Effective speech writing begins with a plan. First of all
the elements of a speech need to be considered:
 Who is the Speaker?
 What is the occasion?
 Who is the audience?
 What is the purpose of the speech (entertaining,
persuading, inspiring)?
 What is the subject matter?
 What is the tone of the piece?
Once you have established the elements of your speech it’s
time to work on the format. As with all essays your piece will
have an introduction, body and closing remarks or
conclusion.
Introduction: What technique will you use? It could be a
reference to the past, humor, or an explanation of your
purpose.
Body of Speech: How will you organize your speech?
Some special speech techniques you might consider include
parallelism, repetition, questions, sets of three, quotes,
references, anecdotes, figurative language, or
compare/contrast.
Closing Remarks: What message do you want to leave the
audience with?
Barbara Bush uses humor to open her commencement speech at Wellesley
College in June of 1999.
Now I know your first choice for today was Alice Walker (guess how I know!),
known for The Color Purple. Instead you got me -- known for … the color of my
hair! Alice Walker's book has a special resonance here. At Wellesley, each class
is known by a special color ... and for four years the Class of 1990 has worn the
color purple. Today you meet on Severance Green to say goodbye to all of that ...
to begin a new and very personal journey ... a search for your own true colors.
….and an attention getting concluding remark
So I want to offer you today a new legend: The winner of the hoop race will be the
first to realize her dream ... not society's dreams ... her own personal dream. And
who knows? Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one
day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President's
spouse.
I wish him well!
Parallelism:
All the ideas in a sentence line up logically.
When sentences are parallel, they flow
smoothly and have symmetry.
When you present a series it should line up
logically with the beginning of the sentence.
Parallelism can also be a series of words that
are the same part of speech.
Abraham Lincoln used parallelism very effectively in the Gettysburg
address.
Example:
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate--we can not
consecrate--we can not hallow --this ground.
Non-example:
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, nor should we
consecrate or hallow this ground.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gettysburg.htm
Repetition
There are two ways you can use repetition to
create hooks that your audience will remember.
You can repeat a word or catch-phrase at key
moments throughout the speech or you can
repeat a word or catch-phrase in rapid
succession in one section of your speech
•
ideas
•
motifs
•
lines
Example:
From the speech of Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor at the White House in 1999….
And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence, so
much indifference.
What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange
and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and
dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil.
What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there
a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a
virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live
normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us
experiences harrowing upheavals?
Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so
much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude
interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes.
Example:
And we can’t leave out Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a dream” speech at
Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table
of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with
the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed
into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
Rule of Three or Triads
Sets of three sound better to the ear than two or four.
While not scientifically proven we remember sets of
three more easily.
Also from Elie Wiesel from his speech at the White House in
1999….
It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our
work, our dreams, our hopes.
Questions consist of raising one or more questions
and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some
length. A common usage is to ask the question at the
beginning of a paragraph and then use that paragraph to
answer it.
Rhetorical question differs from the other type of
question in that it is not answered by the writer, because
its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually
just a yes or no. It is used for effect, emphasis, or
provocation, or for drawing a concluding statement from
the facts at hand.
Maya Angelou, Poet, from her speech at the 16th Annual Families Alive
Conference, Weber State University, May 8, 1997
The issue which faces us all the time, it seems to me, is not should
we do good, but there's a question which we must ask ourselves,
which is: How good do we have to be?
Now, my belief is as long as the question is asked, our answer is
always: We're not good enough yet.
How good do we have to be? To whom are we responsible?
Where do our responsibilities end?
In fact, am I responsible -- I'm black, many of you may not have
noticed. I'm telling you just in case -- and female and 6 feet tall,
and I'm pressing on to being 70 -- pressing.
A few more ideas…..
If you know of someone that has, in your opinion, said it
better, don’t be afraid to use their material – just make sure
to cite them in your speech. This could be a direct quote, an
idiom, a reference to a famous person or even a short
anecdote. Your anecdotes can certainly be personal as well.
And one last technique is the use of compare and contrast.
Booker T. Washington used an anecdote effectively in his speech at
the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition
on September 18, 1895 in Atlanta Georgia.
A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel.
From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, "Water,
water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel at once
came back, "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the
signal, "Water, water; send us water!" ran up from the distressed
vessel, and was answered, "Cast down your bucket where you are."
And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, "Cast down your
bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last
heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of
fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River.
And don’t forget Figurative Language
Simile is a comparison between two different things that
resemble each other in at least one way using the words like
or as.
Metaphor compares two different things by speaking of one
in terms of the other.
Analogy compares two things, which are alike in several
respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some
unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea
or object is similar to some familiar one.
Hyperbole deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis
or effect
Allusion is a short, informal reference to a famous person or
event.
Exceptional public speakers – Barack Obama and John F Kennedy
Barack Obama and his “Yes We Can” speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe751kMBwms
JFK’s inaugural speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4phB-rRjYQw