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Step 7: Word Your Speech 237

t this point, you’re probably deep into your speech preparation. You’ve selected and lim-
Aited your topic, defined your purpose, and stated your thesis. You’ve analyzed your audi-
ence and begun thinking of adaptations you can make based on the nature of your specific
audience. You’ve researched the topic. You’ve identified your main points. You’ve organized
the points and selected appropriate supporting materials. This chapter continues explaining
the process of preparing a speech and offers suggestions on wording the speech (Step 7),
constructing the conclusion, introduction, transitions, and outlines (Step 8), rehearsing the
speech (Step 9), and finally delivering the completed public speech (Step 10).

Step 7: Word Your Speech

When you’re reading, you can look up an unfamiliar word, reread difficult portions, or look Explore the Exercise
up an unfamiliar word or check a reference. When you’re listening, you don’t have this “Making Concepts Specific” at
MyCommunicationLab
luxury. Because of differences between reading and listening, and because your listeners will
hear your speech only once, your talk must be instantly intelligible.
Researchers who have examined a great number of speeches and writings have found
several important differences among them (DeVito, 1981; Akinnaso, 1982). Generally, oral
style, the style of spoken language, consists of shorter, simpler, and more familiar words than
does written language. For most speeches, this “oral style” is appropriate. The specific sugges-
tions offered throughout this section will help you to style a speech that will retain the best of
the oral style while maximizing comprehension and persuasion.

Clarity
Clarity in speaking style should be your primary goal. Here are some guidelines to help you
make your meanings clear:
● Be economical. Don’t waste words. Notice the wasted words in expressions such as “at 9
a.m. in the morning,” “we first began the discussion,” “I myself personally,” and “blue in
color.” By withholding the italicized terms, you eliminate unnecessary words and move
closer to a more economical and clearer style.
● Use specific terms and numbers. Be specific to create a clearer and more detailed picture.
Don’t say “dog” when you want your listeners to picture a St. Bernard. Don’t say “car”
when you want them to picture a limousine. The same is true of numbers. Don’t say
“earned a good salary” if you mean “earned $90,000 a year.” Don’t say “taxes will go up”
when you mean “taxes will increase 7 percent.”
● Use short, familiar terms. Generally, favor the short word over the long, the familiar over
the unfamiliar, and the more commonly used over the rarely used term. Choose harmless
instead of innocuous, clarify instead of elucidate, use instead of utilize, find out instead of
ascertain, expense instead of expenditure.
● Carefully assess idioms. Idioms are expressions that are unique to a specific language and
whose meaning cannot be deduced from the individual words used. Expressions such as
“kick the bucket,” and “doesn’t have a leg to stand on” are idioms. Either you know the
meaning of the expression or you don’t; you can’t figure it out from the definitions of the
individual words. Idioms give your speech a casual and informal style, making your
speech sound like speech and not like a written essay. But, idioms can create problems for
audience members who are not native speakers of your language.
● Vary the levels of abstraction. Combining high abstraction (i.e., the very general) and low
abstraction (i.e., the very concrete) seems to work best. Too many generalizations will be
vague and difficult for your audience to comprehend, but too many specifics will leave
them wondering what the big picture is.

ViVidness
Select words that make your ideas vivid, that make them come alive in your listeners’ minds.