General studies
Language in speech making
Dr. Chike Mgbeadichie
PhD English Language and
Literature/Letters
University of Exeter
General studies
LEARNING OBJECTIVEs
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
● Assess the importance of a great start to
public speaking
● Explain the place of communication in public
speaking
● Evaluate the role of grammar in public
speaking
General studies
A strong start; a flourishing finish
● Every speech or piece of writing has a beginning, a
middle and an end.
● In rhetoric, like a perfect life, morning tells the day.
● Even if you bore your audience or readers in the
middle of the piece, it is rhetorical suicide to bore
them at the beginning.
General studies
An Exemplary Start
● “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic
shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been
seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous
daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” (Martin
Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream”)
● Not one hundred years or ten decades ago but ‘five score
years ago’
● Not Abraham Lincoln, but ‘a great American [who] signed the
Emancipation Proclamation’
● Not the Lincoln memorial, but ‘in whose symbolic shadow’
● Finally, the tropes: ‘ great beacon light…seared in the withering
flames…joyous daybreak…long night of captivity’
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The DIY of a Strong Start
● The old communication adage stands:
○ Tell them what you are going to tell them
○ Tell them
○ Tell them what you have just told them
● The whole message must be communicated in a
miniaturized form in the introduction.
● A brief story, memorable quote, a challenge, a
question or a joke is good for the opener.
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What about the Applause Raiser?
● End the communication with a flourish because most
times this is what the reader will remember, along with
the introduction.
● Here are some candidates:
○ A quote
○ A restatement of the main message
○ A call to action
General studies
The Meaning of Communication
● Remember that communication, community and communion all have a common root.
● Communication is about your audience, not your own well-crafted verbal arsenal.
● Focus on the audience: what they need to know or hear, how best this can be done.
● Serve your audience/readers, not yourself.
● The seven pillars in communication:
○ Focus
○ Purpose
○ Meaning
○ Substance
○ Structure
○ Clarity
○ Humility
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The Function of Language
● Language as a sign, mirrors reality.
● But language also creates and recreates reality by giving
meaning and coherence to events and phenomena.
● Language gives life and meaning to things and events
through naming.
● To name a reality, to give it a label, is to shape people’s
perception of it.
General studies
Thoughts and Language
● From another perspective, thoughts and language are
closely connected.
● Psycholinguists argue that we think in language; that
our thoughts come in the form of words, phrases and
sentences; that even images in our mind make meaning
when we articulate them in the form of words.
● Woolly language is evidence of woolly thinking.
General studies
Language as the Tool
● Language is the technical tool with which to execute
the speech.
● As in any technical context, different tools are used for
different occasions and purposes.
● Choose the right tools to do the job; that is, the right
words, and expressions for specific occasions.
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Forms and Aspects of Language
● Language comes in levels or forms or aspects:
○ phonology (sound)
○ syntax (grammar)
○ morphology (word order)
○ semantics (meaning and reference)
● Attention to language is therefore attention to the
different levels or aspects for every use.
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Semantics
● This is a complex field of language study, but for our
purpose it is sufficient to note that good writers and
speakers are always conscious of the meaning and
referential possibilities of words and sentences.
● Note also that in the English language, the unit of
meaning is the sentence, not the word.
● A single word is meaningful only in a sentential context.
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Denotation and Connotation
● Broadly speaking, and always in sentential context, words have
either
○ a denotative or literal meaning
○ a connotative or associative/figurative meaning
● The power of words come less from the denotative and more
from the connotative meaning
● Connotations in The King’s Dream
‘One hundred years later, the Negro is still not free. One hundred
years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the
manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty
in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred
years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of
American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.’
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Denotation and Connotation
● Denotation in Lincoln’s Gettysburg
‘The world will little note nor long remember what we
say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is
for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus
far so nobly advanced.’
General studies
Accuracy and Other Norms
● Do not use a word unless you are sure of its meaning.
● Use language clearly. Take the example of the
pedestrian about to be hit by a car.
● Use familiar words.
● Use concrete words.
● Avoid clusters: ‘prior to’, ‘adjacent to,’ ‘learned and
educated person,’
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Catchy Language
● Avoid polysyllabic words and latinisms, if simple
alternatives exist:
○ ‘commence’ when ‘begin’ or ‘start’ will do quite as
well
● Use vivid language in place of dull words (see e.g. King’s
‘I have a dream’ in Stephen Lucas p.266)
● Use imagery when occasion demands
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Role of Rhythm
● Rhythm comes from syntax and linear arrangement, but
rhythm is based as much on sound as on grammar and
visual order.
● Rhythm is often created by repetition which has various
forms:
○ lexical repetition- repeating a whole phrase within
the same sentence (Get ready, get set, go)
○ parallelism- repetition of them same grammatical
form (Where there are fishes; there are cats)
○ alliteration- repetition of consonant sounds (Bring
in Bola’s bottle before breakfast)
○ assonance- repetition of vowel sounds (Clap your
hand and stamp your feet)
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Language Register
● Use language that is appropriate to the topic
○ Appropriate to the occasion
○ Appropriate to the audience
○ Appropriate to the speaker
● Use non-offensive language also (non-sexist, non-
racial or ethnic, non religiously offensive etc)
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Some Stylistic Elements
● Avoid ambiguous and vague expressions. They could
make the speech presenter appear ridiculous.
● Avoid hackneyed expressions and gobbledygook.
● Don’t be verbose. Be economical.
General studies
The Word Economy
● Minimise the use of technical and high-sounding
expressions, especially if the speech is to be presented
to a mixed audience.
● Edit your speech, even if you are under pressure to send
it to the boss. It is better to be late, than to subject the
boss to embarrassment with spelling errors, poor
punctuations, illogicality, incoherence, and
grammatical flaws, or bombast.
General studies
Orwell on Style
● The following recommendations made by George Orwell in
his “Politics and the English language” would help you:
● Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech
which you are used to seeing in print.
● Never use a long word where a short one will do.
● If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
● Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon
word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
● Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright
barbarous.
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Summary
● We have
● Understood the importance of a great start to public speaking
● Examined the place of communication in public speaking
● Evaluated the role of grammar in public speaking
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Further Reading and reference
● Lucas, Stephen. 2001. The Art of Public Speaking
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Thank
You
