THE LOST ART OF GREAT SPEECHWRITING
PREP WORK
Effective Opening Should
These are my notes from The Lost Art of the Great Speech:
Writing makes makes you think. A well -written -written speech speech is a
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How to Write One--How to Deliver It
dis ci plined speech. It does does not ramble. It gets gets to the point.
Establ is h a common common ground ground between between the s peaker and the audience
Even if you prefer to rea d from notes, notes, the notes wil l be
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Set the tone for the speech
CONTEXT
more us eful if they’re they’re b as ed on written text.
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Reinforce or establi sh the speaker’s qualifi cations cations
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Arouse interest in the subject
Every speech is an opportunity
Having the written text of a talk can be helpful because it
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Take adva ntage of the speaker’s “grace period”
can easil y be shared as a blog, articl e or email email .
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Segue smoothly into the subject
Preparation process
Types of Openings
- Research and brainstorming – Find data, quotes,
- Novelty opening – Could be fictional , or disorienting. disorienting.
“And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not
eloquent, neither heretofore, nor s inc e thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Exodus 4;10
anecdotes, stats etc
BEFORE SPEAKING
- Purpose – How exactly should audience members feel and react
what they’re tal king Know who else is presenting and what
- Outline – Come up with all of the points that you could
about. Also know the order. This context can be really
make (might be like 20 points). Then narrow that down
helpful and shoul d influence the the speech. E.g. i f someone someone
to the main 3-5 points that you will make
before before you is c overing a lot of material material that you think you you
Kind of gi mmicky mmicky - Dramatic openings – Use of suspense. Startling the audience or something like that. - Question openings – Asking the audience questions - Humorous openings – Making some kind of joke as an ice breaker
- Thesis – Decide the main uni fying theme theme of the speech
- Reference openings – Making some kind of reference
you can adjust.
ORGANIZATION
REFERENCES
Make s ure your your cr edentials edentials are clear to the organizer.
Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em. Tell ‘em. Then tell ‘em
There are a l ot of different reference types that ca n be
what you’ve told them.
used;
Techniques
- Location – I love these mountains. What a great city.
would cover, you really want to know that in advance so
Decide a primary purpose for your speech. Think what do you want people to think or feel as a result of hearing your speech.
- Cause and effect Primary purposes 1.
To entertain
2.
To inform
3.
To inspire
4.
To motivate
5.
To advocate
6.
To convince or persuade
- Problem and solution - Thought modules – indivi dual thought thoughtss tied with a ll the supporting ideas
OPENING “Well “Well begun begun is well well done.”
During the opening, you have a grace period. Similar to the Know the detail detail s of the organi zation that’s that’s hosting the
president’s president’s firs t 100 days.
- Personal – Started from the bottom now I’m here - Literary Reference – Some ki nd of quote quote or s tory reference - Twists – Take a common cliché or Jargon and turn it upsi de town town - Date – What a wonderful time of year
LANGUAGE The greater our skill with the language, the more clearly we think, and the better better we express our thoughts.
English l anguage. It become becomess ugly a nd inaccurate because because
time.” time.” To ensure means to make certain, as in “Mary
enormousness refers to size, either figurative or
our thoughts thoughts a re foolis h, but but the the slovenliness of our
gave John an alarm clock to ensure that he would be on
physical.
language makes makes it easi er for us us to have foolis h thought thoughts. s. ”
time.” time.” To ins ure means means to s afeguard, as in “I have my home insur ed agains t fire.” fire.”
– George Orwell
"An "An orator or author is never never s uccessful till he has learned to make his words small er than than his i deas." ―Ralph Wal do Emerson Emerson
- Averse / adverse - To be a verse to something is to oppose it. Averse can appl y only to a person. person. Adverse means means unfavorable and usually applies to conditions. - Bad / badly - Bad is usual ly an adjective adjective and thus thus describes a noun; badly is an adverb and thus tell tell s how something is done.
- Be yourself – don’t sound phony - Talk with the a udience. Not to them or at them. Don’t lecture. Use personal pronouns - Don’t hesitate to use personal references - Use strong active verbs verbs and vivid nouns o
“Everyone spr ung to to their feet” Standing o vati ons vs “Everyone
- Prefer the active voice to the passive voice - Use specifi c, concrete concrete la nguage rather rather than generalities o
Control the message vs ceding control to to the l is tener tener
- Between / among - General General ly, between between shoul d be used with two persons or things, and among should be used with more than two. - Compare to / compare with - Use compare to when discus sing things things that are di ssimilar. Use compare compare with when discussing things of the same category. - Comprise / compose - The whole comprises (includes) the parts; the par ts compose (constitute) the whole. - Consensus - Consensus means agreement, agreement, but not
- Use Jargon sparingly, if at all
necessarily unanimous agreement. The word often
- Get to the point
appears in the redundant phrase, “consensus of
- Whatever Whatever you say, sa y it right.
COMMON COMM ON MISTAKES - Advise / inform - Advise means to give advice or counsel. Inform means to provide information. - Affect / effect - To affect something i s to exert i nfluence on it; to effect something is to make it happen. - Aggravate / irritate - To aggravate something is to make it worse; to irritate is to create a new condition. - Alternate / alternative - Alternative Alternative is a noun meaning a choic e, preferably between between two poss ibiliti es, not several. Alternate Alternate is the adjective that’s related to the
noun alternative. - Amount / number - Amount Amount is us ed for bulk quantiti es; number is used for countable quantities.
opinion.”
- Feasible / possible/ viable - An undertaking may be possi ble, but but it might not be feasibl e if the the c ost is too high. Viabl e means means “capable of i ndependent ndependent l ife.” The
use of vi able as a s ynonym for feasibl e is ja rgony at best and should be a voided. - Few / Less - Use few (or fewer) fewer) for things things that are counted; less for things that are measured in other ways . Thus, Thus, fewer fewer dol la rs, less money; money; fewer fewer hogs, less pork; less food, fewer fewer cal ories; ories; less hay, fewer fewer bales. - Flaunt / flout - Fla unt means means to show off, usually ostentatiously; flout means to ignore contemptuously. - Founder / flounder - Founder Founder means to si nk or or fall (usuall y nautical). Flounder Flounder means to struggle or thrash around.
farther - Use farther - Further / farther farther for physical di stance and further for figurative distance, time, or a continuation of something other than distance. - Graduated / graduate from - Wrong "My son graduated high school l ast year." Right Right "My son graduated from high school"
- Convince / persuade - To convinc e someone i s to bring
Hopefully i s an adverb meaning “in a hopeful - Hopefully - Hopefully
the person to your poi nt of view. To pers uade someone
manner.” It should not be used to mean “I hope” or “it is
is to i nduce the the person to do something. - Could care less - If you’re incl ined to use the expression, use it correctly correctly and s a y “I couldn’t care less,” - Criterion / criteria - Cri terion terion is s ingular. Its plural is criteria. - Different from / different than - Than ordinari ly is used with comparati ve adj ectives. For exampl exampl e, bette betterr than,
hoped”
- Imply / infer - I mply means means to convey convey an impression by what you sa y or do; do; i nfer means means to draw a conclusi on from what you hear or see. - Important / Importantly - Importantly Importantly is a n adverb adverb and shoul d not be used except to modify a verb. - In behalf of / on behalf of - To s peak in behalf behalf of
stronger than. But different is not a comparative.
someone is to pl ead that that person’s case. To To s peak on
Therefore, sta tements tements suc h as “Her “Her ca ke is different
behalf of someone i s to speak in the person’s stead.
“Her cake is than mine” are not consi dered good usage. “Her
- Liable / like - If you a re liabl e, something something unpleasant unpleasant
different from mine” is preferred. Use different than
might result. Likely expresses s imple probability with no
when when a cl ause is to follow.
unpleasant connotation. connotation.
Disinterested Disinterested / uninterested uninterested - Disinterested means
Lie / lay - Lie is a n intransitive verb, which means it does does
is lai n, and the the past partici ple of of lay i s l aid. The The present participle of lie is l ying; the the present present partic iple of lay i s laying.
figuratively - Many a good - Literally / figuratively good fi gure of of speech speech is ruined by being preceded preceded by l iteral ly. - Loathe / loath - To loathe is to feel feel intense intense dis like or or even hatred. Loath is a n adjective meani meani ng "reluctant." - Mobile / movable - If something is mobile, it can move. If the thi ng is movable, i t can be moved. - Prescribe / proscribe - To prescribe is to dictate dictate a course of action; to proscri be is to prohibi prohibi t. - Sewerage / sewage - Sewerage Sewerage is a sys tem tem for disposi ng of sewage. - Shall / will - Shall a nd should have been been replaced by by wil l and would.
- Repetition (Alli teration) teration) – Repetition of similar sounds in o
Need Need to be careful of committing spooneris m
o
E.g. I am not a perfect servant. I am a publi c servant
are s harply contrasted contrasted o
E.g. Gi ve me liberty or give me me death
- Simile – Comparison of one thing to another, usually different categories o
A ri ghteous person i s li ke a tree placed by the wa ter
- Metaphor – Comparison of one thing to another, but it differs from a si mile in that it descri descri bes the thing thing being
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Idea – The princi ples and ideas of old old quotes quotes can be
require referencing the source leveraged and repackaged
compared as if it actually were the other.
Sources -
Bartlett’s Bartlett’s Famil iar Quotations
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The Home book of Quotations
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The Oxford Di ctionary of Modern Modern Quotations Quotations
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1911 Best Things Anybody Anybody Ever Sai d
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The Ultimate Book of Business Quotations
ANECDOTES
o
E.g. E.g. He was as s olid as the Rock of Gibra ltar (Simile)
o
E.g. When it ca me to standing firm, he was the Rock
Anecdote Anecdote i s a s hort factual story that is either either personal or
of Gi braltar (Metaphor) (Metaphor)
non personal.
o
Don’t mix metaphor: metaphor: E.g. E.g. Your company is a t
- Those kinds / that kind - Where these or those is used
crossroa ds today, today, and we we a re going to navi gate
as a demonstrative demonstrative adj ective, ective, it must modify a pl ural noun. When a singular noun is needed, the singular form
Indi rect quote – Not the same exact words. Still would
- Antithesis – Placing two ideas next to each other that
- Tandem / parallel - In tandem means means one after the other; other; paral lel means side by side.
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sequence
some s tormy seas in the new new few months. - Analogy – A comparis comparis on with with real real s imil arities. arities. Similes
Common s ource: The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes What makes a suitable Anecdote
of the demonstrative adjective is required. Thus, these
and metaphors are usually from very different
1.
Must be true or perceived to be true
(or those) kinds, and this (or that) kind are correct.
categories
2.
It must give ins ight into the nature of the the s ubject,
- Ultimate / penultimate - Ultimate means means l ast and it often connotes superiority. Penultimate means next-to-
o
E.g. The human hear t is li ke a fuel pump pump
o
E.g. A computer computer i s li ke a desk. The The hard drive is l ike
3.
the fil ing cabi net and the desk is l ike memory. memory.
4.
la st, nothing more. more. - Whom / who - Whom is the objective form of the pronoun who. It is the correct form for the object of a
- Hyperbole – Exaggeration for the sake of emphasis o
o
- Triads – Things in groups of threes seem to be more memorable (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, phrases,
E.g. She ran so fas t she left her shadow ten ten yards
E.g. Unwept, unhonored, unsung
o
E.g. Of the peopl e, by the people, for the people
o
E.g. Duty, honor, country
I must be simple enough for the audience to grasp
5.
It must i ll ustrate, support, or lea d to to a poi nt that the speaker had made or wants to make.
E.g. A bil li on here, here, a bil li on there, there, pretty s oon it adds up to r eal money. (Understatement). (Understatement).
CLOSING
- Surprise – Springing a dramatic dramatic surprise There are several different types of closings
QUOTES
claus es, sentences) sentences) o
It must be interesting or amusing easily
behind
verb or a preposition. preposition.
PRO DEVICES
speaker or the event
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Summary closing – summarize the high poin ts of the
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Direct appeal – s alesy, as king for the the order
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Reference closing – Just li ke openings openings
speech
Use the wis dom of the ages. You can use past quotes, quotes, a nd ideas to construct your own ideas.