WEEK 15: CHAPTER 14
LANGUAGE AND ORAL STYLE Speaking appropriately means using language that
Audience adaptation is the process of tailoring your
speech to a specific audience and occasion.
o In written communication, effective style evolves
through a repetitious process of reading and
revising.
o In a speech, effective style develops through a
similarly repetitious process of practicing aloud
and revising.
ORAL STYLE
Oral style refers to how we convey messages through
the spoken word.
o An effective oral style differs quite a bit from
written style, though when giving a speech your
oral style is still more formal than everyday talk.
o The goal is to adapt your language to the purpose,
audience, and occasion.
o Still, even in a formal public speaking situation,
you must establish a relationship with your
listeners.
o Should still reflect a personal tone that encourages
listeners to perceive you to be having a
conversation with them.
Four (4) primary characteristics distinguish an
effective oral style from an effective written style:
1. An effective oral style tends toward short
sentences and familiar language.
 Because listeners expect to grasp your main
ideas while they listen, choose words that
your audience is likely to understand without
looking up definitions
2. An effective oral style features plural personal
pronouns.
 Using plural personal pronouns such as “we,”
“us,” and “our” creates a sense of relationship
with the audience. It demonstrates respect for
the audience as participants in the rhetorical
situation.
3. An effective oral style features descriptive
words and phrases that appeal to the ear in
ways that sustain listener interest and promote
retention.
 By using colorful adjectives and adverbs that
appeal to the senses, as well as rhetorical
figures of speech (discussed later in this
chapter), you will capture the interest of your
audience to pay attention and motivate them
to stay focused on it throughout.
4. An effective oral style incorporates clear
macrostructural elements (e.g., main point
preview, section transitions, and signposts as
discussed in Chapter 12).
 Unless your public speech is being recorded
and posted for additional viewing, listeners
will be afforded the opportunity to hear it
only once.
SPEAKING APPROPRIATELY
adapts to the needs, interests, knowledge, and
attitudes of listeners and avoiding language that might
alienate anyone.
Verbal Immediacy – In the communication field, we
use the term verbal immediacy to describe language
used to reduce the psychological distance between
you and your audience (Witt, Wheeless, & Allen,
2004).
o Speaking appropriately means making language
choices that enhance a sense of connection
between you and your audience members.
o Speaking appropriately means highlighting the:
 relevance of your topic,
 establishing common ground and
 speaker credibility,
 demonstrating linguistic sensitivity, and
 adapting to cultural diversity
RELEVANCE
Listeners pay attention to and are interested in ideas they
perceive as personally relevant (when they can answer
the question, “What does this have to do with me?”).
o You can help the audience perceive your topic as
relevant by highlighting its timeliness, proximity,
and personal impact.
 Timeliness how the information can be used
now
 Timely information audience members can
use now
 Proximity information in relation to
listeners’ personal space
COMMON GROUND
Common ground is the combination of background,
knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and philosophies
that you share with your audience.
o You should use audience analysis to identify
areas of similarity; then speak using plural
personal pronouns, rhetorical questions, and
common experiences to help establish common
ground.
Use Plural Personal Pronouns
 As we’ve already mentioned, one simple way to
establish common ground is to use plural personal
pronouns: we, us, and our.
 You can easily replace “I’” and “you” language
in the macrostructural elements of your speech.
Ask Rhetorical Questions
 Recall that a rhetorical question is one whose
answer is obvious to audience members and to
which they are not expected to reply.
 Rhetorical questions create common ground by
alluding to experiences that are shared by
audience members and the speaker.
Draw from Common Experiences
 You can also develop common ground by sharing
personal experiences, examples, and illustrations
that embody what you and the audience have in
common.
SPEAKER CREDIBILITY
Credibility is the confidence an audience places in
the truthfulness of what a speaker says.
o Some people are widely known experts in a
Profanity and Vulgarity
particular area and don’t have to adapt their
remarks to establish their credibility.
o However, most of us—even if we are given a
formal introduction to acquaint the audience with
our credentials—will still need to adapt our
remarks to demonstrate our knowledge and
expertise.
LINGUISTIC SENSITIVITY
To demonstrate linguistic sensitivity, choose words
that are respectful of others and avoid potentially
offensive language.
o Just as this is crucial to effective interpersonal and
group communication, it is also imperative in
public speaking situations.
o To demonstrate linguistic sensitivity:
 avoid using generic language,
 nonparallelism,
 potentially offensive humor,
 as well as profanity and vulgarity.
Generic Language
Generic language uses words that apply only to one
sex, race, or other group as though they represent
everyone.
o In the past, English speakers used the masculine
pronoun he to stand for all humans regardless of
sex.
o You can also do so by using terms such as police
officer rather than policeman, firefighter instead of
fireman, flight attendant rather than stewardess,
and server instead of waitress
Nonparallel Language
Nonparallel language is when terms are changed
because of the sex, race, or other group characteristics
of the individual.
o Two common forms of nonparallelism are
marking and irrelevant association.
 Marking is the addition of sex, race, age, or
other group designations to a description.
 Marking is inappropriate because it
trivializes the subject’s role by
introducing an irrelevant
characteristic (Treinen & Warren,
2001).
 Irrelevant association, which is when one
person’s relationship to another is
emphasized, even though that relationship is
irrelevant to the point.
Offensive Humor
o Dirty jokes and racist, sexist, or other “-ist”
remarks may not be intended to be offensive, but
if some listeners are offended, you will have lost
verbal immediacy.
o To be most effective with your formal public
speeches, avoid humorous comments or jokes
that may be offensive to some listeners.
o As a general rule, when in doubt, leave it out.
Profanity and vulgar expressions are not considered
appropriate language.
o Fifty years ago, a child was punished for
saying “hell” or “damn,” and adults used
profanity and vulgarity only in rare situations
to express strong emotions.
o People who casually pepper their formal
speeches with profanity and vulgar
expressions are often perceived as abrasive
and lacking in character, maturity,
intelligence, manners, and emotional control
(O’Connor, 2000).
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
o Language rules and expectations vary from
culture to culture. When you address an audience
comprised of people from cultural and co-cultural
groups different from your own, make extra effort
to ensure that you are being understood.
 When the first language spoken by
audience members is different from yours,
they may not be able to understand what you
are saying because you may speak with an
accent, mispronounce words, choose
inappropriate words, and misuse idioms.
 Speaking in a second language can make
you anxious and self-conscious. But most
audience members are more tolerant of
mistakes made by a second-language
speaker than they are of those made by a
native speaker
SPEAKING CLEARLY
Speaking clearly means using words that convey
your meaning precisely.
o Remember from our discussion in Chapter 4
that words are arbitrarily chosen symbols to
represent our thoughts and feelings (Saeid,
2003).
o In communication studies, we often simply
say the word is NOT the thing.
 Use Specific Language
 Choose Familiar Terms
 Provide Details and Examples
 Limit Vocalized Pauses
 USE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE
Specific language refers to using precise words that
clarify meaning by narrowing what is understood
from a general category to a particular item or group
within that category.
o Choosing specific language is easier when
you have a large working vocabulary.
o As a speaker, the larger your vocabulary, the
more choices you have from which to select
the word you want.
CHOOSE FAMILIAR TERMS
Using familiar terms is just as important as using specific
words. Avoid jargon, slang, abbreviations, and acronyms
unless
(1) you define them clearly the first time they are
used and
(2) using them is central to your speech goal.
Jargon
Jargon is the unique technical terminology of a trade
or profession that is not generally understood by
outsiders.
o In short, limit your use of jargon in formal
speeches and always define jargon in simple
terms the first time you use it.
Slang
Slang refers to nonstandard vocabulary and
definitions assigned to words by a social group or co-
culture.
o You should generally avoid slang in your
public speeches not only because you risk
being misunderstood but also because slang
doesn’t sound professional and it can hurt
your credibility.
Overusing and misusing abbreviations and
acronyms can also hinder clarity. Even if you think the
abbreviation or acronym is a common one, always define
it the first time you use it in the speech.
PROVIDE DETAILS AND EXAMPLES
o Sometimes, the word we use may not have a
precise synonym.
o In these situations, clarity can be achieved by
adding details or examples.
o Saying “He lives in a really big house” can be
clarified by adding, “He lives in a fourteen-room
mansion on a six-acre estate.”
LIMIT VOCALIZED PAUSES
Vocalized pauses are unnecessary words interjected
into sentences to fill moments of silence.
o Words commonly used for this purpose are
“like,” “you know,” “really,” and “basically,”
as well as “um” and “uh.”
o Though a few vocalized pauses typically
don’t hinder clarity, practicing your speech
aloud will help you eliminate them.
SPEAKING VIVIDLY
Speaking vividly is one effective way to maintain
your audience’s interest and help them remember
what you say.
Vivid language is full of life—vigorous, bright, and
intense.
USE SENSORY LANGUAGE
Sensory language appeals to the senses of seeing,
hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling.
Vivid sensory language begins with vivid thought.
o You are much more likely to express yourself
vividly if you can physically or
psychologically sense the meanings you are
trying to convey.
o To develop vivid sensory language, begin by
considering how you can re-create what
something, someone, or some place looks
like.
USE RHETORICAL FIGURES AND
STRUCTURES OF SPEECH
Rhetorical figures of speech make striking
comparisons between things that are not obviously
alike.
o Doing so helps listeners visualize or
internalize what you are saying.
Rhetorical structures of speech combine ideas in a
particular way.
o Any of these devices can serve to make your
speech more memorable as long as they
aren’t overused.
o Let’s look at some examples:
1. A simile is a direct comparison of dissimilar things
using the word like or as.
o Clichés such as “He walks like a duck” and
“She’s as busy as a bee” are similes.
2. A metaphor is an implied comparison between two
unlike things, expressed without using like or as.
o Instead of saying that one thing is like
another, a metaphor says that one thing is
another.
3. An analogy is an extended metaphor.
o Sometimes, you can develop a story from a
metaphor that makes a concept more vivid.
4. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at
the beginning of words that are near one another.
o Tongue twisters such as “Sally sells seashells
by the seashore” use alliteration
5. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a
phrase or phrases.
o “How now brown cow” is a common
example.
6. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like the
things they stand for, such as “buzz,” “hiss,” “crack,”
and “plop.”
o In the speech about skiing, the “swish” of the
skis is an example of onomatopoeia.
7. Personification attributes human qualities to a
concept or an inanimate object.
 o When Madison talked about her truck, “Big
Red,” as her trusted friend and companion,
she used personification.
8. Repetition is restating words, phrases, or sentences
for emphasis.
o Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”
speech is a classic example.
9. Antithesis is combining contrasting ideas in the same
sentence, as when John F. Kennedy said, “My fellow
Americans, ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your country.”
o Likewise, astronaut Neil Armstrong used
antithesis when he first stepped on the moon:
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.”
o Speeches that offer antithesis in the
concluding remarks are often very
memorable

"Effective speech lies NOT on what was said

but on how one said it".