Language and Ethics
Today I will focus on the language of giving speeches. Speech language includes elements such as the following:
• alliteration
• clichés
• metaphors and similes
• imagery
How you incorporate the various language components depends on your own speaking style and comfort level.
As a professional speaker, I write speeches for business professionals, but I have also been hired to write speeches for brides, bridegrooms, best men, teachers, administrators, politicians, and even ministers. Although the written style for each is unique, all my clients ask that their speeches come across as conversational. Being able to write conversationally can be a challenge, but with a strong working knowledge of the range of language elements at your disposal, it does get easier.
Let’s look at the various elements of language and some tips to help you use them in each of your speeches. However, avoid overuse of these elements because they can become distractions for your audience and may steer them away from listening to your message.
An alliteration is a sentence or long phrase in which each of the words begins with the same letter. Two common alliterations most of you are familiar with are “She sells seashells by the seashore” and “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” Alliteration can be used to make a point memorable in your presentation or to convey dramatic or poetic nuances. This technique also gives the listener a catchy phrase to remember a particular message. The following examples use this repeated letter technique. Think about how you can use alliteration in your speeches and presentations. Have fun with it.
In my workshops I use an alliteration I call the nine P’s: Prior Proper Preparations Prevents Poor Performance of the Person Putting on the Presentation. Another alliteration I use represents the three R’s of motivation:
• Recognition
• Reward
• Reinforcement
Clichés are short, trite phrases that refer to commonly held ideas but have lost their originality owing to overuse. “Look on the bright side” is one example of a cliché. Here are several others:
• Live and learn.
• What goes around comes around.
• Don’t worry, be happy.
• Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
• No pain, no gain.
• Every cloud has a silver lining.
• Every rose has its thorn.
• Cheer up, it’s not the end of the world.
• It could be worse.
You get the idea. Using clichés in your speeches is very effective as long as they fit with your message. For example, if you are giving a motivational speech to a group of people starting a new exercise program, the cliché “No pain, no gain” may very well be appropriate to use. One cliché I use when working with clients who are uncomfortable speaking in front of people is “Cheer up, it’s not the end of the world.” I explain to the client that he must conquer his fear of public speaking and believe that the audience will like him and be interested in his message.
A metaphor is a figurative comparison between two usually unconnected things, resulting in an image in the mind’s eye. For example, the statement “My love is a rose” is a metaphor. The message the listener gets is that, like a rose, love is fragile and beautiful yet thorny.
Like a metaphor, a simile is a figure of speech where two usually unconnected things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by “like” or “as.” For example, “My love is like a red, red rose.”
It is common to use metaphors or similes to express feelings, ideas, and concepts that are complex or hold a special meaning for you, or to paint a particular, even humorous, image for the audience. In a motivational speech to get a participant to feel good about him- or herself, I used the simile “You look like a million bucks.”
Come up with a metaphor or simile to describe how you might feel in the following situations.
1. Getting an A on a final exam when you would have been happy to have gotten a C.
2. Your first experience of speaking anxiety or stage fright.
3. Witnessing a serious accident.
Imagery is the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. In seminars I use imagery to tell a story. Imagery is a wonderful technique to help you convey your message and help individuals “picture” abstract concepts. Also, I use imagery to help clients have more self-confidence and self-esteem when they are preparing to speak in front of a group of people. When I use imagery in my presentations I use three objects related to my topic and describe each. For example, let’s say your topic is job hunting and you decide to use imagery to discuss the job interview process and three types of job candidates. Here are three images you might choose to use to describe these candidates:
• Overkill. The individual who arrives at the job interview wearing an extremely expensive suit, with his hair slicked back, and carrying an attaché case, laptop, and cell phone.
• Professional. The individual who arrives at the interview ten minutes early wearing a clean, well-pressed, fashionable but conservative suit, with her hair neatly swept off her face, and carrying a slim portfolio and small purse.
• Laid back. The individual who strolls into the interview fifteen minutes late wearing wrinkled pants and an untucked, collarless shirt, with his hair unkempt, scraggly facial hair, and holding a dog-eared resume in his hand.
In preparing any speech it is crucial to develop and use your own material. It is unethical to use someone else’s stories, data, or research and try to pass it off as your own. Using unattributed material is called plagiarism and is illegal. If you develop and use your own material, you won’t find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit.
If you do, however, find information or data from another source that supports your claim or ideas, you can get the author’s permission in writing before you use the information, or if it’s from a research study or professional journal you can attribute the information in a verbal citation in your speech. For example, “According to data by the Gallup Organization . . .” It is unethical to use other people’s material (even something by a colleague) without
• asking them.
• giving proper credit in the speech.
I continually receive calls from businesses, colleges, and authors asking for permission to reprint one of my articles. In return I expect proper credit. In my career as a public speaker, I have experienced only a few incidences when an individual has actually taken my articles word for word and tried to pass them off as his or her own. This is not only unethical, but also in violation of copyright laws.
Northwestern University’s “Principles Regarding Academic Integrity” defines plagiarism to its students as “submitting material that in part or whole is not entirely [the writer’s or speaker’s] own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source.” Plagiarism occurs in many forms other than writing, such as art, music, computer code, mathematics, and scientific work.
To help you, here are Northwestern University’s guidelines for proper attribution.
As you plan a speech, you will likely draw from a vast pool of texts, ideas, and findings that individuals have accumulated over hundreds, even thousands, of years. What you call originality is actually the innovative combining, amending, or extending of material from that pool.
The most helpful form of attribution is a citation where you give precise information about your source: where the material came from, the author’s name, and the publication date. At times it is difficult to know what needs to be cited. Common knowledge or ideas that have been in the public domain and are found in a number of sources don’t need to be cited. One example of a document that doesn’t require a citation is the Bill of Rights. If you are in doubt, document.
As someone who is learning to develop your own speaking style, you may want to emulate your favorite professional speaker and copy certain styles and techniques. Professional speakers, myself included, are very sensitive to having individuals use our personal stories in their seminar or keynote address. Develop your own stories that can relate to your message.
• Learn when to give proper attribution. An attribution is necessary in a speech when something you say might leave listeners in doubt about whom you are attributing the material to and for what reason.
• Respect the source. Make sure your attribution expresses your appreciation for being allowed to borrow the information. For example, at the end of your speech you could say to the audience, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Herb Johnson for his compelling work in the area of foster care in inner cities.”
Following are what I believe to be the ten most influential and memorable speeches in history. Notice that I have not included entire speeches, just excerpts.
1. The Gettysburg Address. By Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” I am sure you have read this address—one of the best-known speeches of American history—given by our sixteenth president during the Civil War. This speech is amazingly powerful even though it was only about two minutes long. Over time, the Gettysburg Address and its closing message—“government of the people, by the people, for the people”—have come to symbolize the definition of democracy itself.
2. Liberty or death. By Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775. Following the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, in which American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, the British Parliament enacted a series of so-called Intolerable Acts in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts. Henry’s impassioned words “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” influenced Virginia’s government to support his resolutions, which in turn propelled Virginia into the American Revolution.
3. On women’s right to vote. By Susan B. Anthony in 1873. In the 1880s women in the United States were legal underdogs who did not even have the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony gave a speech after she was arrested for casting an illegal vote in the presidential election of 1872. She was fined $100 but refused to pay. In her speech she stated, “Webster, Worcester, and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then, women are citizens; and no state has a right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitution and laws of the several states is today null and void.”
Following her death in 1906 after decades of tireless work, both the Democratic and Republican parties endorsed women’s right to vote.
4. “I have a dream.” By Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963. King gave the keynote speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in front of about 250,000 people. Since 1963, King’s “I have a dream” speech has become the most famous public address of the twentieth century. With his profound and far-reaching words, King cemented his place as a crusader for civil rights leadership.
Here is the closing of his speech:
“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
5. For a declaration of war. By Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 8, 1941. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the first assault wave of Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, taking the Americans completely by surprise. On Monday, December 8, President Roosevelt appeared before Congress and made his speech asking for a declaration of war against Japan, calling the previous day “a date which will live in infamy”: “I ask that Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.”
6. “We choose to go to the moon.” By John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962. In this 1962 speech made at Rice University in Houston, Texas, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed America’s commitment to landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The president spoke in philosophical terms about the need to solve the mysteries of space and also defended the enormous expense of the program. “Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure in which man has ever embarked.”
7. “I am prepared to die.” By Nelson Mandela on April 20, 1964. In 1962 Nelson Mandela was arrested by South African security police for his opposition to the white government and its apartheid (“separateness”) policies of racial, political, and economic discrimination against the nonwhite majority. In 1964 the government brought further charges against Mandela, including sabotage, high treason, and conspiracy to overthrow the government. This was part of Mandela’s statement at the opening of his defense trial in April 1964: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
8. “We shall overcome.” By Lyndon B. Johnson on March 15, 1965. In this eloquent speech to Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson used the phrase we shall overcome, borrowed from African American leaders struggling for equal rights. The speech came a week after deadly racial violence erupted in Selma, Alabama, as African Americans were attacked by police while preparing to march to Montgomery to protest voting rights discrimination. “What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.”
9. Resigning the presidency. By Richard M. Nixon on August 8, 1974. A unique and tragic event in American politics occurred as President Richard M. Nixon spoke on TV in August of 1974 to the American public, announcing his decision to resign the presidency. Nixon’s decision came after the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives voted to recommend his impeachment. During the Senate investigation, a Nixon aide revealed the president had installed a bugging system in the Oval Office that had recorded most conversations on tape. Under intense pressure in the spring of 1974, Nixon released edited transcripts of the tapes containing his conversations. “I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interest of America first. America needs a full-time president and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. . . . Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. . . .”
10. Recognition of the American Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball Association. By Congresswoman Corrine Brown on June 17, 1997. Congresswoman Corrine Brown gave this speech before Congress, asking them to sign a bill acknowledging the establishment of two new women’s professional basketball leagues: the American Basketball League (ABL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). “The success of women’s sports has proved that America is ready for women’s professional basketball. We have built a generation of talented players who can compete internationally, and now it is time to showcase this talent here in our own country. These leagues will offer role models to younger women and promote greater chances for female athletes, continuing the tradition of gender equity in sports. . . .”
Here are what I believe to be the top ten ways to be funny, taken from Wake ’Em Up!—How to Use Humor and Other Professional Techniques to Create Alarmingly Good Business Presentations, by my colleague Tom Antion.
1. Anachronisms. An anachronism is a person, place, or thing that is out of its proper or chronological order. For instance, Paul Revere riding a motorcycle or George Washington sitting in front of a computer are humorous anachronisms. Any time you include an anachronistic relationship, you evoke humor and create more attention to your example, message, or point. Here’s a good fill-in-the-blank format. Would [big name from the past] have _____ if he had _____? All you have to do is make a simple relationship, and your message will be funny and memorable. For example: Would George Washington have thrown his money away in the Potomac if he had Fidelity Investment Management Associates on his side?
2. Audience gags. Audience gags are offbeat jokes that occur unexpectedly during a presentation. Dr. Joel Goodman developed this gag: A telephone rings during his presentation. He answers a phone that is hidden in the lectern and pretends to talk to his mother. The same joke would be called a “running gag” if the phone rang at several other times during the program.
One of the more effective gags or skits I use in my program is the telephone exercise. In this exercise I choose two participants and have them sit in chairs with their backs to one another. I have one person pretend to call the other person with the objective of asking permission to send information. What the individual doesn’t know is that the person receiving the call has been instructed to not agree to anything without his or her boss’s permission. The person placing the call must use all possible sales and presentation techniques to convince the other person without getting angry. While this conversation is going on, I have the rest of the audience record the nonverbal expressions on each person’s face. When the conversation is concluded, the audience discusses the volunteer’s body language. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate that we use body language when we are on the phone even though the person we are speaking to cannot see us. The exercise also shows the audience how to remain professional, keep their cool, and gain a better understanding of how we use body language.
3. What is he talking about? One of Tom’s favorite gags is the false guest speaker. During this impersonation, Tom begins his presentation passing himself off as someone else. You can be as creative as you want with your impostor. He begins his speech pretending to know what he is talking about so it comes across as believable and authentic. He reveals his true identity only after he moves forward with his speech and starts to confuse the audience by talking about unrelated topics. Use this routine when you want to reduce audience pressure or just want to have some fun before you begin your speech. You can vary the length of the impostor’s speech to suit your program.
4. Cartoons. One of the most universally accepted forms of humor are cartoons. Here are three ways to use cartoons in your speeches:
• Tell the audience about a cartoon you saw.
• Cut out the cartoon from its publication and show it to your audience. Make sure you get permission before using it in your program.
• Make up a cartoon yourself. For example, when I give my speech “Overcoming Speaking Anxiety,” I use a cartoon depicting a speaker backed into a corner with a terrified look on his face. This cartoon represents how my clients sometimes feel trapped in a corner when they have to speak in front of a group.
5. Comic verse. Often a short poem illustrates your point better than hours of meaningless talking. Poems can be inspiring and motivating as well as funny. They also add variety to your presentations. You must flawlessly memorize any comic verse you use. Any stumble ruins the effect of the verse. If the verse is long, you may want to read it, but complete memorization has more impact. I don’t usually use comic verse in my presentations; however, when I do use a comic verse, it’s at the end of my presentation to leave the audience with something to remember.
Sid Madwed, a very good friend and colleague of mine, is a professional poet and uses comic verse in many of his speeches. Here is an example of comic verse that Sid wrote about public speaking.
I know someone who can talk a blue streak.
Yet, if asked to speak in public says he’ll freak.
Is it any wonder that speaking in public is man’s great fear?
Ask a hundred to speak in public and none will volunteer.
For most would feel funny and some will feel queer.
But great power is yours if in public you speak with ease.
For you can share what you know in a way that will please.
For those who master speaking in public have the power of a Hercules.
(Used with permission from Sid Madwed, www.madwed.com.)
6. Exaggeration. Expanding or diminishing proportions of your speech can be a fun way to create humor. It’s similar to a caricature artist who outrageously exaggerates the features of an individual while still keeping the person recognizable. For example, Tom gave a talk for Secretary’s Day at a large insurance company and focused on how hectic it always was for the secretaries. This is how he incorporated exaggeration into his presentation: “You’re answering the telephone, the fax machine is ringing, you’re making copies, and you’re filing every policy clear back to 1910.” The secretaries could relate to each item mentioned. They did a lot of filing, but certainly not as far back as 1910. Exaggerating this date lent humor while driving home the point that they always had lots of work piled up.
7. Fake facts and statistics. Stating falsehoods as if they were absolutely true is another fun way to play with the audience. However, you must make the statements obviously false by your words and your facial expressions. You don’t want to leave any doubt about whether you are joking or being serious.
For example, here is how Tom incorporated fake statistics into his presentation: “A study done for the Alaskan Pipeline Workers Union indicated that 97.2 percent of Alaskan Pipeline Workers wear panty hose.” When giving fake statistics, use exact numbers for emphasis.
8. Roast humor. Being roasted (a tribute in which the honoree’s friends and acquaintances alternate short speeches of praise and jokes) is a lot of fun, but you must be careful to honor the person you are roasting. Make jokes about things that are obviously untrue and then exaggerate to make the humor even more obvious. Or you can outrageously exaggerate things about the individual that are true. Here is an example: “The emcee’s job is not to be wise or witty. In fact, it is his job to appear dull so that the other speakers will shine in comparison. Considering who we are roasting tonight, it looks like I’m going to have to rise to new heights of boredom.”
9. Quotations. Quotations are a safe bet to use: If they are not funny, you don’t have to worry because you didn’t write them. However, quotations can still be used to make your point. Thousands of notable quotations are available from quotation dictionaries, literature, and professional journals. Here are a few examples:
“Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please,” by Mark Twain.
“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on,” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
10. Self-effacing humor. Self-effacing humor, or making fun of yourself, gets its strength from highlighting your own weaknesses. People who have the ability to laugh at themselves are perceived as secure, confident, strong, and likable. With this type of humor, a little goes a long way. If you overdo it, you will look like a doomsayer who is always putting yourself down. Seek out opportunities to tease yourself or make fun of your mistakes. This will be one of your most powerful tools to connect with the audience and a subtle way to show your strength.
In my seminars I talk about the bad speaking habits I used to have and demonstrate a few by overexaggerating the gestures so that they look funny, but toned down enough so they’re realistic. For example, I used to rise up and down on the balls of my feet. As I’m telling the audience about this behavior, I repeatedly rise up and down on the balls of my feet while swaying from side to side. The audience usually ends up laughing, and this tells them I’m not afraid to poke fun at myself.
In Day 3 I discussed the different types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive, ceremonial, and impromptu or extemporaneous. Starting in this chapter and continuing through the remaining chapters of this book, I will give a portion of a sample speech so you can get a flavor of the different types of speeches and how to approach them. In this chapter I will share a portion of an informative speech. An informative speech gives the audience specific information about a certain topic or event.
When I was still working as a nuclear materials engineer, I gave this speech—“Nuclear Power and How it Works”—to high school science classes studying nuclear power.
Nuclear power is one of those things that keeps us in the light but so many of us are in the dark about it. Today, I am here to shed a little light on the subject and talk to you about nuclear power and how it works.
To begin, let’s take a look at how steam is created. Imagine a flask of water being heated by a flame and eventually you see the water begin to boil. After the water boils, it begins to generate steam, causing a whistling sound to come from the flask. The same result happens when you heat the flask with a hot plate. The only difference was the heat source, flame vs. hot plate.
A nuclear power plant heats water the exact same way except the heat source is uranium dioxide, a special form of uranium. When the uranium splits apart, it gives off heat and in turn heats the water to a boil.
You may be asking why I selected a speech from my former career. As a professional speaker you are asked to make presentations on complicated, technical material. This speech worked well because I used simple terms and tried to explain the nuclear fission process using analogies and real-world examples that the students could relate to.
When you really get serious about improving your presentation and speaking skills, you will probably want professional coaching. A good speaking coach can objectively evaluate where you are now in your speaking abilities and help you formulate a plan to reach your goals. There are no quick fixes, but you can make significant improvement quickly, maybe in only a few weeks, if you work at it and have the proper direction.
A speaking coach can evaluate you in person or with the help of a video or an audiotape. This tape is reviewed and an assessment is completed analyzing your strong points and what areas need improvement. If you are looking for a speaking coach, you can find a listing in the Yellow Pages or on the Internet. When you are talking with speaking coaches, whether on the phone or in person, be candid. Ask the coach for a list of clients he or she has worked with and testimonials from these clients. Ask how many years of experience the coach has in the field, if he or she has published any books, videos, or audiotapes. After gathering all the information, take time to review the facts and select a coach who will work best for you.
In Day 7 I will discuss how you deal with the unexpected—things that could and will go wrong. I will share some professional stories of the unexpected occurrences that have happened to me in my speaking career.