Speaker-audience interaction in British and Belarusian public speeches

The article is dedicated to the speaker-audience interaction in British and Belarusian oratory. Two t ypes of speeches are analyzed: epideictic and argumentative. Some genre and culture-specific features are revealed. In particular, the speaker in epideictic speech interacts with their audience mainly via inclusive we and appeals to shared k nowledge while interaction in the argumentative speech has a more sophisticated nature. British speakers tend to use less categorical directives (let’s +infinitive constructions, modals of necessity, performative constructions) while in Belarusian speeches obligatory modals prevail. The peculiarities are based on different culture types: individualistic – for British orators and collectivistic – for Belarusian counterparts.