Public Speaking:

LANGUAGE

OBJECTIVES

• Explain why appropriate language selection depends on SITUATION, PURPOSE, and AUDIENCE

• Define style• List the three elements of style• Define denotation and connotation• Recognize and name common stylistic methods• Define tone

Appropriate Language

• Ethics: principles or right or wrong• Appropriate language: language that is suited

to situation, purpose, and audience• Standard usage is preferred to nonstandard or

slang• Avoid any words that might offend or

embarrass the audience• Poor grammar is inappropriate in public

speaking

STYLE

• Style is the way something is said or done, rather than what is said or done

• Three elements: clarity, economy, and grace• Clarity: stating your ideas in a clear,

understandable way• Economy: stating your ideas briefly and

concisely• Grace: stating your ideas in an appealing skillful

manner

Denotation and Connotation

• Denotation: direct meaning, the dictionary meaning

• Connotation: meaning that the word suggests, the meaning people associate with the word

Common Stylistic Methods

• Parallelism: arranging sentences so words and phrases echo each other in length and structure

• Antithesis: like parallel structure except that words having opposite meanings are paired together

• Rhetorical question: question you don’t expect and answer; makes the audience think

• Interrupting for emphasis: brief interruption; has no grammatical relationship to the rest of the sentence, but emphasizes the point in that sentence

Common Stylistic Methods (cont.)

• Repetition: repeating a sound, word, phrase, or idea

• Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds• Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds• Inversion: altering normal word order• Allusion: reference to literature, religion,

mythology, or history

Common Stylistic Methods (cont.)

• Figure of speech: words or phrases that expand their meaning beyond a literal sense

• Simile: an indirect comparison using like or as• Metaphor: a direct comparison• Irony: when you say something that should

mean one thing, but you intend it to mean the opposite

• Hyperbole: an exaggeration

Tone

• Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject or audience

• Different tones include: sarcastic, pleading, apathetic, angry, frustrated, puzzled, certain, enthusiastic, objective, stubborn, bored, relaxed, patient, hateful, frightened, amused, businesslike, rational, arrogant, hurt, cautious, pushy, childish, and stern

TONE Impromptu: Worth 10 points

• Get into groups of 3 – 5• Randomly choose a “tone” word• Create and present a skit where each member

presents his/her “tone” word• Audience has to guess each member’s “tone”

word