The Ultimate Public Speaking Survival Guide: 37 Things You Must Know When You Start Public Speaking by Ramakrishna Reddy

The Ultimate Public Speaking Survival Guide: 37 Things You Must Know When You Start Public Speaking by Ramakrishna Reddy

Author:Ramakrishna Reddy [Reddy, Ramakrishna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: PublicSpeakKing.com
Published: 2015-01-29T16:00:00+00:00


17. How do I refine my speech content?

Even though we prepared the content, unless we refine, it won’t shine. While being coached for a contest, Jerry, my mentor said something remarkable. He said, “You win in speaking by writing.” I could not agree more. I will not go into the nitty-gritty of presentation refinement, however, by using the following tools you will have a classy content.

Four Tools to Refine Your Content:

1. Choose Simple Words With the Fewest Syllables: Simple words mean everyday words that are used in regular communication. Anyone hearing the sentence should get the meaning instantly. A quick rule of thumb: “If someone is going to take more than a second to think about the meaning of any word, then chuck that word out.” Using words with few syllables makes it easier for the listener. You can achieve this by taking a look at the script and replacing long or complicated words with their simpler and shorter synonyms. A combination of simple words and those without many syllables is powerful if you aim to be understood and not misunderstood. For example, instead of using “discernible” use “visible,” or instead of using “obnoxious” use “mean.”

2. Use Active Voice: Active voice is easy to follow. Our hearing is tuned to listen to active voice. Example: The meaning of the sentence “Jim hit Jack” will register faster than its passive voice “Jack was hit by Jim.”

3. Repeat Key Phrases: This is the key to a classy speech. If you have seen Obama’s presidential acceptance speech, notice that he used “Yes, we can” as his key phrase. King created a revolution with “I have a dream” as the key phrase in his speech. These speeches went into the annals of history because the key phrases were memorable. While creating an inspiring or persuasive speech repeat the key phrases to set you apart from the crowd.

4. Use Rhetorical Devices: These are tools to simplify the meaning and make it easy for your listener to understand your point. The most common uses of rhetorical devices are in the form of:

Similes: Comparing a lesser-known concept to a common concept with the use of word “like” or “as.” The beauty of simile is that we can explain an unknown entity with the help of a well-known entity. This adds variety, spice and clarity to your speech. In our case study, we used “Jim is like a 120-liter Coca-Cola bottle, opening happiness wherever he goes.” The audience got an idea about Jim in one sentence. They understood that Jim is cheerful, Jim is energetic and Jim is fat.

If you chuckled, you learnt a powerful technique to create humor. It is the rule of three in action. The formula is that the first two items are related and the third one is unrelated: “cheerful” and “energetic” are related whereas “fat” is unrelated.

Metaphors: A big brother to the simile. Here, instead of comparing, we refer a concept or a person to another entity. Metaphors not only add spice and decoration to your speech, but also bring depth of the meaning we want to convey.



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