using language in public speaking

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Using Language in Public Speaking

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Language is Powerful Using language can be a challenge. Word choices can make your speech

unique. Language can leave a lasting impression.

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Language Reveals Our Character

ATTITUDES EDUCATION

VALUES WORDS KNOWLEDGE

BACKGROUND MOTIVATION

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Oral versus Written StyleThere are differences

Oral WrittenMore personal.More likely to use “I” and “we.”

Less formal.More phrases.Less varied.

More repetitive

More detached.Less likely to use “I” & “we.”

Formal sentences.Complete sentences.More precise.

Passages can be reread.

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Using Words Effectively Use specific, concrete words. Use simple words. Use words correctly.

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Using Words Effectively Use specific, concrete words

Less specific & concrete More specific &more concrete

“Sounds of the wilderness…”

“Night crickets, owls hooting, wolves howling…”

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Using Words Effectively Use simple words – not jargonLess simple More simple“…malignantneoplasms characterizedby the proliferation of anaplastic cells…”

“…the cancerspread, the tumors grew,the red blood cells wereless and less able…”

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Using Words EffectivelyUse words correctly Denotation – literal meaning. Connotation – personal meaning.

Using the denotative meaning may not accurately help listeners understand what it means to be notorious.

Notorious: famous Notorious: famous because of something evil or cruel.

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Adapting your Language Style to Diverse Listeners Use language your audience can

understand. Use appropriate language. Use unbiased language.

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Adapting your Language Style to Diverse Listeners

Use language your audience can understand Use standard US English:

Taught in schools. Used in the media, business and the US

government.

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Use appropriate language Avoid racial & ethnic slurs. Avoid language that puts down people due

to sexual orientation. Avoid language that attacks a certain

religious group. Do not attack people with disabilities.

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Use unbiased language Avoid sexismSexist language Unbiased language

1. Fireman2. His or her3. Stewardess4. Mailman5. Chairman

1. Firefighter2. Their3. Flight attendant4. Postal carrier5. Chair

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Crafting Memorable Word Structures Creating figurative images.

Creating drama.

Creating cadence.

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Crafting MemorableWord Structures Metaphor. Simile. Crisis Rhetoric. Personification.

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Crafting MemorableWord Structures

Creating figurative images

Metaphor An implied comparison. Helps us to understand an abstract concept by

comparing it to something more concrete.

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Crafting MemorableWord Structures Metaphors

Prison metaphor Banking metaphor“Millions of people in theworld’s poorest countriesremain imprisoned,enslaved and in chains.They are trapped in theprison of poverty.”

“We refuse tobelieve that thereare insufficientfunds in the greatvaults of opportunityof this nation.”

Nelson Mandela 2005 Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963

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Creating figurative images Simile

Unlike an implied comparison (metaphor), it’s a direct comparison.

Uses “like” or “as.”Simile

“…we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. – 1963

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Creating figurative images

Crisis Rhetoric: Language used by speakers during momentous

and overwhelming times.

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Crafting MemorableWord Structures Crisis Rhetoric

2001 Terrorist attacks on the U.S.

1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor

“One more circleof Dante’s Hell.”

“Nuclear winter.”

“…a date which will live in infamy…”

“…our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.”

Various Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Creating figurative images Personification: Assigning human qualities to

inanimate objects or ideas. “The Shuttle Columbia faithfully served her

crew.” “Old man winter is fierce this year.” “Father time never stops moving.” “Take care of our Mother Earth.” “Lady Liberty still breathes strong.”

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Creating drama Short sentences express vitally important

thoughts. Omission: leave out words or phrases the

audience expects. Inversion: reverse normal word order. Suspension: place a key word or phrase at the

end of a sentence (not at the beginning).

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Creating drama

Short sentence “And the war came.”Omission “Sighted sub – sank same.”Inversion “This much we pledge.”Suspension “For families wanting their sons

and daughters to get the chance of college or university, we will meet the challenge of change.”

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Creating cadence Creates rhythmic order. Helps audience stay “in sync.”

Repetition. Parallelism. Antithesis. Alliteration

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Creating cadence Repetition: use of a key word or phrase

more than once for emphasis.“We are Virginia Tech”“We are Virginia Tech”“We are Virginia Tech”

“Our job is not finished”“Our job is not finished”“Our job is not finished”

Nikki Giovanni (2007) Rudy de Leon (2000)

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Creating cadence Parallelism: use of the same grammatical

pattern for two or more phrases, clauses or sentences.

“In grief, we have found”“In challenge, we rediscovered”

“In victory, we have shown”“We will walk”“We will work”“We will speak”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1837) George W. Bush (2004)

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Creating cadence Antithesis: sentence with parallel

structures but with contrasting meanings.

“Our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men”

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933)

John F. Kennedy (1961)

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Creating cadence Alliteration: repeating the (typically first)

consonant sound several times.“Virility, valour, and civic virtue.”

“Conviction, not calculation.”

Winston Churchill 1941) Dick Chaney (2000)

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Tips for UsingLanguage EffectivelyCreating drama Moderately: don’t go overboard with language

devices. Strategically: use in opening sentences, key

statements and conclusions. Simplistically: use short words; long words are

cumbersome. Economically: keep sentences to a manageable

length.

using language in public speaking

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