Public Speaking:
An Audience-Centered Approach – 7th edition
Chapter 12
Using
Words
Well:
Speaker
Language
and
Style
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Steven A. Beebe & Susan J. Beebe
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
“A speech
is poetry;
cadence,
rhythm,
imagery,
sweep!
A speech
reminds
us that
words, like
children,
have the
power to
make us
dance the dullest
beanbag of a heart”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
- Peggy Noonan
Language is Powerful
•
•
•
Using language can
be a challenge.
Word choices can
make your speech
unique.
Language can leave
a lasting impression.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Oral versus Written Style
There are differences
Oral Style
Written Style
•More 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.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
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 &
less 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 jargon
Less simple
More simple
“…malignant
neoplasms
characterized
by the proliferation
of anaplastic cells…”
“…the cancer
spread,
the tumors grew,
the red blood
cells were
less and less…”
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Using Words Effectively
Use words correctly
• Denotation – literal meaning.
• Connotation – personal meaning.
Denotation
Notorious: famous
Connotation
Notorious: famous
because of something
evil or cruel
Using the denotative meaning may not
accurately help listeners understand
what it means to be notorious
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Adapting your Language
Style to Diverse Listeners
•
•
•
Use language your audience
can understand.
Use appropriate
language.
Use unbiased
language.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Adapting your Language
Style to Diverse Listeners
Use language your audience
can understand
Use standard U.S. English:
•
•
Taught in schools.
Used in the media,
business and the
U.S. government.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Adapting your Language
Style to Diverse Listeners
Use appropriate language
•
•
•
•
Avoid racial & ethnic slurs.
Avoid language that puts
down people of a certain
sexual orientation.
Avoid language that attacks
a certain religious group.
Do not attack people with disabilities.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Adapting your Language
Style to Diverse Listeners
Use unbiased language
Avoid sexism
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sexist language
Fireman
His or her
Stewardess
Mailman
Unbiased language
1. Firefighter
2. Their
3. Flight attendant
4. Postal carrier
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
•
•
•
Creating figurative images.
Creating drama.
Creating cadence.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating figurative images
•
•
•
•
Metaphor.
Simile.
Crisis Rhetoric.
Personification.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating figurative images
Metaphor
•
•
An implied comparison.
Helps us to understand
an abstract concept by
comparing it to
something more concrete.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Metaphors
Prison metaphor
“Millions of people in the
world’s poorest countries
remain imprisoned,
enslave and in chains.
They are trapped in the
prison of poverty.”
Nelson Mandela
2005
Banking metaphor
“We refuse to
believe that there
are insufficient
funds in the great
vaults of opportunity
of this nation.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
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
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating figurative images
Crisis Rhetoric:
Language used by
speakers during
momentous and
overwhelming
times.
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Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Crisis Rhetoric
2001 Terrorist
attacks on the U.S.
“One more circle
of Dante’s Hell.”
“Nuclear winter.”
Various
1941 attacks
on Pearl Harbor
“…a date which will live
in infamy…”
“…our people, our territory,
and our interests are in
grave danger.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating figurative images
Personification:
Assigning human qualities
to inanimate objects or ideas.
“Lady liberty still breathes strong.”
“Take care of our Mother Earth.”
“Father time never stops moving.”
“The Shuttle Columbia faithfully
served her crew.”
“Old man winter is fierce this year.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
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).
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating drama
Short
Sentence
Omission
“And the war came.”
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.”
“Sighted sub – sank same.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating cadence
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creates rhythmic order.
Helps audience
stay “in sync.”
Repetition.
Parallelism.
Antithesis.
Alliteration
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating cadence
Repetition: use of a key word or phrase
more than once for emphasis.
“We are Virginia Tech” “Our job is not finished”
“We are Virginia Tech” “Our job is not finished”
“We are Virginia Tech” “Our job is not finished”
Nikki Giovanni (2007)
Rudy de Leon (2000)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating cadence
Parallelism: use of the same grammatical
pattern for two or more phrases,
clauses or sentences.
“We will walk”
“We will work”
“We will speak”
Ralph Waldo
Emerson (1837)
“In grief, we have found”
“In challenge, we
rediscovered”
“In victory, we have shown”
George W.
Bush (2004)
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Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
Creating cadence
Antithesis:
sentence with parallel structures
but with contrasting meanings.
“Our true destiny is not
“Ask not what your
to be ministered unto
country can do for you;
but to minister to
ask what you can do for
ourselves and to our
your country.”
fellow men”
Franklin Delano
John F.
Roosevelt (1933)
Kennedy (1961)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Crafting Memorable
Word Structures
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 Using
Language Effectively
Creating 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.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009