Unveiling persuasion and identity: a critical discourse analysis of Elon Musk's speech at Ted YouTube Channel

This research aims to critically analyze persuasive strategies and identity construction in Elon Musk's speech in Elon Musk Talks Twitter, Tesla, and How His Brain Works. There are three problems to be solved in this study, namely: (1) the persuasive strategies used by Elon Musk; (2) the identity constructed by Elon Musk; and (3) the relationship between Elon Musk's persuasive strategies and his identity construction. Applying a descriptive qualitative approach, the researcher collected data by transcribing Elon Musk's speeches. The researcher identified the types of persuasive strategies and identity construction by Elon Musk. The identified data were classified to determine the types of persuasive strategies and identities constructed by Elon Musk. The researcher then analyzed the relationship between persuasive strategies and Elon Musk's identity construction by looking at the context of his speech. This research reveals that all persuasive strategies including ethos, pathos, and logos are applied by Elon Musk in his speech. In his speech, Musk expresses persuasive strategies that cover 76 speeches, which include 21 examples of ethos, 16 examples of pathos, and 39 examples of logos. From the appearance of all persuasive strategies, Musk tends to use persuasive strategies included in the logos category. Furthermore, the researcher also found four identities that Elon Musk tried to construct through his speech, namely the innovator, the entrepreneur, the futurist, and the philosopher. In addition, through this analysis, it is indicated that Musk's use of persuasive strategies is directly related to his identity construction. Based on contextual analysis and interpretation, the researcher concludes that Musk constructs his identity as the innovator, the entrepreneur, the futurist, and the philosopher through his discourse that uses persuasive strategies of ethos and logos. The findings provide deep insights into Elon Musk's persuasive strategies in his identity construction process.