Page 306 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 10 Language: Making Verbal Sense of the Message 273

occurred rather than candidly admit innocent civilians were injured or killed.
And the spokesperson for a company will announce to the general public that
it is “right sizing” the workforce, when it would be more accurate to say 1,000
employees were losing their jobs.
We do ourselves and our audience a favor when we speak in concrete lan-
guage. Concrete language consists of words and phrases that increase the chance
of our audience interpreting the meaning of our message as intended. Put an-
other way, concrete language is void of words and phrases so abstract that each
person in our audience can walk away from the speech with a different interpre-
tation of what was said.
The easiest way to make language concrete is to use words our audience rec-
ognizes and routinely uses; for example, cat instead of feline, sneaky rather than
surreptitious, book rather than tome, and abusive rather than vituperative language.
We can also make our language more concrete by providing our audience with
details that will clarify our intended meaning. For example, instead of saying a
person is tall or short, give the person’s actual height. Rather than describing
someone as a criminal, detail the nature of his or her crime or criminal record
as well. And rather than arguing that someone is either conservative or liberal,
provide the audience with detailed evidence that supports the claim.

Use Oral Language

The language in our speeches should look and sound more like the language
of conversation than the language of written discourse. However, the language
in our speeches needs to be a refi ned version of that used when conversing. We
should strive to use language in our speeches that is grammatically sound and
clearly enunciated. By the same token, we should feel free to use contractions
more liberally in a speech, split all the infi nitives we want, and end a thought
with a preposition. Spoken thought and written sentences are similar but not
identical. It’s a good idea to read aloud and even record a speech. We can then
listen critically to what we have said, and check to make sure that it sounds like
we are conversing with rather than formally talking to our audience.

Keep It Simple

Less is often more in a speech. By that we mean simple words and simple sen-
tences are usually better than polysyllabic words and compound, complex sen-
tences. “Ask not what your country can do for you . . . but what you can do for
your country,” is much easier to hear and understand than the following:
It’s important that each of you gives some thought to the kinds of demands that you
make on your government, and at the same time begin to think about the meaning of
sacrifi ce, and what you possibly could do to help out your government and elected
leaders.
When possible, it also is important to avoid jargon our audience may not fully
understand. While the term “cognitive dissonance” is fi ne when speaking to a
group of psychologists, the term “post-buyer’s remorse,” which is a form of cog-
nitive dissonance, is better suited to a general audience. If we fi nd that there