Interpersonal Meanings Of Mood And Modality In A Motivational Speech

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks, an online public speaking presentation platform, has become the leading platform aimed at providing inspiring keynote speeches and sharing ideas. With the mission of “ideas worth spreading”, TED Talk speakers are committed to using languges to convey ideas, influence behaviors, and motivate their audiences. This mission actually reflects the interpersonal meaning of TED Talks speeches. To explore how interpersonal meaning is realized in TED Talks motivational speeches, this research focused on Shade Zahrai’s speech. The study elaborates on how interpersonal meaning is realized in a motivational TED Talks speech through types of mood and modality. The findings reveal that in mood systems, the declarative mood is always used in the speech to give as much information and pieces of advice or suggestions to enhance the credibility of the speech. In the modality system, the speaker always uses probability with high value to convince the listeners about what she is saying.