Page 302 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 10 Language: Making Verbal Sense of the Message 269

• whether they hear what we are trying to say,
• to imagine what it’s like to live in a world where they cannot speak out for
themselves, or
• to imagine the mournful sound of children crying.

The point is simple. Not everyone in the audience will respond in a like man-
ner to the words we speak. Thus, to maximize audience members’receptivity to
what we say, we must make every effort to use expressive words that refl ect their
different styles of information processing.

Words That Show and Tell

One of the best ways to respond to the diverse styles of information processing
in your audience, is to combine the preceding suggestions with language that
helps you show and tell your audience what’s on your mind. For example, meta-
phors, similes, and analogies help audiences see and listen to your speech.
Metaphor is one of the most powerful sources of expressive language. A metaphor
metaphor is a fi gure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one A fi gure of speech
kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or an in which words and
analogy between them. It’s one thing, for example, to say that a corporation is phrases that are primarily
“polluting the environment.” It’s quite another to say that the same corporation understood to mean one
is “raping virgin timberland.” To say that “freedom is an open window” or that thing are used in place
“music unshackles the mind and spirit” would be metaphorical. Metaphors pro- of another to suggest
vide an audience with a kind of linguistic break from the expected. Thus, just likeness or an analogy
when audience members may be losing interest in a speech, a phrase or word between them. Race car
can grab them by the lapels and help them “see” what we are trying to say. drivers, for example, may
Metaphors should fi t the topic. For example, sports metaphors are often used have to “wrestle with”
in the popular media to describe political contests. Thus, a political candidate a car that is diffi cult to
who does well in a debate “hits a home run,” whereas a less successful candidate control.
“strikes out.” Sometimes a desperate politician is said to “throw a Hail Mary
pass,” while the favored candidate is said to “sit on a lead.” Be careful, however,
not to mix metaphors. It sounds odd to say, “He scored a touchdown while steer-
ing the ship of state through troubled waters.” Metaphors can add spice and simile
Invites the listener to
interest to a speech, but they must be used appropriately.
make a direct compari-
Simile is a form of fi gurative language that invites a direct comparison be-
son between two things
tween two things that are quite different. A simile usually contains the word like
or objects that are quite
or as. “Sharp as a tack,” “tight as a snare drum,” and “pointed as an ice pick” are different, such as “my
examples of simile. Similes can also be used effectively to “show” the audience roommate lives like a pig
what we are attempting to communicate. in slop” or is “dumb as a
Similes differ from metaphors in that they explicitly state the comparison, rock.”
whereas metaphors imply it. Similes are useful, therefore, in making a compari-
son very clear to the audience. For example, a speech on preventing sexually analogy
transmitted diseases might use a simile such as “Having unprotected sexual re- An extended metaphor
lations is like playing Russian roulette with a 357 Magnum.” On a topic such as or simile. Suggesting
that the rebuilding of Iraq
drunk driving, you might say, “Drunken drivers are like unguided missiles.”
is much like rebuilding
Analogies are extended metaphors or similes. Analogies can be effective
Germany and Japan after
in helping an audience imagine something you are trying to describe. In an in-
WWII is an analogy.
formative speech on writing a basic software program, for example, one of our