Choosing Your Words

1. Choosing Clear Words and Phrasing

When writing your speech, it’s essential that you use clear words and phrasing with your audience. This section includes some ideas for you to think about: whether you fully understand your topic enough, can delimit the question, and can define key terms. When you think of your speech in this way, you have a great starting point for how to begin selecting the clearest words and phrasing.

1a. How Well Do You Fully Understand Your Topic?

You know that you have to write a speech, and you may or may not have been given a specific topic about which to write. Easy as pie, right?

Hold on there—take a step back for a moment and ask yourself: How well do you fully understand your topic? It's important to take that step back and look at your speech from a distanced perspective.

Looking at your speech from a distance allows you to dissect exactly how you can begin to tackle the specific wording of your speech. You want to make sure that your speech is easy to understand and follow, so it's imperative to choose clear words and phrasing.

term to know

Dissect

To analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts.

1b. Delimit the Question

What question does your speech address? You might be thinking, "Wait a minute. My speech isn't even answering a question. I'm just supposed to talk about a business plan I've made for a fake company for an assignment in my entrepreneurship class."

Here's the thing: Your speech actually is answering a question, that question being, "Why should you invest in my business?"—however fake that business may be.

The importance of identifying the broader question to which your speech will speak not only helps your audience understand your point, but it pinpoints exactly how you need to tailor your speech to your audience. Essentially, when you take steps to delimit your question (your speech's purpose), you help to outline exactly how your audience can follow your line of reasoning.

When you delimit the question, first think about the purpose of your speech. This will usually point you in the direction of the broader question. From there, list step by step how you plan to address that question. Set the parameters for your rhetoric for your audience.

term to know

Delimit

To mark or fix the limits of.

1c. Define Key Terms

Even though your speech could be about something that is otherwise common knowledge to your audience, it is helpful to also define key terms for them as you go along in your speech.

Even though you may have outlined your plan of attack by delimiting the question, it also helps to explain exactly what you're talking about to your audience. When you establish your key terms by defining them for your audience, you set a baseline standard of understanding for your audience, thus eliminating any confusion.

When you delimited your question, were there any key words used in that question? Define those terms as necessary. You'll want to source your definitions appropriately by looking up those key terms from reliable sources. In doing so, you indicate to your audience that you not only fully understand how to approach your argument, but also your topic.

Do be careful: You don't want to "dumb down" your speech by defining every single key term throughout your speech. Make sure you only highlight and define those words that are necessary for establishing a foundation of your speech topic.

term to know

Baseline

Information used as the basis for calculation or for comparison.

2. Choosing Vivid Words

In addition to writing clearly and succinctly, you should also try to paint a vivid picture for your audience. In this section, you will learn how and why to use vivid language in your speech.

2a. Conquer Monotony

"The monotonous speaker not only drones along in the same volume and pitch of tone but uses always the same emphasis, the same speed, the same thoughts—or dispenses with thought altogether. Monotony: the cardinal and most common sin of the public speaker."

—J. Berg Esenwein, The Art of Public Speaking

The quickest way to lose your audience is to be boring. Avoid the "sin of monotony," as Esenwein puts it, by using vivid language and imagery to build interest in your speech.

term to know

Monotony

Tedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.

2b. Writing Descriptively

Think of your favorite food or meal, or perhaps your favorite place to visit. What does it smell like? Look like? Taste like? What are the characteristics of your favorite vacation spot?

When you use vivid, descriptive language in your speech, you immerse your audience in a sensory experience that transports them from their seats and into the experience you craft with your words.

Writing descriptively is more than just using "pretty" language to dress up your speech; in fact, you want to be careful that your speech doesn't come across as poetry. Using descriptive language can actually help get your points across more pointedly to your audience than by simply presenting hard facts and data. Descriptive language engages your audience's imagination, which holds their attention and adds both interest and complexity to your speech.

Here are some easy ways to include descriptive language in your speech:

• Simile and metaphor. Two of the easiest techniques to add descriptive wording to your speech are simile and metaphor. They essentially achieve the same goal: comparing one thing to another in likeness. In a simile, the comparison is made by using the words "like" or "as." Metaphors, on the other hand, usually compare things directly by using the verb "to be." These comparisons help to paint a picture in the minds of your audience. For speechwriters, metaphor and simile are like the brushstrokes of an artist, the notes of a melody, or the choreography of a dance—they demonstrate artistry with language. These comparisons may be alike or dissimilar. The use of opposing ideas and imagery can illustrate bolder points, while similar comparisons bolster the strength of an idea or image.
• Process words. Process words tell someone how to process a set of information. In a speech, it's important to vary your vocabulary so that you don't end up repeating yourself. There are several process words below that get at the basic six ways of processing information. By using synonyms of these words as you craft your speech, you not only tell your audience how to process the information you're presenting, but you also build interest by using a varied vocabulary.
  • Comparing
  • Criticizing
  • Describing
  • Discussing
  • Evaluating
  • Explaining

term to know

Simile

A figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another; in the case of English, generally using the words "like" or "as."

Metaphor

The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn't, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described, but without the words "like" or "as," which would imply a simile.

3. Choosing Appropriate Words: Style and Tone

Consider for a few minutes exactly where, when, and how you will be giving your speech. Consider the tone and style of your speech. From there, think about how you will structure your speech given these various contexts.

Thinking about the following parameters can give you an idea of the most appropriate language to use in the wording of your speech.

• Sectioning your speech. As you outline your argument, you will want to break your speech into sections. A speech consists, broadly, of an introduction, body, and conclusion. However, as you begin to highlight your thesis and specific supporting points and examples, you will create additional sections to your speech. This is particularly helpful if you have a long speech because sectioning makes the information easier for your audience to process. Each section of your speech should have a specific purpose or focus. As you move from one section to the next, you will want to make sure you transition smoothly between each section.
  
  Here are some useful phrases for transitions and sectioning your ideas:
  
  

  Purpose	Examples
  Generalizing	as a general rule, as a rule, in general, generally, normally, on the whole, usually
  Explaining	in other words, that is, this means that
  Expressing likelihood	it is certain that, there is no doubt that, I am confident that, certainly, definitely, clearly, undoubtedly, presumably, will, is, should, it is probable that, it is likely that, probably, can, may, it is possible that, could, might, might possibly, possibly, perhaps
  Expressing doubt	it is doubtful that, maybe, is improbable, is unlikely, it is uncertain, impossible, cannot, can't, will not, is not
  Drawing attention	it is worth noting that, it should be emphasized that, it should be highlighted that, it should be underlined that, in particular, especially, mainly, chiefly, mostly, it should be pointed out that, it should be noted that, it should be remembered that, it is worth stressing that, is vital, is crucial
  Contrasting two points	however, but, in spite of, despite, in spite of the fact that, despite the fact that, nevertheless, nonetheless, instead, conversely, on the contrary, by contrast, whereas, while, whilst, although, even though, on the one hand, on the other hand, in contrast, in comparison with, but, yet, alternatively, the former, the latter, respectively, all the same, there are two possibilities, alternatively, the one, the other, either, or, neither, nor, in addition, not only, but also, worse still, better still, equally, likewise, similarly, correspondingly, in the same way, another possibility, in a similar vein, as well as, furthermore, moreover, also, although, again, what is more, besides, too, as well as
  Giving examples or introducing illustrations	for example, for instance, to name an example, to give an example, is well illustrated by, a case point is, such as, such, one of which, illustrates, is an example of this, is shown by, is exemplified by, is illustrated by, (something) is, means, describes, is defined as, is used, is concerned with, deals with, relates to, involves, signifies, consists of
  Stating consequences	so, therefore, as a consequence, as a result, now, consequently, because of, thus, for this reason, then, this is why, accordingly, hence, given this, with reference to, given, on this basis, is caused by, causes, due to, has the effect, affects, the reason for, because of this, if, then, results in, leads to, produces, owing to, through, as, since, because
  Summarizing	to sum up, in summary, to summarize, in brief, altogether, overall, I conclude, I therefore conclude, reached the conclusion that, it is concluded, therefore, for this reason, then, thus, in conclusion, to bring it all together
  Qualifying frequency	never, rarely, sometimes, usually, often, always, generally, on the whole, frequently, occasionally, hardly ever, seldom
  Qualifying results	under no circumstances, mainly, generally, predominantly, usually, the majority, most of, almost all, a number of, may be, some, a few, a little, fairly, very, quite, rather, almost
  Qualifying change	no, minimal, slight, small, slow, gradual, steady, marked, large, dramatic, complete, steep, sharp, rapid, sudden (rise, increase, fluctuation, decrease, decline, reduction, fall, drop, upward trend, downward trend, peak, plateau, level off)

• Avoiding weasel phrases. Weasel phrases make a lot of promises but do not follow through on the delivery. These trigger phrases often precede statements that lack much substantive quality. These terms are critical to avoid so as not to invalidate the credibility of your argument. Here is a list of common weasel phrases:
  • Allegedly
  • Arguably
  • As opposed to most
  • Considered by many
  • Contrary to many
  • Critics/critics say that
  • It could be argued that
  • It has been suggested/stated/said/noticed
  • It is widely believed/generally claimed
  • Many people say
  • Many scientists argue that
  • Research has shown
  • Researchers argue that
  • Serious scholars say that
  • Social science says/believes that
  • Some historians argue
  • The scientific community
  • This is widely considered to be/regarded as

term to know

Weasel Phrases

Phrases that often precede statements and that lack substantive quality.