Public speech is considered a vehicle through which a person communicates his/her desires for many purposes, including persuasion. Through persuasion, the speaker can influence the behaviour and desires of people and make them act according to his/her desires and views. This can be achieved in many ways, one of which is using rhetorical figures of speech. In addition to their aesthetic effects, they help to deliver the messages more effectively and purposefully. This study analyses Malcolm’s speeches namely “Harlem Freedom Rally” and “The Ballot or Bullet” based on the pragma-rhetorical approach. It aims to identify the type of figures and flouted maxims used in selected speeches and indicate the most and least used ones in each type. The analysis shows that Malcolm x applies both types of figures, except the destabilization trope of pun, in his speeches. The most used destabilisation trope is the metaphor, whereas the least one is irony. In comparison, the most used substitution trope is the rhetorical question, while the least one is understatement. Respectively, these figures flout two types of Gricean maxims, particularly quality and manner. The quality maxim is highly flouted since the meaning of figures differs from what is uttered. While the manner maxim is the lowest flouted one since some figures give rise to a sense of ambiguity in what they mean.