 1972. “Non-Verbal Communication in Human Social Interaction.” In Non-Verbal Communication, ed. by Robert A. Hinde, 243–269. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bamford, Julia, and Rita Salvi, eds. 2007. Business Discourse: Language at Work. Roma: Aracne Editrice.Google Scholar
Blagojevic, Vladimir. n.d. “Detailed 16 Step Guide to an Irresistible Sales Pitch.” Scale XL, last accessed October 16, 2018. [URL].
Cabrejas-Peñuelas, Ana B. 2015. “Manipulation in Spanish and American Pre-Electoral Debates: The Rajoy-Rubalcaba vs the Obama-MacCain Debates.” Intercultural Pragmatics 13 (4): 515–546.Google Scholar
Cabrejas-Peñuelas, Ana B., and Mercedes Díez-Prados. 2014. “Positive Self-Evaluation versus Negative Other-Evaluation in the Political Genre of Pre-Election Debates.” Discourse & Society 25 (2): 159–185. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cestero Mancera, Ana M. 2016. “La Comunicación No Verbal: Propuestas Metodológicas para Su Estudio.” Linred 13 (2). Monograph, 1–13. Available at [URL]
2017. “La Comunicación No Verbal en Discurso Persuasivo Empresarial.” Pragmalingüística 25: 124–145. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cockcroft, Robert, Susan Cockcroft, Craig Hamilton, and Laura Hidalgo. 2014. Persuading People. An Introduction to Rhetoric. 3rd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cook, Guy. 1992. The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Daly, Peter, and Dennis Davy. 2016a. “Structural, Linguistic and Rhetorical Features of the Entrepreneurial Pitch: Lessons from the Dragon’s Den .” The Journal of Management Development 35 (1): 120–132. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016b. “Crafting the Investor Pitch Using Insights from Rhetoric and Linguistics.” In The Ins and Outs of Business and Professional Discourse Research, ed. by Glen M. Alessi, and Geert Jacobbs, 182–203. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díez-Prados, Mercedes. 2016. “The Use of Metaphor and Evaluation as Discourse Strategies in Pre-Electoral Debates: Just about Winning Votes.” In Exploring Discourse Strategies in Social and Cognitive Interaction. Multimodal and Cross-Linguistic Perspectives, ed. by Manuela Romano, and M. Dolores Porto, 215–244. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drasovean, Anda, and Caroline Tagg. 2015. “Evaluative Language and Its Solidarity-Building Role on [URL]: An Appraisal and Corpus Analysis.” Language@Internet 12: 1–14, article no. 1.Google Scholar
Fuentes Rodríguez, Catalina, and Esperanza R. Alcaide Lara. 2002. Mecanismos Lingüísticos de la Persuasión. Cómo Convencer con Palabras. Bibliotheca Philologica. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
Fuentes Rodríguez, Catalina (ed). 2016. Estrategias Argumentativas y Discurso Político. Bibliotheca Philologica. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
Fuertes-Olivera, Pedro A., Marisol Velasco-Sacristán, Ascensión Arribas-Baño, and Eva Samaniego-Fernández. 2001. “Persuasion and Advertising English: Metadiscourse in Slogans and Headlines.” Journal of Pragmatics 33: 1291–1307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García-Gómez, Antonio. 2007. Habla Conflictiva Como Acción Social. Discurso y Cognición. Oviedo: Septem Ediciones.Google Scholar
. 2018. “ Dragons’ Den: Enacting Persuasion in Reality Television.” Discourse, Context & Media 21: 1–9. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyland, Ken. 2005a. “Stance and Engagement: A Model of Interaction in Academic Discourse.” Discourse Studies 7 (2): 173–192. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2005b. Metadiscourse. Exploring Interaction in Writing. London and New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Jaffe, Clella. 2007. Public Speaking. Concepts & Skills for a Diverse Society. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.Google Scholar
Jowett, Garth S., and Victoria O’Donnell. 2012. Propaganda and Persuasion, 5th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
Keith, William, and Christian O. Lundberg. 2014. Public Speaking. Choices and Responsibility. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.Google Scholar
Kiting, Caroline F. 2016. “The Life and Times of Nonverbal Communication Theory and Research: Past, Present, Future.” In APA Handbook of Nonverbal Communication, ed. by David Matsumoto, Hyisung C. Hwang, and Mark G. Frank, 17–42. Washington, DC: APA. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maillat, Didier, and Steve Oswald. 2009. “Defining Manipulative Discourse: The Pragmatics of Cognitive Illusions.” International Review of Pragmatics 1: 348–370. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, James R., and Peter R. R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McGrath, Lisa, and Maria Kuteeva. 2012. “Stance and Engagement in Pure Mathematics Research Articles: Linking Discourse Features to Disciplinary Practices.” English for Specific Purposes 31: 161–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pease, Allan. 2009. El Arte de Negociar y Persuadir. Barcelona: Editorial Amat.Google Scholar
Porto, M. Dolores. 2016. “Music in Multimodal Narratives: The Role of Soundtrack in Digital Stories.” In Audionarratology. Interfaces of Sound and Narrative, ed. by Jarmila Mildrof, and Till Kinzel, 29–46. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Porto, M. Dolores and Manuela Romano (in press) “Transmodality in Metaphors: TIDES in Spanish Social Protest Movements”. In Current Approaches to Metaphor Analysis in Discourse, ed. by Ignasi Navarro. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Poyatos, Fernando. 1983. “Language and Nonverbal Systems in the Structure of Face-to-face Interaction.” Language & Communication 3 (2):129–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pullman, George. 2013. Persuasion. History, Theory, Practice. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Rulicki, Sergio, and Martin Cherny. 2011. Comunicación No-Verbal: Cómo la Inteligencia Emocional se Expresa a través de los Gestos. Buenos Aires: Granica, 2011.Google Scholar
Santiago Guervós, Javier De. 2012a. Principios de Comunicación Persuasiva. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
. 2012b. Comentarios de Textos Persuasivos. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, Teun A. 2006. “Discourse and Manipulation.” Discourse & Society 17 (3): 359–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by (10)

Cited by ten other publications

Alwohaibi, Hala Abdulrahman & Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
2023. An Investigation of Engagement Resources in the World Cup 2022 Newspaper Articles in the Arab World Media. Journal of Contemporary Language Research 2:2 ► pp. 118 ff. DOI logo
Griffith, Mary
2023. Transdisciplinary engaged learning. HUMAN REVIEW. International Humanities Review / Revista Internacional de Humanidades 12:Monográfico ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Varas, Germán, Omar Sabaj, Clay Spinuzzi, Miguel Fuentes, Valentin Gerard & Paula Cabezas
2023. Value Creation in Start-Up Discourse: Linking Pitch and Venture Through Logics of Justification. International Journal of Business Communication DOI logo
Vivas-Peraza, Ana Cristina
2022. Engaging the public in science crowdfunding. VISUAL REVIEW. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura Visual 9:3 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Cestero Mancera, Ana M. & Mercedes Díez Prados
2021. Chapter 11. Paralinguistic resources in persuasive business communication in English and Spanish. In Discourse Studies in Public Communication [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 92], ► pp. 246 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Vázquez, José-Santiago
2021. Analysing the environmental websites of the world’s greatest polluters: a multimodal ecolinguistic approach. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 34:1 ► pp. 2692 ff. DOI logo
Margherita, Alessandro & David Verrill
2021. Elevator Pitch Assessment Model: A Systematization of Dimensions in Technology Entrepreneurship Presentations. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 64:4 ► pp. 304 ff. DOI logo
Cabezas, Paula, Clay Spinuzzi, Omar Sabaj & Germán Varas
2020. Editing the Pitch: Patterns of Editing Strategies of Written Pitches in a Chilean Accelerator Program. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 63:4 ► pp. 296 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Vázquez, José-Santiago & Roberto-Carlos Álvarez-Delgado
2019. The interaction between rational arguments and emotional appeals in the entrepreneurial pitch. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research 26:3 ► pp. 503 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Vázquez, José-Santiago & Roberto-Carlos Álvarez-Delgado
2020. Persuasive strategies in the SME entrepreneurial pitch: Functional and discursive considerations. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 33:1 ► pp. 2342 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.