Visualize a general truth, depict someone's character trait, introduce a stereotype.
An anecdote is generally used to describe some abstract concept (e.g. a character trait) by using a short, one-dimensional story that conveys the meaning in a simpler and more imaginative way. Often humorous.
Despite being controversial, an appeal to authority used tactfully can make a strong, lasting impression on your audience.
By summoning a person known both to you and your audience, you have a better chance of inviting your audience into the world presented in your speech. Refer to that person's behaviour or quote him or her. Your audience will see that as a sign that you are well-educated, well-read, and know the history of your topic.
A reference points to a context shared by you and your audience. It helps to establish a relationship between the speaker and the audience.
A reference can be made to the venue where your speech takes place, shared experiences, well-known people and even to earlier parts of your speech.
An allusion is similar to a reference: you are not going to name the thing in common directly, but the message will still be easy for anyone to understand.
It can be used to attach positive or negative connotations to anything, by finding some links between your topic and people regarded as virtuous or despicable by your audience. Be sure not to make it comical, unless your goal is satire.
Consider not making too many references when discussing hard-to-understand topics, as they require some cognitive effort from your audience.
You can use this element in two ways:
... use a rule of thumb that a slide should perform at least one of the following functions:
Note that we have encouraged you here to minimize the content on a single slide. However, this depends entirely on your audience and might not always be the right choice.
When preparing your speech, try to find out from what perspective you are approaching your topic. Are you an expert? Are you discovering something that until now was unknown to you? What are your emotions?
Then try to find a voice that would be consistent with that perspective. Do you use the same voice for the whole duration of your speech?
Many writers advise against using exposition, but they are not the ones with only 15 minutes to present all their ideas.
There are cases where it's advisable to use exposition. For example, you might need to make sure that your audience has all the general knowledge required to understand your speech. This way you can quickly go through all of your assumptions and required elements in a way that is not too time-consuming.
An exposition may be optional and can be opened with a question: "Do you need me to explain X before we can go further?" If nobody says they need an explanation, a section or the whole exposition can be skipped.
When beginning a story, describe its hero. Who he/she is, what his/her goals and origins are.
Then suggest that the hero won't accomplish the goal without facing challenges, maybe even without sacrificing something important to him/her. Mention that there are some human or natural forces at play that do not work in the hero's favour.
This way, further parts of your speech can focus on the road and the challenges ahead on the way to attaining that goal.
A transition connects two parts of your speech.
Remember that you need to memorize all the transitions. You might even forget a transition between two parts of your speech. That's why transitions should not be used as a tool for maintaining the cohesion of your speech; instead, your main points should follow a logical structure.
Consider whether a transition is required in your speech because it contains a piece of critical new information for your audience. Try to avoid such transitions, as these are typically too short to contain new information.
Asking an open-ended question is composed of two actions:
The second of these is very hard. It is rather easy to make the mistake of collecting only those responses that support your speech. However, no one likes their opinion being omitted, and others often notice such an act as well.
Experienced speakers can accept all opinions and then discuss them on their merits. This takes a lot of time and openness to the arguments of people who do not agree with your ideas.
Remember to allocate twice as much time for open-ended questions as your initial hunch suggests. And if the discussion does not stop there, defer further questions to a time and place after your speech.
A quote can perform one of the following functions:
A well-placed quote can improve your audience's impression of you - they might see it as a sign that you are well-educated and well-read. However, a quote cannot stand on its own, so it needs to be tightly coupled to your main points.
It's hard to remember the contents of a speech - even if it takes no more than three minutes. That's why every speech should end with a few of the most important conclusions in a concise manner. By repetition, rephrasing and focusing on key points you will improve the chances of passing your message on to your audience.
In comparison to an anecdote, a story is more personal and relates to you, to the hero or to someone who will interact with the hero.
At the beginning, determine the goal of your story. How should it support your speech? It might depict a problem, a conflict, ways to solve the problem, or even show a different perspective on a problem.
A story doesn't need to make a general point. It is enough for it to pinpoint an unnoticed fragment of reality, describe rules that you need to adhere to, or direct the hero towards the goal - even if they might need to go back to square one after this story, they return richer in wisdom.
A well-told story will appeal to the imagination of your audience, will help them understand the world of the story and give them a way to discover how they themselves would approach the events of this story.
After introducing new concepts, data, perspectives, consequences, you have a lot of loose threads that need to be discussed in order to reveal deeper connections between them.
To present the interactions between all these elements, reserve some time to discuss how each of them influences the others.
A simple form of gradation is saying I did it the first time, the second time, and the third time was the charm. It can be used in the following situations:
Gradation, by its repetitive nature, can focus the attention of the audience on the content, not revealing too much at a time, and can also make the repetitive pattern more memorable to the audience.
Consider this - do you want to use this gradation to induce emotion or to pass on knowledge?
Before introducing a new concept to your audience, first of all you need to gain an understanding of it yourself. The following can support you in that endeavour:
It's important to take the larger context into consideration, e.g. who benefits from the concept? What problems do they have? What is their daily life like? Are people open to the novelty of this concept? Or do they have their own reservations? Why?
During your speech and afterwards, be open to scepticism and respond to common questions and objections from your audience. If you can in any way visualize your topic using presentation slides, it might help as well.
On the Internet, a knowledge pill is a form of multimedia, typically short, explaining core concepts related to a topic.
During a speech, a knowledge pill is a way of presenting the most important knowledge in a form that can easily be noted down by the audience.
A rhetorical question is used to perform one of the following functions:
Every rhetorical question requires attention. A question with unclear answers additionally pushes your audience out of their comfort zone and makes them more interested in finding an answer to your question. Conveniently, your speech is going to do just that.
If a speech contains a thesis, this thesis must be supported by arguments.
Arguments can refer to different modes of persuasion - Aristotle pointed out three: pathos (simply put, emotions), ethos (simply put, your credibility and authority) and logos (data, logic - or tricks merely imitating logic).
It's worth mentioning that arguments do not need to be logic-based in a formal sense. A good rule of thumb is the ARG rule (described by Trudy Govier), which says that an argument can be deduced from premises that meet the following criteria:
We recommend constructing arguments that use logic to infer some premise from statistics, data, and research - if that research was conducted in an impartial manner to minimize error (for example, by using the scientific method).
At the same time, well-narrated anecdotal evidence that taps into emotions can be of similar strength (in reception) to a logical argument. However, it depends strongly on the target audience. Appeals to authority are similar in this respect.
The decision as to which arguments and which types of arguments should be chosen depends on the goal, the message and the audience's expectations. If the audience needs to make a decision on their own, it's advisable to include more data and logical arguments. If the speech should motivate people to take some action, arguments relying on personal stories and emotions can persuade the audience.
See also: argument with an omitted premise, argument from deduction, simple conclusion, present a fact.
Just as words are required in your speech, the lack of them could...
Mindful use of a pause in your speech can make it easier for your audience to follow and add tension, a sense of gravity or dramatic power to the words.
A pause should be no longer than a few seconds (with the exception of performances and hybrid forms, where a speech is mixed with theatre and other arts).
There should not be too many pauses in the speech. It's better to use two longer pauses in the whole of your speech than to repeat them once a minute.
Make a gesture that will make your speech more dynamic but will remain consistent with your topic.
Typically you are going to leave 0 seconds in this part's duration field, as gestures typically take place during another part (such as a story, introduction of a concept, etc.).
By using speech, eye contact, stage movements and gestures, simulate a real object, situation or person at a specific point on the stage. Just as if you were putting a holographic projection on the stage.
Typically you are going to leave 0 seconds in this part's duration field, as on-stage images typically take place during another part (such as a story, introduction of a concept, etc.).
The success of an on-stage image is based on the consistency of the illusion and your performance. This is why this technique is one of the more difficult ones, as not only does it require you to have a great understanding of your speech, but it also requires you to be aware of all the images you've planted on the stage. One inconsistency can shatter this image.
A self-reference is used to connect the beginning and the conclusion of a whole speech or of a logically separate part of it. This gives a sense of closure to this fragment and makes the structure of a speech easier to follow for the audience.
You can use this element to enclose a set of other elements, e.g. a few anecdotes. Because of the self-referencing closure, these elements can be put aside and make room for later parts of the speech.
Oftentimes self-referencing is used when restating the thesis or when referring to a problem or question stated at the beginning. In this case, the self-reference answers these questions and adds a sense of finality to the whole speech.
Also called a leitmotiv, a term from music theory. In your speech it can take the form of just one word, one sentence, a whole situation, a hero or some mental image that is repeated enough times during your speech to be remembered by the audience.
A leading motif should be simple and known to your audience, to avoid multiplying the complexity of your speech. It can also be related to something your audience identifies with.
Many speeches refer to reality in some way. Even in fiction there is a notion of the represented world, which follows a set of rules and constraints. In both cases you can refer to them by using facts.
In the simplest case, it's real evidence - an item or a document that cannot be discredited by any of the parties involved. In a judicial speech these would be the items found at the scene of an accident.
In an informative speech these might be statistical data gathered from a large sample by a reputable institution (e.g. census data).
For a proper presentation of facts it's important to break them down into their basic elements and to remove all evidence that does not affect your conclusions.
When you lay all the facts before your audience, they will have grounds to follow your reasoning, repeating your train of thought in their own heads and reaching the same conclusions on their own.
You are still responsible for interpreting the facts, as these typically do not lead directly to conclusions.
This element will typically be used in your conclusion. It is here that you turn your whole speech into actionable points for your audience to follow. Up to this moment the speech has been explaining problems and possible solutions, but at this moment you are going to put the tools into the hands of your audience. You can call on them to do a specific thing, to stop doing a specific thing or to maintain the status quo.
How can you end with a call to action? E.g.:
Focus on the power to spread the idea by using memorable, short sentences. Consider answering the question: What should your audience tell somebody who does not know anything about the topic?
Also known as signum.
A few conclusions following one another form a chain of conclusions (sorites - a stack in Latin). These allow you to gradually transform one premise into another in a way that is understandable for the audience and avoids mental shortcuts.
Note that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so try to draw only strong conclusions that cannot be easily refuted. It's like the multiplication of probabilities - one in two times one in three makes the whole only one in six. A chain of conclusions grows weaker with each of its weak claims and may result in you being perceived by your audience in a bad light.
Example: We've seen smoke a couple of streets away from here. There's probably a fire there (conclusion). There might be people who need help (conclusion). Let's go there and find out (conclusion).
Conclusions are drawn from one premise, and because of that they are simple and can be condensed in time.
A classical kind of logical argument that was a precursor to formal logic. Also called a syllogism.
It is a kind of deduction from two (rarely more) premises that are assumed to be true. When used properly, a conclusion drawn from these premises will also be true. There are 24 valid forms (out of 256 possible combinations) and we are not going to introduce them all here, but here are some examples worth mentioning:
When building a syllogism, you start from your conclusion and find two premises, a major one and a minor one. The major premise is more general (as above - every person...). The minor premise is narrower than the major one (as above - each Pole). Premises can be written in the following forms: all X are Y; no X are Y; some X are Y; some X are not Y.
Below is a set of premises. We need to draw the conclusion that the accused was not at the crime scene on Saturday night.
From these premises one can draw the following conclusions:
This is an element similar to an argument from deduction, in which one of the premises is deliberately omitted. Also called an enthymeme. This omission serves a few purposes, when:
Enthymemes are similar to common themes (topoi), which are the common knowledge, experiences and culture that connect you and your audience. Enthymemes are a form of reasoning based on common themes and other premises.
Used properly, they can make the speech more dynamic, leave out all elements unimportant to your reasoning and focus on the main points and key information. This will make your speech more concise and less boring, and will help in keeping the audience engaged.
An example (exemplum in Latin) is a reference to events that are not directly related to the topic discussed, but may be used because one can draw similarities between them. If there is no such example in the world, you can make a visualization of how things would go given a set of assumptions related to the topic, and from there reason out the consequences of these assumptions, and the decisions and issues that would arise if the assumptions were true.
Search for similar events that happened in the past. These events might differ from your case in some assumptions (e.g. different countries and laws, smaller or bigger scale, experimental / production status). Do not be afraid to bring up even some exotic examples, as they can potentially help prove at least part of your reasoning.
You can also use these events to describe what has been done in the past. It can be a good basis for discussing why your solution is innovative and better than the competition.
This argument is based on a visualization of a world where you make a few controlled changes and use logic-based reasoning to show what would happen to this world with these changes implemented.
It's very similar to how science-fiction writers construct their stories. Make one or two key changes and let the consequences play out on their own. Try to find out how such a change would affect people living in the near and distant future - or, if that change was introduced in the past, what has changed since then? Are there benefits to these changes? Are there problems or issues with them?
When describing examples to your audience, be ready to answer some questions and objections. With such speculation it is often hard to predict all of the consequences, and other people can draw conclusions of their own. If you want to deliberate on the best solution for a given problem, all these objections should be somehow addressed.
You can focus on the benefits of your solution or on the losses and possible catastrophic consequences of not choosing your solution. Of course, do not overdramatize here.
Consider putting your audience at the centre of your visualization: how they would behave, how they would act. This allows for more interaction and engagement.
Emphasis helps to bring out arguments that support your case. It is achieved by deliberately giving more time to discussing supporting arguments and by using more emotionally charged wording, rhetorical figures or idioms to strengthen some arguments and weaken others.
To emphasize, consider:
The function of emphasis is to weaken or strengthen an argument or a message to make it look more important, better proven or, conversely, more ridiculous than it is in reality. In informative speeches you can use emphasis to make your key points more significant, achieve better memory retention or simplify a hard topic.
By using unspoken presumptions you can steer the speech in your direction while supporting your argumentation at the same time. In order to do that, emphasize the circumstances that led to an event or are related to a person without mentioning them directly. This way your audience will make presumptions similar to yours without you speaking directly about them.
Then you can leave the presumption as it is or you can subvert the audience's anticipation by claiming that the presumption they have made is false. With an element of surprise you can use this effect in a powerful way to support your cause.
Examples:
Piling-up is a technique of using multiple phrases, words, idioms and sentences with different meanings but revolving around a central topic to present a specific argument in an imaginative way. This way it is less brain-intensive than a conclusion chain and thus faster at presenting a single idea.
It is a way to make the audience exert cognitive effort for a moment, which results in more focus on the idea and raises the perceived importance of an argument. These words and sentences may be used in gradation in order to create a strengthening or weakening impression.
It is important not to overuse piling-up techniques, as even if it looks like you have a lot to say about the topic, it is still a single argument, and your audience might notice that.