using speech rather than writing

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Using speech rather than writing – Crossword Clue

Below are possible answers for the crossword clue Using speech rather than writing .

Likely related crossword puzzle clues

Like the Sabin vaccine
Kind of history
Like some surgery
Kind of arguments
Like some testimony
Kind of account
Kind of surgery
Like some thermometers
Kind of exam
Like a folk tale
Kind of cavity
Like some vaccines
Kind of hygiene
Kind of testimony
Dental school exam?
Like some traditions
**** review
Kind of tradition
Spoon-administered
......-B (Gillette division)
Like some medicines
*Exam ... dentist ... Rob
Word-of-mouth
Kind of argument
Like much testimony
"...... said..."
Kind of defense
Kind of agreement
Not on paper
...... vaccine
Something to explain your
Face-to-face exam
Like slander
Thesis defense, often
Kind of surgeon
Not written
Test that's hard to cheat
Like some histories
Passed on by taletellers
Face-to-face test
...... surgeon
Like most folklore
Exam format
Kind of vaccine
Requirement for some degr
Like some hygiene
Like traditional epic poe
...... contraceptive
Exam given face-to-face
Not written, as a test
Like some confessions
Transmitted by speech
Like slander, as opposed
Like some exams
Like dental surgery
Grueling grilling
Administered with a spoon
Much-dreaded exam
Exam sans pencils
Kind of rinse
Like some contraception
Grueling exam
Like some votes
Like some history
Kind of thermometer
Rev. Roberts
Nuncupative
Kind of exam or history
Master's ordeal
Mouth-to-mouth
Like some antibiotics
Grad student's grilling
Examination format
Of the mouth
Unwritten examination
Mouth - right, that shouldn't open!
An examination of the Golden Boy
A student is after an alternative exam
Spoken; of the mouth
Examination for all? Not entirely
Spoken exam
Using speech rather than writing
Examination of the mouth
Test of popular opinion after upset
Test for a lover to embrace
Top right by mouth
Relating to the mouth
Exam some scholar once rejected
Viva ......
Examination of the ears, so to speak
Like much tribal lore
Like some graduate exams
in fact, most moral advice is verbal
Like some hygiene related to the mouth
expressed verbally
Like some court arguments
... surgery
Marks dropped in proper examination
An examination of the mouth
Said of country life, past not present
Expressed out loud
A trainee after the gold, it's said
Spoken of morality
Difficult exam
Vocal type concealed for a laugh
Would-be doctor's test
Like some contracts
... hygiene
Grilling in grad school
Makeup of an atoll
Like some arguments
Like a recitation
Not injected
Exam to demoralise, there's no passing
In for a language exam?
Test that's all talk
exam with a panel
'by ear?' 'by ear.' 'by mouth!'
spoken in error, a long time ago
Ethical to deduct marks in exam
Vaccine type
... arguments (court rituals)
... testimony
Requiring talking
Not written in morality play
Taken by mouth
Type of history
spoken, as opposed to written
Mouth-related
spoken with morale partly
related by talking
Like dissertation defenses
Like some contraceptives
Girl doesn't begin exam
Test for a lad without enthusiasm
delivered audibly
Daunting exam
ingestible, as medication
Certain exam
Like some social history
A piece of morality not written down
What's said or sung, but not at church
One-on-one exam
Verbal exam
Thermometer type
Via the mouth
mouthy, as it were
uttered, as opposed to written
Not written, as an exam
Vocal type of bard from Labrador
Kind of test
spoken, not written
exam adjective
like slander, as opposed to libel
type of test
like a studs terkel history
baby's stage
like the polio vaccine
grad student's stressor
like much medication
... cavity [mouth]
Pink top taken away for test
Kind of examination
delivered vocally
Like a dental school exam?
Uttered, said
Like some board exams
Like a paperless exam
Type of thermometer
Kind of will
Spoken or verbal
Doctoral candidate's exam
theodora lawrence takes in a viva voce
type of surgery or exam
word with hygiene or history
taken by mouth, as meds
...-b: hygiene brand
like some folklore
like arf and meow
like a dental exam
like a thesis defense
Type of hygiene that involves flossing
Type of exam
Boundless optimism in speech
exam in school, a routine review
of hollers or howls
Graduate test
Like much lore
... Roberts University Tulsa school
Taken by swallowing as medicine
spoken part in a morality play
Like many vaccines
in for a lengthy viva voce
... Roberts University
sung out loud, say
Taken by spoon as medication
Out-loud exam
for ingesting, as a vaccine
...-B (dental hygiene brand)
Examination of gold and aluminium
Evangelist Roberts
Test gold with aluminium
Taken by mouth, as medicine
Type of exam in dental school?
Like some language tests
Another word for verbal or spoken
Verbal exam say
by word of mouth
Taken with a spoon as medicine
Type of history or hygiene
Paper-free, like an exam
... assignments (verbal)
Like some medication
Involving the mouth
Like some reports
By the mouth
Graduate-school exam
Spoken, as a report
Exam variety
Involving speech
College exam
Type of hygiene or exam
Word before 'hygiene' or 'exam'
Like some tests
Expressed in speech
Grad student's bane
Contract class
Graduate exam
tradition descriptor
spoken aloud
Like some exams or presentations
Verbal like an exam
spoken in morality
In part an actor always has spoken
Exam not taken with a #2 pencil
like many ghost stories
...... hygiene (dentist's concern)
Type of hygienist
Graduate student's exam
Of the trap?
Voiced aloud
In pill form, say
like some fixations
kind of history or hygiene
voice-over descriptor
Like some contracts and contraceptives
Alternatively a student exam
with -b, a toothbrush brand
Something to explain your way through
*Exam ... dentist ... Roberts
Requirement for some degree candidates
Test that's hard to cheat on
Like traditional epic poetry
"Administered with a spoon, say"
Like some medications
...... fixation (Freud topic)
Student's viva voce
Like much tribal history
Kind of contraception
Like illegal charades clues
Like a legal deposition
Kind of fixation
Nerve-racking test, for some
Demanding test
Like many presentations
Grilling test
Like much folklore
Instruction
Like the Sabin polio vaccine
Like paperless exams
Student's challenge
Intense exam
Like most testimony
Start for hygiene or Roberts
Freudian stage
Rigorous test
Like gentlemen's agreements
Reverend Roberts
Unwritten exam
Feared test
...... Roberts
Using speech
Doctoral examination
Spoken rather than written
Spoken out loud
Like some history or testimony
A test said to be passed
Like Dr. Sabin's vaccine
One form of history
Opposite of written
School test
Examination
Kind of contract
Roberts of Tulsa
Type of hygiene
Richard Roberts's father
Type of presentation
Preacher Roberts
Like Sabin's vaccine
Type of vaccine
Roberts the revivalist
Antithesis of written
Tulsa's Rev. Roberts
Part of O.R.U.
Like certain communications
Outspoken Rev. Roberts?
Part of an Ed.D. exam
Form of exam
TV preacher Roberts
Kind of history or pathology
...... Roberts U., Tulsa
...... Roberts U.
...... hygienist
Type of surgeon
test of a sort
... exam (dental clinic routine)
nonwritten exam
...-B (dental brand)
word before surgeon or exam
by mouth, as a vaccine
Verbal or spoken
Artist left after nothing said
Verbal test
Like some advanced exams
Employing speech
Like many meds
Said in error, a lot
Put in the mouth
Sort Of History
Like Some Supreme Court Arguments
Type of tradition or fixation
talked-out, as an exam
Not written, like a test
Not-So-Optimal Record Deal
Given by mouth, like many medications
Spoken for all to hear
given by mouth
... exam (dental checkup)
Straight from the mouth
Verbal test, say
"men, a language is initially spoken"
... thermometer
taken by swallowing
Kind of test it's hard to cheat on
“For crying out loud!”
Pertaining to the mouth
word with fixation or cavity
Spoken, verbal
Like many a thesis defense
Verbal, as a test
Taken by mouth, as medication
like lore, often
Test With No Writing Involved
Kind of dental exam
Like some agreements
like some interviews
Medicine that's swallowed
Said to love a bit of a flare-up!
Word with "thermometer" or "hygiene"
Concerning the mouth
verbal examination
Kind of history and hygiene
Dental hygiene, say
...... hygiene (dental concern)
Language exam format
Like many unofficial agreements
Brand that sells toothbrushes, ... - B
Uttered by mouth
Anything dealing with the mouth
pertaining to speech
Face-to-face type of exam
Spoken examination
spoken - test
spoken about country life with no past
spoken for a large section
spoken occasionally within four walls
test for a learner?
Through the mouth
type of examination
Exam format for a student not fine
like some defenses
Like many medicines and exams
Taken in pill form, say
Said out loud
Paperless, as an exam
Fragment of molar on back of mouth
Like dental exams
... hygiene (brushing and flossing)
Something that is spoken
Hygiene promoted by dentists
Through the medium of speech
By way of the mouth
Administered by spoon, like medicine
Right to remove mouse's head from trap
Hygiene related to the mouth
Passed down verbally like folklore
By way of speech
Spoken, not written, as an exam
related to the mouth
word before argument or thermometer
Spoken not written, say
Spoken, like some exams
Taken by mouth, as a vaccine
Spoken with love to the right boy

Orality: Definition and Examples

Saint Louis University

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

Orality is the use of speech rather than writing as a means of communication , especially in communities where the tools of literacy are unfamiliar to the majority of the population.

Modern interdisciplinary studies in the history and nature of orality were initiated by theorists in the "Toronto school," among them Harold Innis, Marshall McLuhan, Eric Havelock, and Walter J. Ong.

In Orality and Literacy (Methuen, 1982), Walter J. Ong identified some of the distinctive ways in which people in a "primary oral culture" [see the definition below] think and express themselves through narrative discourse:

Expression is coordinate and polysyndetic (" . . . and . . . and . . . and . . .") rather than subordinate and hypotactic.
Expression is aggregative (that is, speakers rely on epithets and on parallel and antithetical phrases) rather than analytic .
Expression tends to be redundant and copious.
Out of necessity, thought is conceptualized and then expressed with relatively close reference to the human world; that is, with a preference for the concrete rather than the abstract.
Expression is agonistically toned (that is, competitive rather than cooperative).
Finally, in predominantly oral cultures, proverbs (also known as maxims ) are convenient vehicles for conveying simple beliefs and cultural attitudes.

From the Latin oralis , "mouth"

Examples and Observations

James A. Maxey What is the relationship of orality to literacy? Though disputed, all sides agree that orality is the predominant mode of communication in the world and that literacy is a relatively recent technological development in human history.
Pieter J.J. Botha Orality as a condition exists by virtue of communication that is not dependent on modern media processes and techniques. It is negatively formed by the lack of technology and positively created by specific forms of education and cultural activities. . . . Orality refers to the experience of words (and speech) in the habitat of sound.

Ong on Primary Orality and Secondary Orality

Walter J. Ong I style the orality of a culture totally untouched by any knowledge or writing or print, ' primary orality .' It is 'primary' by contrast with the 'secondary orality' of present-day high-technology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television, and other electronic devices that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print. Today primary oral culture in the strict sense hardly exists, since every culture knows of writing and has some experience of its effects. Still, to varying degrees many cultures and subcultures, even in a high-technology ambiance, preserve much of the mind-set of primary orality.

Ong on Oral Cultures

Walter J. Ong Oral cultures indeed produce powerful and beautiful verbal performances of high artistic and human worth, which are no longer even possible once writing has taken possession of the psyche. Nevertheless, without writing, human consciousness cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other beautiful and powerful creations. In this sense, orality needs to produce and is destined to produce writing. Literacy . . . is absolutely necessary for the development not only of science but also of history, philosophy, explicative understanding of literature and of any art, and indeed for the explanation of language (including oral speech) itself. There is hardly an oral culture or a predominantly oral culture left in the world today that is not somehow aware of the vast complex of powers forever inaccessible without literacy. This awareness is agony for persons rooted in primary orality, who want literacy passionately but who also know very well that moving into the exciting world of literacy means leaving behind much that is exciting and deeply loved in the earlier oral world. We have to die to continue living.

Orality and Writing

Rosalind Thomas Writing is not necessarily the mirror-image and destroyer of orality , but reacts or interacts with oral communication in a variety of ways. Sometimes the line between written and oral even in a single activity cannot actually be drawn very clearly, as in the characteristic Athenian contract which involved witnesses and an often rather slight written document, or the relation between the performance of a play and the written and published text.

Clarifications

Joyce Irene Middleton Many misreadings, misinterpretations, and misconceptions about orality theory are due, in part, to [Walter J.] Ong's rather slippery use of seemingly interchangeable terms that very diverse audiences of readers interpret in various ways. For example, orality is not the opposite of literacy , and yet many debates about orality are rooted in oppositional values . . .. In addition, orality was not 'replaced' by literacy: Orality is permanent--we have always and will continue to always use human speech arts in our various forms of communication, even as we now witness changes in our personal and professional uses of alphabetic forms of literacy in a number of ways.

Pronunciation: o-RAH-li-tee

Defining and Understanding Literacy
What Is a Maxim?
What is the Difference Between 'Aural' and 'Oral'?
Oration (Classical Rhetoric)
classical rhetoric
What Is a Primary Source?
The Difference Between a Speech and Discourse Community
The Power of Indirectness in Speaking and Writing
The Power of Literacy Narratives
Definition and Examples of Interjections in English
Context in Language
What Is Written English?
Professional Communication Definition and Issues
An Introduction to Translation and Interpretation
What Is Language Standardization?
What Is Communication?

Crossword Tips

Clue: Using speech rather than writing

Referring crossword puzzle answers, likely related crossword puzzle clues.

Word-of-mouth
Exam format
Face-to-face exam

Recent usage in crossword puzzles:

The Guardian Quick - July 20, 2017

Using Speech Rather Than Writing Crossword Clue

Best possible answers, about this clues answer.

We think the answer is "ORAL" which means:

• Of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth
• Of or involving the mouth or mouth region or the surface on which the mouth is located
• A stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression
• An examination conducted by spoken communication
• Using speech rather than writing

An example sentence would be:

• "She gave an oral presentation about her research findings."
• "The oral exam will test your speaking skills in the foreign language."

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Using speech rather than writing - Crossword Clue

Below are possible answers for the crossword clue Using speech rather than writing .

4 letter answer(s) to using speech rather than writing

a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression
an examination conducted by spoken communication
of or involving the mouth or mouth region or the surface on which the mouth is located; "the oral cavity"; "the oral mucous membrane"; "the oral surface of a starfish"
of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth; "oral hygiene"; "an oral thermometer"; "an oral vaccine"
using speech rather than writing; "an oral tradition"; "an oral agreement"

Scott Berkun

On writing vs. speaking.

Paul Graham wrote recently on his perspectives on the written vs. spoken word .

Graham admits he’s more confident as a writer than a speaker. This biases his comparisons and his essay. He’d have benefited from talking to people who he thinks are both good speakers and good thinkers (and perhaps good writers) as they’d have the balanced perspective he admits he does not have. He writes:

Having good ideas is most of writing well. If you know what you’re talking about, you can say it in the plainest words and you’ll be perceived as having a good style. With speaking it’s the opposite: having good ideas is an alarmingly small component of being a good speaker.

Most writers are unable to write in plain words or unable to find good ideas. Why? I don’t know, but it’s harder than Graham suggests for most people. Graham has ideas and does write well in a simple style, but he’s assuming most people can do it because he can. Read the web for an hour: this is not the case. It’s splitting hairs to argue over whether there is more bad writing or bad speaking on planet earth since there is so much of both.

Speaking is harder in many ways than writing because it is performance. You have to do it live. Some people who do not like to perform try to do what Graham does: they try to memorize their way through it, which doesn’t work. You tend to fail when using a method for one form in another form. Performance means there is no undo and no revision, which is a huge part of the appeal of seeing bands and people do things live and in person. It’s why I’m paid more as a speaker than I am as a writer : the same was true for Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and even David Sedaris or Malcolm Gladwell.

Writing is harder in some ways than speaking. Writing must be self contained: there is no body language or vocal emphasis as everything must be in the words themselves. But the ability to revise and edit dozens of times narrows the gap. With enough work you can revise your way into competence. Yet speaking is performance: there is no revision of an event. You can perform it again to improve on mistakes, but each instance must be done every time. When you finish an essay, it is done forever.

Graham writes:

With speaking it’s the opposite: having good ideas is an alarmingly small component of being a good speaker. I first noticed this at a conference several years ago. There was another speaker who was much better than me. He had all of us roaring with laughter. I seemed awkward and halting by comparison. Afterward I put my talk online like I usually do. As I was doing it I tried to imagine what a transcript of the other guy’s talk would be like, and it was only then I realized he hadn’t said very much.

This confuses entertainment with expression. Popular writing can be similarly hijacked – look at twitter and the web – all media has this problem. There are different tricks to use in each form, but an essay can make you laugh, or make you angry, or make you hit the Facebook like button, despite not saying much, or anything at all.

I do agree with Graham that some speakers and “thinkers” are popular solely because they are likable and entertain, or infuriate and inflame. But this is a failing of all mediums, including writing.

Graham continues:

A few years later I heard a talk by someone who was not merely a better speaker than me, but a famous speaker. Boy was he good. So I decided I’d pay close attention to what he said, to learn how he did it. After about ten sentences I found myself thinking “I don’t want to be a good speaker.” Being a really good speaker is not merely orthogonal to having good ideas, but in many ways pushes you in the opposite direction.

Emerson, Gandhi, Churchill, MLK, Jesus, Socrates, Lincoln, Mandela. These are a handful of great thinkers who used speaking as a primary medium of expression.

It’s true that much of what some of them spoke was heavily written before it was spoken, but the world experienced these ideas first as spoken words.

I have to stop here to acknowledge that the history of thinking was spoken. The Ancient Greeks, where many of our big ideas still come from, talked. Writing as a primary way to express ideas wouldn’t arrive for 1500 years. Talking and thinking have a much older relationship than writing and thinking. That doesn’t mean speaking is better – writing has many advantages – but to sweep speaking aside is foolish, and reflects Graham’s bias more than his wisdom. Many ideas at many startups are discovered, shared and developed through spoken words. Pitch meetings, arguments at whiteboards, late night hacking sessions, discussions over lunch: it’s heavily spoken word. Life is mostly spoken, not written.

The way to get the attention of an audience is to give them your full attention, and when you’re delivering a prewritten talk your attention is always divided between the audience and the talk—even if you’ve memorized it. If you want to engage an audience it’s better start with no more than an outline of what you want to say and ad lib the individual sentences.

This is where Graham, whose work I admire, makes a big mistake. He has admitted he’s not a good speaker and doesn’t like the form. Why then does he feel qualified to give advice on how to do it well?

In my bestseller The Confessions of a Public Speaker I carefully explain audience attention depends on answering questions they came to hear. The majority of speakers fail at this, focusing on what they themselves wish to speak about, or what their slides will look like, rather than their audience. Speaking, like writing, is an ego trap. It’s not about you, it’s about them: what questions do they want answered? What stories did they come to hear? If you understand why your audience showed up at all, and deliver on it, you will keep their attention. Graham’s advice is all about the speaker, but that’s the common tragedy – it’s not about speaker. A speaker who studies the audience and puts together content that addresses their interests will always do well. They’re rare.

Before I give a talk I can usually be found sitting in a corner somewhere with a copy printed out on paper, trying to rehearse it in my head. But I always end up spending most of the time rewriting it instead.

I would never do this. I stay up late the night before, if needed, to finish preparing. I practice the talk several times, revising if needed, until I’m comfortable. This comfort allows me to be fully present with an audience and not worried about my knowledge of my own material. This is also how I ad-lib or change directions based on a live audience. My preparation gives me the confidence to make adjustments. An hour before my talk I’m not thinking much about my talk at all.

I do agree with Graham in some ways. I do prefer writing at times. But unlike Graham, I love both forms. I know I become a better writer every time I speak, and become a better speaker every time I write.

—————————

Related : An open letter to speakers , which gives specific practical advice on speaking.

20 Responses to “On Writing vs. Speaking”

Great advice, Scott. I’m with you. It’s always easiest to edit your written words; it’s impossible to take back missteps when you’re speaking–especially when it’s videotaped.

And, you’re right: if he’s not good at it, then why is he giving advice? I take your advice in the book to heart and practice extensively during the week before one of my talks–even if I know the material well. We all are competing with smartphones on our audience’s laps. Bore them and we’ll quickly lose them.

Loved this post Scott. Comparing Speaking & Writing is like apples & oranges. Two different skills that mastering can have two different affects on the people around you.

I’ll admit I’m not a very good speaker. I saw Mr. Graham’s advice as more focused on someone like me, to help me get through presentations and speeches.

Part of my problem is that I think in pictures, rather than words. It’s much easier to translate my thoughts into writing than speech. It’s like describing a movie out loud while it’s still going on. I have to really KNOW most of what I’m going to say beforehand, or I will get completely lost.

So why is it an either/or proposition? A “versus” rather than “and”. I don’t know of many professional speakers who don’t write – although I do know several authors who do not speak! I also believe audiences are becoming more sophisticated and more demanding of speakers. Well, not all speakers. Audiences will salivate to listen to a “celebrity” because our culture celebrates the famous. But for those of us who are celebrities in our own minds, where we own a little piece of intellectual property and dare to call ourselves and “expert” – you can’t just wing it. You need to own the domain; know your content so well that you can converse with the audience – joyfully weaving in bits of story and oft-recited content that it feels extemporaneous – even though you have poured hours into crafting it just for them. Gosh, it’s great to be a speaker and a writer, don’t you think?

Great thoughts. Both are wonderful for different reasons.

I totally agree you can’t memorize a talk, at least how I like to do it. I do like to know the first minute or two of my opening. And I do like to write down all (say) slide transitions in advance, but mostly to make sure the presentation flows.

The thing I find MOST fascinating about speaking is just how different my practices are than my actual presentation. If you know the material well, it is just remarkably different.

Folks, there’s a difference between “I prefer not to memorize” and “you can’t memorize.” For example, highly successful stand-up comedians, which I’ll define as earning $100k/yr and having 10+ years of professional experience, don’t just memorize and repeat the exact same words verbatim — they’ll experiment, reject, and eventually lock in (memorize) exact variations of synonym choice, intra-word syllable emphasis, vowel pronunciation, rhythmic meter — all before we even get to (non-vocal) body language, which comprises around 70% of human communication.

Chris Rock’s did something interesting to illustrate this in his 2006 HBO special “Never Scared”: it was recorded at 3 different arena shows in NYC, London, and Johannesburg. Each venue has a different backdrop, and Rock even wears slightly different outfits; “continuity” (as such) was deliberately ignored.

Throughout the show, the camera cuts liberally between each location — sometimes in the middle of a joke, right between the setup and punchline!

It was perfectly seamless, of course, and therefore gave the illusion of being temporally contiguous. He could do this both because he spent months beforehand testing dozens or even hundreds of variations for every single joke, all in an effort to wring every last drop of humor from each.

Memorization is a pain in the ass, just like any other mental or physical drill. Most public speakers would prefer not to do it, and that’s more than understandable. But let’s at least avoid making inductive arguments to valorize the path of least resistance.

Ugh, that post is a grammatical holocaust. I apologize for any distraction it may have caused; I had a long night on the road!

CJ: No worries. At first I thought you meant my post was the holocaust – I’m relieved you were referring to your own comment.

The Chris Rock HBO special described above is actually 2008’s “Kill the Messenger.” It’s excellent. “Never Scared” is still my favorite, though (especially the sociological commentary / scorching dissent during the middle 20min, starting with the “‘rich’ vs ‘wealthy'” riff).

@Scott – Yikes, sorry about that! I’d have argued mitigation by pointing to my lowercase and indefinite article. :) But yeah, point taken: not a very appropriate metaphor (at least outside a green room).

My favorite hobbies are public speaking and composing essays.

Paul is correct that speaking has less content, but only in the sense that TV, with its aversion to “talking heads,” has less content than print. To then conclude that I have fewer ideas when preparing a speech than for an essay is just wrong.

I remember teaching a seminar at university when someone burst out, “You’re an oral learner; my LD (learning disabled) kids talk like you!” Yes, talking over a speech or class a week beforehand really helps me generate ideas and think. When I rehearse I am “talking.”

Sometimes, to fill a gap in a Toastmaster’s evening, I will give an impromptu abridged version of an essay, and deliver it as a performance, and it goes over fine.

Even though my own essays are all but memorized, given my extensive copyediting, I would never deliver them word for word, nor rehearse a speech word for word. My thought is this: The audience might not be bored, but I sure would be.

I truly enjoyed this article! My takeaway – The question is as a speaker does one have the answers the audience is looking for?

Mandala -> Mandela

When spinning a yarn, or relaying a tall tale, I prefer speaking, since I can balance what I am saying against the feedback from the person listening (and I can exaggerate aspects of the story as I go). But when it comes to organizing my ideas, and getting the finer details correct I definitely prefer writing these days. In writing, I can take all the time I need to do some research, and re-edit the work a few million times until I think it makes my point. But then as I’ve aged, I’ve tilted farther and farther towards my introverted side …

I think it depends entirely on the person, so speaking isn’t “harder” than writing (or the other way around). To some, giving an amazing speech is no more difficult than going for a walk. There are some people – amazing as it is – that “can just play.”

Speaking may not be harder, but it’s certainly more risky (which is one of the reasons you get paid more to speak than to write).

There’s just not much comparison between writing a guest blog on a website read by 20,000 people and giving a speech to 20,000 people! Speeches usually happen at paid events or company rah rah events – some of these have big budgets – and a great speaker can get people amp’d up for days.

This is a great post, and I wish I’d found it sooner. I offer you this list of suggestions – from someone who does the transcribing, and has to turn the spoken into the written word: 1. Begin a sentence knowing how you’ll end it 2. Don’t embark on an anecdote or explanatory example if you haven’t tied up your pre-amble 3. Use short words – they’ll be less likely to escape you in the moment and won’t weigh down your sentences 4. Avoid idioms. Best case scenario they’re clichéd and add nothing – worst case scenario you garble them and it becomes fodder for anyone who wants to paint you a fool. 5. Focus on putting a gap between thinking and speaking. This can be difficult in interviews, political debates or live broadcast, but a second or two is all you need. 6. Breathe. Know what you’re going to say before you open your mouth. 7.Speak slowly and use pauses. The more time you can give your brain to get ahead of your mouth, the better. More at http://wp.me/p2k3hy-rd if you’re interested

It’s not that speaking is just empty words, it’s that speaking COULD get away with just empty words because non-verbal communication is involved. Contrary to writting, where all you have to rely on to persuade an audience, are your words.

The added value of speaking is non-verbal communication, and it is the reason for which speakers should get payed more, ONLY AS LONG as the content that they are sharing is good enough to match the content of someone who can only rely on their words.

I know this a really old entry, but since writting is the best way for me to organize my thoughts, why not give it a shot anyway.

[…] Source: https://scottberkun.com/blog/2012/on-writing-vs-speaking/ […]

[…] is intimidating. You cannot approach a person the way you would a page. There is little time to gaze at them, head cocked to one side as you arrange your ideas, trace and […]

[…] In fact, it is because speaking is both different and more difficult than writing that speakers get paid more than writers. (Link) […]

[…] On Writing vs. Speaking […]

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15 Persuasive Speeches

Speeches that Make a Change

In this chapter . . .

For many public speeches, the specific purpose is to convince the audience of a particular opinion or claim or to convince them to take some action in response to the speech. When your intention is to affect change in your audience (not just the acquisition of knowledge) then you are delivering a persuasive speech. In this chapter you will learn about the elements of persuasion, why persuasion is difficult, and how to overcome people’s resistance to change by using effective and ethical methods.

Although a persuasive speech involves information—even as much as an informative speech—the key difference is that a persuasive speech is designed for “creating, reinforcing, or changing people’s beliefs or actions” (Lucas, 2015. p. 306). A persuasive speech makes something happen. In other words, it performs a job.

Traditional Views of Persuasion

In the fourth century BCE, the classic philosopher Aristotle took up the study of the public practices of the ruling class in Athenian society. For two years he observed the rhetoric (the art of persuasion) of the men who spoke in the assembly and the courts. In the end, he developed a theory about persuasiveness that has come down to us in history as a treatise called Rhetoric. Among his many ideas was the identification of three elements essential to persuasion: ethos, logos, and pathos. In short, they mean credibility, reasonability, and emotion.

Ethos has come to mean speaker character and credentials. It is the element that establishes the audience’s trust in you as a speaker. A speaker’s credibility is based on who the speaker is and what they know: experience, education, expertise, and background. If you’re delivering a persuasive speech about adopting a pet from a shelter and you have raised several shelter dogs, then you have credibility through experience and should share that fact about yourself with the audience to enhance their trust in your persuasive argument. Another way to establish your credibility is through research sources. You may not be an expert in climate change, but if you were giving a persuasive speech about it, you can cite reliable authoritative sources.

The word ethos looks very much like the word “ethics,” and there are many close parallels to the trust an audience has in a speaker and their honesty and ethical stance. In terms of ethics, it goes without saying that your speech will be truthful.

In addition to expertise and truthfulness is your personal involvement in the topic. Ideally you have chosen the topic because it means something to you personally. Audiences will have more trust in you if they feel you have something as stake or something personal in the subject. For example, perhaps your speech is designed to motivate audience members to take action against bullying in schools, and it’s important to you because you work with the Boys and Girls Club organization and have seen how anti-bullying programs can have positive results. Sharing your own involvement and commitment is key to establishing your credibility on this topic.

Logos is the second key element in Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric. Related to our word “logic,” the Greek term logos in persuasion means presenting ideas that appeal to logic or reason. Logos in a speech pertain to arguments that the audience would find acceptable. Imagine a speech, for example, which has the goal of persuading an audience to adopt healthier eating habits. Would the speech be effective if the arguments focused on how expensive organic foods are? Of course not.

Logic and reason are persuasive not only as matters of content. Logos pertains to organization, as well. An effective persuasive speech presents arguments in an organized fashion.

In words like “empathy,” “sympathy,” and “compassion” we see the root word behind the Greek word pathos. Pathos, for Aristotle, meant exciting emotions such as anger, joy, hate, love, and desire to persuade the audience of the rightness of a proposition. In a positive sense, appealing to the emotions of the audience is a highly effective persuasive tool. In the earlier example of a speech designed to encourage an audience to take action against bullying in schools, including a touching story about a student experiencing bullying would make the audience more likely to support your call for action.

However, we recognize that pathos can be used in a negative way. Emotional appeals that use anger, guilt, hatred, inflammatory language like name-calling, or that try to frighten the audience with horrible images, are counter-productive and even unethical. They might incite emotion in the audience, but they are poor uses of pathos.

One negative emotion used frequently by persuasive speakers is fear. Candidates for political office, for example, often try to provoke fear to move us to vote for them. Intense, over-the-top fear appeals, based on factual falsehoods or cherry-picking, and/or including shocking photos, are not ethical and are often dismissed by discerning audience members. Appealing to the emotion of fear can be ethical if it’s managed carefully. This means being strictly factual and avoiding extremes.

Persuasion and the Audience

It makes sense that if a speaker wants to affect the audience’s beliefs or actions, then the speaker must be perfectly clear about their expectations. If you were listening to a persuasive speech call for your audience to support animals, wouldn’t you want to know exactly what “support” the speaker was talking about? Giving money to charities? Volunteering at an animal shelter? Writing state legislators and urging them to change laws? Your job as a persuasive speaker is to be clear about what you want to create, reinforce, or change in your audience.

For your speech to have persuasive power, you must also consider your audience and choose a goal that is feasible for them. Persuasion isn’t an on/off switch. It’s more like a thermometer. Skillful persuasive speakers respect and identify a persuasive goal that is calibrated to the audience. Think of persuasion as a continuum or line going both directions. At one end is strong disagreement. At the other end is strong agreement. Your audience members, either as a group or individually, are sitting somewhere on that line in relation to your central idea statement, or what we are going to call a proposition in this chapter.

For example, your speech proposition might be something like “The main cause of climate change is human activity.” You are claiming that climate change is due to the harmful things that humans have done to the environment. To be an effective persuasive speaker, one of your first jobs after choosing this topic would be to determine where your audience “sits” on the continuum.

+ 3 means strongly agree to the point of making lifestyle choices to lessen climate change (such as riding a bike instead of driving a car, recycling, eating certain kinds of foods, and advocating for government policy changes). + 2 means agree but not to the point of acting upon it or only acting on it in small ways. + 1 as mildly agrees with your proposition; that is, they think it’s probably true, but the issue doesn’t affect them personally. 0 means neutral, no opinion, or feeling too uninformed to decide. – 1 means mildly opposed to the proposition but willing to listen to those with whom they disagree. – 2 means disagreement to the point of dismissing the idea pretty quickly. – 3 means strong opposition to the point that the concept of climate change itself isn’t even listened to or acknowledged as a valid subject.

Since everyone in the audience is somewhere on this line or continuum, you can accept the fact that any movement toward +3 or to the right is a win. Trying to change an audience from -3 (strong disagreement) to +3 (strong agreement) in a single speech would be quite impossible. When you understand this, you can make strategic choices about the content of your speech.

In this example, if you knew that most of the audience was at -2 or -3, your speech could focus on opening their minds to the possibility of climate change and provide the science behind human causes. On the other hand, if you knew your audience was at +1 or +2, you could focus on urging them to take bold steps, like giving up their gasoline-powered vehicles.

A proposition is assumed to be in some way controversial, or a “stretch” for the audience. Some people in the audience will disagree with your proposition or at least have no opinion; they are not “on your side.”

There will be those in the audience who disagree with your proposition but who are willing to listen. Some members of the audience may already agree with you, although they don’t know why. Both groups could be called the target audience . At the same time, another cluster of your audience may be extremely opposed to your position to the degree that they probably will not give you a fair hearing. They probably can’t be persuaded. Focus on your target audience, they are the one you can persuade.

Why is Persuasion Hard?

Persuasion is hard mainly because we have a bias against change. We go out of our way to protect our beliefs, attitudes, and values. We selectively expose ourselves to messages that we already agree with, rather than those that confront or challenge us. We find it uncomfortable to be confronted with conflicting information or viewpoints.

Additionally, during a persuasive speech the audience members are holding a mental dialogue with the speaker or at least the speaker’s content. The processes that the human mind goes through while it listens to a persuasive message is like a silent conversation. In their minds, audience members are producing doubts or reservations about your proposal. If we could listen in on one of these conversations, it might go something like this:

Speaker: Switching to a plant-based diet is the best action you can take to support a reduction in the CO-2 emissions harming the climate. Audience Member Mind: Yeah, I hear what you’re saying, but eating like that won’t give me enough protein.

The audience member has a doubt or reservation about the speaker’s proposal. We can call these doubts “yeah, buts” because the audience members are thinking, “Yeah, but what about—?” It’s a skill of good persuasion speechwriting to anticipate reservations.

Solutions to the Difficulty of Persuasion

With these reasons for the resistance audience members have to persuasion, what is a speaker to do? Here are some strategies.

First, choose a feasible goal for the persuasive action you want the audience to take. Going back to our continuum, trying to move an audience from -3 to +2 or +3 is too big a move. Having reasonable persuasive goals is the first way to meet resistance. Even moving someone from -3 to -2 is progress, and over time these small shifts can eventually result in a significant amount of persuasion.

Secondly, as speakers we must address reservations. While speechwriters aren’t mind-readers, we can easily imagine reservations about our proposition and build a response to those reservations into the speech. Using the example above, a speaker might say:

Switching to a plant-based diet is the best action you can take to support a reduction in the CO-2 emissions harming the climate. I urge all of you to consider this important dietary change. Perhaps you are thinking that a plant-based diet won’t provide enough protein. That is a common concern. Nutritionists at the website Forks Over Knives explain how the staples of a PB diet—whole grains, legumes, and nuts—provide ample protein.

Here, the speaker acknowledges a valid reservation and then offers a rebuttal. This is called a two-tailed argument. The speaker articulates a possible argument against their proposition and then refutes it.

The third strategy is to keep in mind that since you are asking the audience to change something, they must view the benefits of the change as worth the stress of the change. In effect, audiences want to know: “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM). As a speaker, you should give thought to that question and in your speech address the benefit, advantage, or improvement that the audience will gain by taking the action you propose.

Structure of a Persuasive Speech

A persuasive speech shares with an informational speech the same four elements for a strongly structured speech: introduction, body, conclusion, and connectors. Like informative speeches, preparation requires thoughtful attention to the given circumstances of the speech occasion, as well as audience analysis in terms of demographic and psychographic features. That said, there are some elements unique to a persuasive speech.

General and Specific Purpose General Purpose: To Persuade Specific Purpose: To motivate my audience of campus administrators to provide LGBTQ+ safe spaces on campus.

This looks familiar up to this point. The general purpose is one of the three broad speech goals (to instruct, to persuade, to inspire or entertain). The specific purpose statement follows a clear T.W.A.C. pattern:

T o + W ord: To convince A udience: campus administrators C ontent: LGBTQ+ safe spaces

What is unique to persuasive speeches is what comes next, the proposition.

Propositions

Informational speeches require a thesis. This is the central idea of the speech; its “takeaway.” Persuasive speeches equally require a strong focus on the main idea, but we call this something else: a proposition . A proposition is a statement that expresses a judgement or opinion about which you want audience in agreement. Remember that propositions must be something that can be argued. To say, “The earth is round” isn’t a proposition. “The earth is flat” is a proposition.

Converting to solar energy saves homeowners money.
A vegan diet is the most ethical way to eat.
Universities should provide on-line learning options for all classes.
The Constitution’s Second Amendment does not include possession of automatic weapons for private use.

Like a thesis statement for an informative speech, a proposition statement is best when it not only clearly states the judgment or opinion for which you seek audience agreement, but also provides a succinct preview of the reasons for that judgement.

Universities should provide LGBTQ+ safe spaces on campus to promote visibility, build community, and protect well-being for LGBTQ+ students and their allies.

Types of Propositions

If you take a closer look at the propositions above, you’ll notice that they suggest several types of persuasion. In fact, there are several broad categories of propositions, determined by their primary goal. These are: a) propositions of fact, b) propositions of value, c) propositions of policy, and d) propositions of definition.

Proposition of Fact

Speeches with this type of proposition attempt to establish the truth of a statement. The core of the proposition isn’t whether something is morally right or wrong, only that a statement is supported by evidence or not. These propositions are not facts such as “the chemical symbol for water is H20.” Rather, propositions of fact are statements over which people disagree and there is evidence on both sides. Some examples of propositions of fact are:

Experiments using animals are essential to the development of many life-saving medical procedures.
Climate change has been caused by human activity.

Notice that in none of these are any values—good or bad—mentioned. The point of these propositions is to prove with evidence the truth of a statement.

Proposition of Value

Propositions of fact have the primary purpose of arguing that something exists in a particular way. Propositions of value, on the other hand, have as their primary purpose to argue that one thing is better than another. When the proposition has a word such as “good,” “bad,” “best,” “worst,” “just,” “unjust,” “ethical,” “unethical,” “moral,” “immoral,” “beneficial,” “harmful,” “advantageous,” or “disadvantageous,” then it’s a proposition of value. Some examples include:

Hybrid cars are the best form of automobile transportation available today.
Mascots that involve Native American names, characters, and symbols are unjust.

Propositions of value require a first step: defining the “value” word. If you are trying to convince your audience that something is “unjust,” you will have to make clear what you mean by that term. For different people, “best” might mean “safest,” “least expensive,” “most environmentally responsible,” “stylish,” “powerful,” or “prestigious.” Obviously, in the case of the first proposition above, it means “environmentally responsible.” It’s the first job of the speaker, after introducing the speech and stating the proposition, to explain what “best form of automobile transportation” means. Then the proposition would be defended with separate arguments.

Proposition of Policy

These propositions are easy to identify because they almost always have the word “should” in them. These propositions call for a change in policy or practice (including those in a government, community, or school), or they can call for the audience to adopt a certain behavior.

The federal government should act to ensure clean water standards for all citizens.
Universities should eliminate attendance requirements.
States should lower taxes on food.

The proposition determines the approach to the speech, especially the organization. The exact phrasing of the proposition should be carefully done to be reasonable, positive, and appropriate for the context and audience.

Propositions of Definition

Propositions of definitions argue that a word, phrase, or concept has a particular meaning. Lawyers, legislators, and scholars often write briefs, present persuasive speeches, or compose articles to define terms that are vital to defendants, citizens, or disciplines. Some examples might be:

The Second Amendment to the Constitution does not include possession of automatic weapons for private use.
Alcoholism should be considered a disease because…
Thomas Jefferson’s definition of inalienable rights did not include a right to privacy.

In each of these examples, the proposition is that the definition of these things needs to be changed or viewed differently, but the audience isn’t asked to change an attitude or action.

These are not strict categories. A proposition of value most likely contains elements of facts and definitions, for example. However, identifying the primary category for a persuasive speech focuses the speaker on the ultimate purpose of the speech.

Pro-Arguments

Once you know your proposition, the next step is to make your case for your judgement or opinion through clear and distinct points. These are the main points of the body of your persuasive speech. We call these the “pro” or “for” arguments. You should present at least three distinct arguments in favor of your proposition. Expanding on the example above,

General Purpose: To Persuade Specific Purpose: To motivate my audience of campus administrators to provide LGBTQ+ safe spaces on campus. Proposition: Universities should provide LGBTQ+ safe spaces on campus in order to promote visibility, build community, and protect well-being for LGBTQ+ students and their allies.

Three pro-arguments for the proposition are:

Pro-Argument #1: Creating a safe space makes LGBTQ+ community more visible and central to campus life, instead of marginalized. Pro-Argument #2: Safe spaces create a place where LGBTQ+ and their allies learn to build networks, friendship, and support circles. Pro-Argument #3: With a safe and centralized space bringing together this community, instances of bias or harassment can be brought to counselors, making for a safer community.

Two-Tailed Arguments

There is one more crucial element following pro-arguments. These are unique to persuasive speeches. As discussed above, it’s essential to anticipate and address audience reservations about your propositions. These are the two-tailed arguments that articulate the reservation and then address it or refute it. In the example we’re using, such a statement might look like this:

“Perhaps you are thinking that an LGBTQ+ safe space isn’t necessary on campus because there are already places on campus that provide this function. I understand that concern. However, a space that is officially provided by the University provides access to resources with trained personnel. The national organization CampusPride provides training to university facilitators for exactly this reason.”

There are some techniques for rebuttal or refutation that work better than others. You would not want to say, “If you are one of the people who believe this about my proposition, you are wrong.” It’s better to say that their reservations are “misconceptions,” “myths,” or “mistaken ideas” that are commonly held about the proposition.

Building Upon Your Persuasive Speech’s Arguments

Once you have constructed the key arguments, it’s time to be sure the main points are well supported with evidence.

First, your evidence should be from sources that the audience will find credible. If you can find the same essential information from two sources but know that the audience will find the information more credible from one source than another, use and cite the information from the more credible one. For example, if you find the same statistical data on Wikipedia and the US Department of Labor’s website, cite the US Department of Labor. Audiences also accept information from sources they consider unbiased or indifferent. Gallup polls, for example, have been considered reliable sources of survey data because unlike some organizations, Gallup does not have a cause (political or otherwise) it’s supporting.

Secondly, your evidence should be new to the audience. New evidence is more attention-getting, and you will appear more credible if you tell the audience something new (as long as you cite it well) than if you use the “same old, same old” evidence they have heard before.

Third, in order to be effective and ethical, your supporting evidence should be relevant and not used out of context, manipulated, or edited to change its meaning.

After choosing the evidence and apportioning it to the correct parts of the speech, you will want to consider the use of metaphors, quotations, rhetorical devices, and narratives that will enhance the language and “listenability” of your speech. Narratives are especially good for introduction and conclusions, to get attention and to leave the audience with something dramatic. You might refer to the narrative in the introduction again in the conclusion to give the speech a sense of finality.

Lastly, you will want to decide if you should use any type of presentation aid for the speech. The decision to use visuals such as PowerPoint slides or a video clip in a persuasive speech should take into consideration the effect of the visuals on the audience and the time allotted for the speech. The charts, graphs, or photographs you use should be focused and credibly done.

Organization of a Persuasive Speech

You can see that the overall structure of a persuasive speech follows a common model: introduction, body (arguments and support), two-tailed arguments, and conclusion. Study the example at the end of this chapter to see this structure in action.

In speechwriting, you can think of a speech structure like the building of a house and organization like the arrangement of the rooms within it. As with other speeches, persuasive speeches can be organized topically, chronologically, or spatially. However, persuasive speeches often follow a problem-solution or problem-cause-solution pattern.

Organization for a proposition of fact

If your proposition is one of fact or definition, it will be best to use a topical organization for the body of your speech. That means that you will have two to four discrete, separate topics in support of the proposition.

Proposition: Converting to solar energy saves homeowners money.

(Pro-Argument 1) Solar energy can be economical to install.
(Pro-Argument 2) The government awards grants for solar.
(Pro-Argument 3) Solar energy reduces power bills.
(Pro-Argument 4) Solar energy requires less money for maintenance.

Organization for a proposition of value

A persuasive speech that incorporates a proposition of value will have a slightly different structure. A proposition of value must first define the “value” word for clarity and provide a basis for the other arguments of the speech. Then the pro-arguments for the proposition based on the definition.

Proposition: Hybrid cars are the best form of automotive transportation available today.

(Definition of value) Automotive transportation that is best meets three standards: dependable, economical, and environmentally responsible.
(Pro-Argument 1) Studies show that hybrid cars are durable and dependable.
(Pro-Argument 2) Hybrid cars are fuel-efficient.
(Pro-Argument 3) Hybrid cars are environmentally responsible.

Organization for a propositions of policy

The most common type of outline organizations for speeches with propositions of policy is problem-solution or problem-cause-solution. Typically, we don’t feel any motivation to change unless we are convinced that some harm, problem, need, or deficiency exists, and even more, that it affects us personally. Therefore, the organization of a speech about policy needs to first explain the problem and its cause, followed by the solution in the form of 3-5 pro-arguments.

Proposition: Universities should provide on-line learning options for all classes.

(Problem) Regular attendance in a physical classroom is no longer possible for all students.
(Cause) Changes brought about by the COVID pandemic have made guaranteed classroom attendance difficult.
(Pro-Argument 1) Providing on-line learning options protects the health of students.
(Pro-Argument 2) On-line learning serves students who cannot come to campus.
(Pro-Argument 3) Access to on-line learning allows students to maintain employment while still going to school.

To complete this outline, along with introduction and conclusion, your pro-arguments should be supported with fact, quotations, and statistics.

Your persuasive speech in class, as well as in real life, is an opportunity to share a passion or cause that you believe will matter to society and help the audience live a better life. Even if you are initially uncomfortable with the idea of persuasion, we use it all the time in diverse ways. Choose your topic based on your commitment and experience, look for quality evidence, craft your proposition so that it will be clear and audience appropriate, and put the finishing touches on it with an eye toward enhancing your logos , ethos , and pathos .

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'Rather Than': Is It a Conjunction or Preposition?

In English, it's often hard to tell whether phrases, such as as well as or other than , are working as prepositions or conjunctions , or just as combinations of individual words. This slipperiness also occurs with rather than , which is found in grammatically balanced compound sentences as well as sentences with subordinate clauses . (If any of this is confusing, read on. We'll lay it all out.) Basically, the role of rather than depends on the type of sentence in which it's being used.

Get ready for some serious grammar instruction.

The word rather , itself, is commonly used in English as an adverb to indicate preference, degree, or accuracy.

I would rather not go. It's getting rather late. She sings rather well. He's got a rather nice voice. She is a doctor, or rather, a surgeon.

It took some time, but eventually grammarians and lexicographers got the message and recognized that rather than had meaning as a distinct grammatical unit. The key to telling whether rather than is a conjunction or preposition is to look at the words that precede and follow it.

As a conjunction, parallel grammatical constructions appear on each side of rather than . When used to coordinate verbs, it indicates that something is done in place of something else—and the verbs are inflected in the same way. Typically, the base forms of the verbs are used (often with to omitted before the verb following rather than ).

For exercise, I walk rather than run. He decided to call rather than text. Rather than repair the car, I prefer to buy a new one.

Additionally, conjunctive rather than joins nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions that have parallel forms. In such instances, rather than indicates choice or negation.

I drink coffee rather than tea. He bought red rather than green peppers. She eats slowly rather than quickly. Can we come over on Saturday rather than (on) Sunday?

As a preposition, rather than is synonymous with instead of and begins subordinate clauses (clauses that can't stand alone as a sentence) that have a present participle (the -ing form) of a verb serving as a noun (in other words, a gerund ). When rather than functions as a preposition, the verbs in the sentence are not parallel.

Rather than driving, he rode his bike to work. Rather than using dried herbs, he picked fresh ones from the garden. She took the blame rather than blaming everyone else.

In sum: when rather than has parallel elements before and after it, like walk/run from the above example, it's wearing its conjunction hat. You'll know its preposition hat is nearby when you see dissimilarity between verb forms—as in driving/rode —and rather than followed by an -ing verb to form a prepositional phrase . Now, as always, hats off to grammar!

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John McWhorter

If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It

By John McWhorter

Opinion Writer

As time goes by, I am ever more perplexed by why we make students learn to write the classic five-paragraph essay but have so much less interest in developing their spoken argument skills. As much as I love writing, I wonder if there is something arbitrary in the idea that education must focus more on the written than the spoken word.

I’m not referring to the mano a mano of debating or the thrilling but colloquial speechmaking of preaching. I’m talking about formal oratory. Back in the day, people would clear their throat and deliver. They weren’t winging it. They would plan their remarks, without writing them out word for word. They knew their topic and, from that, they spoke.

Today, people may give a talk but with no expectation that they have their material down and not usually with the idea that they will attempt to convince us of a proposition by making a case. Our sense of a spoken presentation is less formal, more personal, looser. But more formal oratory has its uses.

Sheer aesthetics is one of them. For example, to Americans in Gettysburg on Nov. 19, 1863, the address they gathered to hear was not delivered by Abraham Lincoln. His speech lasted but two minutes. Former Secretary of State Edward Everett gave a two-hour speech from memory.

This was no talk of the kind we most often encounter these days, but an oration, opening with: “Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and nature.” He spoke of the hypocrisy of slavery in a country that was supposed to be free, the crime of the Confederacy’s rebellion and the horrors of war.

People actually thrilled to these very long speeches in this era. It was very common to attend them. As strange as they may seem to us now, these events were no more peculiar than what we know as stand-up comedy these days, in which someone strides onto a stage with self-conscious bonhomie and spends about 20 minutes making an audience laugh with general, often self-deprecatory remarks and then thanks the audience and walks off. Stand-up in those days would have seemed as weird as watching someone talk in long sentences for hours seems to us.

I also think, as I read a book about 19th-century England, of the way parliamentarians used to communicate. The men regularly made their points to their colleagues in speeches that could run far beyond what anyone could write out and memorize word for word, in contrast to now, with speeches subject to time limits . Or: Black people of letters, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Maya Angelou, engaged in oratory contests when they were young, competing for prizes according to how gracefully and how convincingly they made a case for some proposition. The tradition of such contests continues in the Black community.

When I have given oral presentations, I reach people more directly than if I’d written everything down for them to read. When people can see your face and hear the melody of your voice, your point gets across more vividly. Language evolved, after all, for face-to-face contact, not rendered as glyphs on paper.

The question is why oratory of this kind is so much less central to the culture than it once was. The fact that there exists an organization like Toastmasters, which fosters ability in public speaking, only underscores that this skill is no longer a given from schooling and general acculturation.

Imagine a square divided into four smaller ones. The top left square is casual speech; the top right square is formal speech. The bottom left square is casual writing; the bottom right square is formal writing. We have, as it were, an empty square in our grid.

Casual speech is how we communicate most of the time. Down from that square, casual writing once upon a time meant the way you may have written letters to friends or the written language of passed notes or dorm message boards. More recently it is texting and email, in which we use the mechanics of writing to express ourselves in a way that sounds like talking. Formal writing is the five-paragraph essay and, of course, books and articles.

But what about that upper right square, formal speech?

That is what Everett and Du Bois and others considered natural, even if it seems as antique and clunky to us as steamboats and corsets. When we communicate formally, we moderns think first of getting language down on a page in written form, perhaps out of a sense that this is how to deck language out in its Sunday best.

Indeed, there is the TED Talk, but besides its air of casualness (business casual), note that the result is thought of as a unique genre, subject sometimes to a mannered chuckle. The storytelling events put on by the Moth also qualify as oratory but, again, usually pitched in a snug, relatable tone and less about making a case. Today, the formal speech is othered rather than fundamental.

Perhaps it seems that to organize our thoughts properly beyond the level of “Want mustard with that?” we need to tie them down with the yoke of writing.

But the ancients didn’t think so. Even with a fully developed writing culture, the Greeks and Romans valued the ability to stand and pose and pace in front of an audience and make their point through speaking it — and formally, not colloquially. Even today, there are revered intellectuals who mainly express themselves by speaking rather than writing, such as Cornel West.

As odd in its way as the old-time, lengthy speech is today’s academic article. In many fields, these tend to be so imposingly long that few readers get through them. They can seem about as inutile as the sculptures up high on European cathedrals, where, for centuries, no one could see them but God.

Academic articles look great from a distance, get their authors promotions and can be a joy to write because people can feel they have fully expressed what they know. But all but a few go virtually unread because there are too many of them and too little time. I can tell you that a lot of my earlier articles were all but unreadable because of length and style — or lack thereof.

In that light, I am certainly not wishing we would go back to listening to people talk for hours at a time; we have more to entertain us these days. But I imagine a different universe in which academics would be expected to present most of their ideas in solid PowerPoint versions, narrated in formal language, getting across the amount of information a person can actually absorb in 20 to 30 minutes.

I wish students had the choice of either writing essays or speaking them. We would train them in the ability to speak carefully and coherently with the same goal of making a point that we require in writing.

A lot of people really hate writing. It’s an unnatural activity, as humanity goes. If we imagine that speech has existed for 24 hours, then according to all modern estimates, writing came along only sometime around 11:30 p.m. Writing is an artifice, and given a choice, most people would rather talk (or text).

For students who prefer it — and most of them likely would — the idea would be to give an oral presentation to the class, going from a memorized outline of planned remarks but expressing its points spontaneously. They would be graded on the quality of both the delivery and the content.

I have done this in one of my classes, and often the students who choose speaking make a better case than many of those who opt for writing. They seem to connect more readily to the task of talking than to writing an argument and execute it with more passion. It is unclear to me that there is a reason to classify oral suasion as something lesser than the written version, as long as students are instructed that they are to maintain a basic, tempered poise, without relying on volume or colorful rhetoric to stand in for logic.

Some will object that students will need to be able to craft arguments in writing in their future endeavors. But to channel the modern kind of skeptical response: Will they, though?

How elaborate do memos get? And especially, are enough students really likely to need writing that it must be drilled into all of them? An alternate universe would be one in which students who thought of themselves as likely to need such a skill in the future, such as in the law, would be the ones who choose written over oral expression.

When I am asked to speak about something, I do some written preparation to organize my thoughts, but I don’t craft sentences. I fashion my ideas into exactly three basic points. In terms of realistic expectations of human attention span, especially in our eternally distracted era, even four points are too many, but two aren’t enough. Three points, each expressed with about three subpoints. I consider it my job to be able to hold this much in my memory, along with intentions of an introduction and a conclusion.

To be sure, only formal writing can harbor “Beloved” or “Ulysses,” extended scientific proofs or detailed historical documentation. However, when it comes to individuals expressing their intelligence for assignments or teaching, I cannot see that writing is the only legitimate and effective vehicle. We are a society that values speaking engagingly but places less of a value on speaking precisely. This is a mere matter of cultural preference; I wish it would change.

Have feedback? Send a note to [email protected] .

John McWhorter ( @JohnHMcWhorter ) is an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University. He hosts the podcast “ Lexicon Valley ” and is the author, most recently, of “ Woke Racism : How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.”

Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

We use rather as a degree adverb ( rather cold, rather nice ). We also use it to express alternatives and preferences ( green rather than blue, coffee rather than tea, slowly rather than quickly ).

Rather as a degree adverb

We use rather to give emphasis to an adjective or adverb. It has a similar meaning to quite when quite is used with gradable words. It is more formal than quite . We often use it to express something unexpected or surprising:

A: You’re not just wasting your time here, are you? B: No, I’m rather busy, in fact .

They walked rather slowly.

I’m afraid I behaved rather badly.

Rather with adjective + noun

With a/an we usually use rather a/an + adjective + noun, but we can also use a rather + adjective + noun. With other determiners ( some, those ) we use determiner + rather + adjective + noun:

We had to wait rather a long time. (or, less common, We had to wait a rather long time .)

He helped her out of rather an uncomfortable situation. (or He helped her out of a rather uncomfortable situation .)

I had some rather bad news today.

Not: I had rather some bad news today .

Rather a + noun

Rather a with a noun is more common in formal language than in informal language, particularly in writing:

It was rather a surprise to find them in the house before me.

Rather a lot

We often use rather with a lot to refer to large amounts and quantities:

It cost me rather a lot of money.

You’ve given me rather a lot .

We also use rather a lot to mean ‘often’:

They went there rather a lot .

You’ll be seeing rather a lot of me over the next few weeks.

Rather + verb

We can use rather to emphasise verbs. We use it most commonly with verbs such as enjoy, hope, like :

I was rather hoping you’d forgotten about that.

He rather liked the idea of a well-paid job in Japan.

Rather : comparison

We use rather with more and less + an adjective or adverb in formal writing to make a comparison with something:

Quite probably you simply didn’t realise that peas and beans and sweet-corn are such valuable vegetables, and you will now continue to eat them rather more frequently because you like them anyway.

Now that she saw Rupert again, he was rather less interesting and a little older than she had remembered him.

Rather like

We use rather with like to refer to similarities. We use rather like to mean ‘quite similar to’:

They were small animals, rather like rats.

I was in the middle. I felt rather like a referee at a football match trying to be fair and keep the sides apart.

Comparison: adjectives ( bigger , biggest , more interesting )

Rather than : alternatives and preferences

We use rather than to give more importance to one thing when two alternatives or preferences are being compared:

He wanted to be an actor rather than a comedian.

Can we come over on Saturday rather than Friday?

Rather than usually occurs between two things which are being compared. However, we can also use it at the beginning of a sentence. When we use rather than with a verb, we use the base form or (less commonly) the -ing form of a verb:

Rather than pay the taxi fare, he walked home. (or Rather than paying the taxi fare, he walked home .)

Not: Rather than to pay …

Would rather

We use or rather to correct ourselves:

He commanded and I obeyed, or rather , I pretended to.

Thanks to his efforts, or rather the efforts of his employees, they made a decent profit.

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Active vs. Passive Voice

Take a sentence like “I want ice cream now.” It’s clear and straightforward—you know immediately that the subject, I , wants an object, ice cream . Now, recast this sentence, flipping it so that the object is in the position of the subject: “Ice cream is wanted by me now.” It isn’t just longer, but it’s also more detached, roundabout, and a little awkward, too.

Those two sentences are examples of the active voice and the passive voice. Certain kinds of writing are best suited for the active voice, while the passive voice is most appropriate for other kinds of writing. Understanding how, when, and why to use each is key to being an effective writer and speaker.

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly

What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what are their different functions?

In the active voice, the subject is performing an action:

The dog chases the ball.

Notice how the subject, dog , is performing the action, chase , on the target of the action, ball . This is a simple, direct example of the active voice.

In the passive voice, the action’s target, ball , is positioned first as the focus of the sentence. The sentence gets flipped, and the subject is now being acted upon by the verb. In other words, the subject is passive :

The ball is being chased by the dog.

Active and passive are the two grammatical voices in English. Neither is inherently better than the other, but each is suited to certain types of writing. There’s a reason why news anchors sound detached from the stories they’re reporting: They often speak using the passive voice. There’s also a reason why the authors of opinion pieces sound so sure of their positions: They usually write in the active voice.

Although the idea of teachers telling their students to avoid the passive voice is repeated so frequently that it feels like a trope, the truth is that the passive voice does have its applications. We’ll get into those later. For now, let’s look at how to recognize the active voice and the passive voice in your writing and in others’ work.

Active voice

As we’ve learned, in the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action. Here are two examples of sentences in the active voice:

Shira likes birdwatching.

She loves twilight.

No matter what verb you use, structuring your sentence so the subject performs the verb is writing in the active voice.

The active voice has a direct, clear tone. Use it when you want the reader to focus on the subject of your sentence and the action it is doing rather than on the action’s target.

Passive voice

In the passive voice , the action’s target is the focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. Or, to put it in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Every sentence in the passive voice contains two verbs:

A conjugated form of “to be”
The main verb’s past participle

Take a look at the previous examples, now written in passive voice:

Birdwatching is liked by Shira.

Twilight is loved by her.

Notice how the targets of the action—also the direct objects of the sentences—are now the focus. The sentences now contain a conjugated form of “to be” ( is ) and the main verb’s past participle ( liked and loved ). Often, sentences in the passive voice are longer than sentences in the active voice simply because they have to include additional words like prepositions. Take a look at this sentence in the passive voice:

Summer break is [conjugated form of “to be”] loved [past participle of the main verb] by [preposition] my friends.

However, sentences written in the passive voice don’t necessarily need a preposition. Take a look at the example sentences below:

The check was paid.

He will be remembered.

The Philippines is known for its marine biodiversity.

The passive voice has a subtler tone than the active voice has. Sometimes your writing needs this tone, like when you want your reader to focus on the action being described or the action’s target rather than on who or what is performing the action. This is why the passive voice is used in lab reports —it conveys scientific objectivity by minimizing the focus on the doer of the action.

Active and passive voice usage

Although you may have been told that writing in the passive voice is “bad writing,” it’s actually more nuanced than that. For most of the writing you do, like emails , blog posts , and many kinds of essays , the active voice is a more effective way to communicate the ideas, themes, and facts you’re expressing.

In certain kinds of writing , though, the passive voice is necessary. Think about how news reports about crime and incidents are usually written and delivered:

A car was broken into on Elm Street last night.

Cash was stolen from the register.

In these kinds of reports, the passive voice is used to emphasize the action that occurred rather than the individual or group who committed the action, often because the perpetrator isn’t known or hasn’t yet been found guilty of the offense.

There are other kinds of writing where the action itself, rather than the doer of the action, is the primary focus. These include scientific and, in some cases, historical reports. These use the passive voice to keep the reader’s focus on what has happened or is happening. Here are a few examples:

The rats were placed into the maze.

The governor was inaugurated at the statehouse.

Notice how in both of these sentences, the doer of the action isn’t mentioned. That’s because it’s either implied or irrelevant. In the first example, the scientist performing the experiment is the one who placed the rats in the maze. In the second, those conducting the inauguration ceremony aren’t relevant to what’s being expressed in the sentence.

How to change passive voice to active voice

After you finish your first draft, read it. You might even want to read it aloud and listen to how it sounds. By reading and listening to your own work, you can catch awkward sentences and unclear phrasing and mark them as points to revise in your next draft. You’ll also hear where you used the active and passive voices and how they shift your work’s tone as a whole.

Let’s say you’ve detected a few instances of the passive voice in your argumentative essay :

More flexible scheduling options are deserved by students. Significant amounts of tuition are paid to the university every year, and many feel the level of service being paid for by students is not being received.

See how these sentences feel like they’re dancing around the topic at hand rather than addressing it head-on? The writer isn’t making a particularly persuasive argument, but they can make their writing far more impactful by changing it to the active voice.

Sentence-by-sentence, identify who or what is performing the action, and make that the subject when you rewrite it. In the first sentence, make students the subject, since that’s who is performing the action. The main verb in this sentence is deserve, and the target is more flexible scheduling options , which will become the direct object in your new sentence. With these identified, restructure the sentence so the subject is now directly performing the verb. In the active voice, this sentence would read like this:

Students deserve more flexible scheduling options.

See how this version gets right to the point? It makes the writer sound more confident too, which is a priority in argumentative writing. Let’s try changing the second sentence to the active voice, which also allows us to condense:

Students pay a significant amount of tuition to the university every year, and many feel they aren’t receiving the level of service they’re paying for.

As you can see from the compound sentence above, you can write any kind of sentence in the active or passive voice as long as the sentence has a transitive verb . Whether it’s a simple or complex sentence (or even a compound-complex sentence), you can dramatically alter your tone by simply reworking its structure.

If you aren’t sure whether a sentence is active or passive based on how it sounds, use the rules we outlined above to identify the two voices in your work. The biggest clue you have a passive voice sentence on your hands will be a form of “to be” followed by a past participle (e.g., was requested or will be missed ). Not every passive voice sentence says who is performing the action, but if it does, you’ll see a preposition next to it (e.g., by zombies or by my brother ).

You can use either voice when you’re paraphrasing a longer work. Sometimes, such as in cases where you’re paraphrasing a scientific article, you’ll need to use the passive voice in your paraphrased version. In others, you might actually make the original clearer by paraphrasing in the active voice.

Active and passive voice examples

Take a look at these examples of both the active and passive voices in action:

Active: Is Ajani visiting us today?

Passive: Will we be visited by Ajani today?

As you see, questions can be written in either voice. Other kinds of sentences, like exclamatory and imperative sentences, are often best written in the active voice:

Active: Please remove your shoes before entering my house.

Passive: Shoes should be removed before entering my house.

Active: Lock the door!

Passive: Let the door be locked!

See how with the first pair, the passive voice makes the request feel more like a suggestion? In the second pair, the passive voice makes the message sound stilted and formal rather than an urgent exclamation.

Now take a look at these two examples:

Active: I poured the solution into the beaker and heated it to 100℉.

Passive: The solution was poured into the beaker and heated to 100℉.

Active and passive voice FAQs

What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what’s the difference.

In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action on the action’s target. In the passive voice, the target of the action is the main focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. There are numerous differences between the two grammatical voices, but the most important is that the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is subtler and can feel more detached.

When should you use active vs. passive voice?

Use the active voice in any sentence that focuses on the doer of the action. Unless the majority of your writing is scientific or reporting incidents involving unknown perpetrators, most of the sentences you write should be in the active voice.

The passive voice is meant for sentences where you need to emphasize the target of an action or the action itself rather than who or what is performing the verb.

How do you change passive voice to active?

To change the passive voice to the active voice, determine who is actually performing the action in the sentence, then restructure the sentence so that the performer is the focus, clearly performing the verb upon the sentence’s direct object.

Passive: Salsa dancing has always been loved by our community.
Active: Our community has always loved salsa dancing.

Here’s a tip: You don’t have to guess whether you’re using certain words correctly or breaking grammar rules in your writing. Just copy and paste your writing into our Grammar Checker and get instant feedback on whether your sentences have misspellings, punctuation errors, or any structural mistakes.

A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Persuasive Speech

Hrideep barot.

Speech Writing

The term Persuasion means the efforts to change the attitudes or opinions of others through various means.

It is present everywhere: election campaigns, salesmen trying to sell goods by giving offers, public health campaigns to quit smoking or to wear masks in the public spaces, or even at the workplace; when an employee tries to persuade others to agree to their point in a meeting.

How do they manage to convince us so subtly? You guessed it right! They engage in what is called Persuasive Speech.

Persuasive Speech is a category of speech that attempts to influence the listener’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, and ultimately, behavior.

They are used in all contexts and situations . It can be informal , a teenager attempting to convince his or her parents for a sleepover at a friend’s house.

It can also be formal , President or Prime Minister urging the citizens to abide by the new norms.

But not to confuse these with informative speeches! These also aim to inform the audience about a particular topic or event, but they lack any attempt at persuasion.

The most typical setting where this kind of speech is practiced is in schools and colleges.

An effective speech combines both the features of an informative and persuasive speech for a better takeaway from an audience’s point of view.

However, writing and giving a persuasive speech are different in the sense that you as a speaker have limited time to call people to action.

Also, according to the context or situation, you may not be able to meet your audience several times, unlike TV ads, which the audience sees repeatedly and hence believes the credibility of the product.

So, how to write and deliver an effective persuasive speech?

How to start a persuasive speech? What are the steps of writing a persuasive speech? What are some of the tricks and tips of persuasion?

Read along till the end to explore the different dimensions and avenues of the science of giving a persuasive speech.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND BEFORE WRITING A PERSUASIVE SPEECH

1. get your topic right, passion and genuine interest in your topic.

It is very important that you as a speaker are interested in the chosen topic and in the subsequent arguments you are about to put forward. If you are not interested in what you are saying, then how will the audience feel the same?

Passion towards the topic is one of the key requirements for a successful speech as your audience will see how passionate and concerned you are towards the issue and will infer you as a genuine and credible person.

The audience too will get in the mood and connect to you on an emotional level, empathizing with you; as a result of which will understand your point of view and are likely to agree to your argument.

Consider this example: your friend is overflowing with joy- is happy, smiling, and bubbling with enthusiasm.

Before even asking the reason behind being so happy, you “catch the mood”; i.e., you notice that your mood has been boosted as a result of seeing your friend happy.

Why does it happen so? The reason is that we are influenced by other people’s moods and emotions.

It also means that our mood affects people around us, which is the reason why speaking with emotions and passion is used by many successful public speakers.

Another reason is that other’s emotions give an insight into how one should feel and react. We interpret other’s reactions as a source of information about how we should feel.

So, if someone shows a lot of anxiety or excitement while speaking, we conclude that the issue is very important and we should do something about it, and end up feeling similar reactions.

Meaningful and thought-provoking

Choose a topic that is meaningful to you and your audience. It should be thought-provoking and leave the audience thinking about the points put forward in your speech.

Topics that are personally or nationally relevant and are in the talks at the moment are good subjects to start with.

If you choose a controversial topic like “should euthanasia be legalized?”, or” is our nation democratic?”, it will leave a dramatic impact on your audience.

However, be considerate in choosing a sensitive topic, since it can leave a negative impression on your listeners. But if worded in a neutral and unbiased manner, it can work wonders.

Also, refrain from choosing sensitive topics like the reality of religion, sexuality, etc.

2. Research your topic thoroughly

Research on persuasion conducted by Hovland, Janis, and Kelley states that credible communicators are more persuasive than those who are seen as lacking expertise.

Even if you are not an expert in the field of your topic, mentioning information that is backed by research or stating an expert’s opinion on the issue will make you appear as a knowledgeable and credible person.

How to go about researching? Many people think that just googling about a topic and inferring 2-3 articles will be enough. But this is not so.

For writing and giving an effective speech, thorough research is crucial for you as a speaker to be prepared and confident.

Try to find as many relevant points as possible, even if it is against your viewpoint. If you can explain why the opposite viewpoint is not correct, it will give the audience both sides to an argument and will make decision-making easier.

Also, give credit to the source of your points during your speech, by mentioning the original site, author, or expert, so the audience will know that these are reliable points and not just your opinion, and will be more ready to believe them since they come from an authority.

Other sources for obtaining data for research are libraries and bookstores, magazines, newspapers, google scholar, research journals, etc.

Analyze your audience

Know who comprises your audience so that you can alter your speech to meet their requirements.

Demographics like age group, gender ratio, the language with which they are comfortable, their knowledge about the topic, the region and community to which they belong; are all important factors to be considered before writing your speech.

Ask yourself these questions before sitting down to write:

Is the topic of argument significant to them? Why is it significant? Would it make sense to them? Is it even relevant to them?

In the end, the speech is about the audience and not you. Hence, make efforts to know your audience.

This can be done by surveying your audience way before the day of giving your speech. Short polls and registration forms are an effective way to know your audience.

They ensure confidentiality and maintain anonymity, eliminating social desirability bias on part of the audience, and will likely receive honest answers.

OUTLINE OF A PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Most speeches follow the pattern of Introduction, Body and Conclusion.

However, persuasive speeches have a slightly different pathway.

INTRODUCTION

BODY OR SUPPORTING STATEMENTS( ATLEAST 3 ARGUMENTS)

CONCLUSION OR A CALL TO ACTION

1. INTRODUCTION

Grab attention of your audience.

The first few lines spoken by a speaker are the deciding factor that can make or break a speech.

Hence, if you nail the introduction, half of the task has already been done, and you can rest assured.

No one likes to be silent unless you are an introvert. But the audience expects that the speaker will go on stage and speak. But what if the speaker just goes and remains silent?

Chances are high that the audience will be in anticipation of what you are about to speak and their sole focus will be on you.

This sets the stage.

Use quotes that are relevant and provocative to set the tone of your speech. It will determine the mood of your audience and get them ready to receive information.

An example can be “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin” and then state who gave it, in this case, Tony Robbins, an American author.

Use what-if scenarios

Another way to start your speech is by using what-if scenarios and phrases like “suppose if your home submerges in water one day due to global warming…”.

This will make them the center of attention and at the same time grabbing their attention.

Use personal anecdotes

Same works with personal experiences and stories.

Everyone loves listening to first-hand experiences or a good and interesting story. If you are not a great storyteller, visual images and videos will come to your rescue.

After you have successfully grabbed and hooked your audience, the next and last step of the introduction is introducing your thesis statement.

What is a thesis statement?

It introduces the topic to your audience and is one of the central elements of any persuasive speech.

It is usually brief, not more than 3 sentences, and gives the crux of your speech outline.

How to make a thesis statement?

Firstly, research all possible opinions and views about your topic. See which opinion you connect with, and try to summarize them.

After you do this, you will get a clear idea of what side you are on and this will become your thesis statement.

However, the thesis should answer the question “why” and “how”.

So, for instance, if you choose to speak on the topic of the necessity of higher education, your thesis statement could be something like this:

Although attending university and getting a degree is essential for overall development, not every student must be pushed to join immediately after graduating from school.

And then you can structure your speech containing the reasons why every student should not be rushed into joining a university.

3. BODY OF THE SPEECH

The body contains the actual reasons to support your thesis.

Ideally, the body should contain at least 3 reasons to support your argument.

So, for the above-mentioned thesis, you can support it with possible alternatives, which will become your supporting statements.

The option of a gap year to relax and decide future goals, gaining work experience and then joining the university for financial reasons, or even joining college after 25 or 35 years.

These become your supporting reasons and answers the question “why”.

Each reason has to be resourcefully elaborated, with explaining why you support and why the other or anti-thesis is not practical.

At this point, you have the option of targeting your audience’s ethos, pathos, or logos.

Ethos is the ethical side of the argument. It targets morals and puts forth the right thing or should be.

This technique is highly used in the advertising industry.

Ever wondered why celebrities, experts, and renowned personalities are usually cast as brand ambassadors.?

The reason: they are liked by the masses and exhibit credibility and trust.

Advertisers endorse their products via a celebrity to try to show that the product is reliable and ethical.

The same scenario is seen in persuasive speeches. If the speaker is well-informed and provides information that is backed by research, chances are high that the audience will follow it.

Pathos targets the emotional feelings of the audience.

This is usually done by narrating a tragic or horrifying anecdote and leaves the listener moved by using an emotional appeal to call people to action.

The common emotions targeted by the speaker include the feeling of joy, love, sadness, anger, pity, and loneliness.

All these emotions are best expressed in stories or personal experiences.

Stories give life to your argument, making the audience more involved in the matter and arousing sympathy and empathy.

Visuals and documentaries are other mediums through which a speaker can attract the audience’s emotions.

What was your reaction after watching an emotional documentary? Did you not want to do something about the problem right away?

Emotions have the power to move people to action.

The last technique is using logos, i.e., logic. This includes giving facts and practical aspects of why this is to be done or why such a thing is the most practical.

It is also called the “logical appeal”.

This can be done by giving inductive or deductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoning involves the speaker taking a specific example or case study and then generalizing or drawing conclusions from it.

For instance, a speaker tells a case study of a student who went into depression as the child wasn’t able to cope with back-to-back stress.

This problem will be generalized and concluded that gap year is crucial for any child to cope with and be ready for the challenges in a university.

On the other hand, deductive reasoning involves analyzing general assumptions and theories and then arriving at a logical conclusion.

So, in this case, the speaker can give statistics of the percentage of university students feeling drained due to past exams and how many felt that they needed a break.

This general data will then be personalized to conclude how there is a need for every student to have a leisure break to refresh their mind and avoid having burned out.

Using any of these 3 techniques, coupled with elaborate anecdotes and supporting evidence, at the same time encountering counterarguments will make the body of your speech more effective.

4. CONCLUSION

Make sure to spend some time thinking through your conclusion, as this is the part that your audience will remember the most and is hence, the key takeaway of your entire speech.

Keep it brief, and avoid being too repetitive.

It should provide the audience with a summary of the points put across in the body, at the same time calling people to action or suggesting a possible solution and the next step to be taken.

Remember that this is your last chance to convince, hence make sure to make it impactful.

Include one to two relevant power or motivational quotes, and end by thanking the audience for being patient and listening till the end.

Watch this clip for a better understanding.

TIPS AND TRICKS OF PERSUASION

Start strong.

A general pattern among influential speeches is this: all start with a powerful and impactful example, be it statistics about the issue, using influential and meaning statements and quotes, or asking a rhetorical question at the beginning of their speech.

Why do they do this? It demonstrates credibility and creates a good impression- increasing their chance of persuading the audience.

Hence, start in such a manner that will hook the audience to your speech and people would be curious to know what you are about to say or how will you end it.

Keep your introduction short

Keep your introduction short, and not more than 10-15% of your speech.

If your speech is 2000 words, then your introduction should be a maximum of 200-250 words.

Or if you are presenting for 10 minutes, your introduction should be a maximum of 2 minutes. This will give you time to state your main points and help you manage your time effectively.

Be clear and concise

Use the correct vocabulary to fit in, at the same time making sure to state them clearly, without beating around the bush.

This will make the message efficient and impactful.

Answer the question “why”

Answer the question “why” before giving solutions or “how”.

Tell them why is there a need to change. Then give them all sides of the point.

It is important to state what is wrong and not just what ought to be or what is right, in an unopinionated tone.

Unless and until people don’t know the other side of things, they simply will not change.

Suggest solutions

Once you have stated the problem, you imply or hint at the solution.

Never state solutions, suggest them; leaving the decision up to the audience.

You can hint at solutions: “don’t you think it is a good idea to…?” or “is it wrong to say that…?”, instead of just stating solutions.

Use power phrases

Certain power-phrases come in handy, which can make the audience take action.

Using the power phrase “because” is very impactful in winning and convincing others.

This phrase justifies the action associated with it and gives us an understanding of why is it correct.

For instance, the phrase “can you give me a bite of your food?” does not imply attitude change.

But using “may I have a bite of your food because I haven’t eaten breakfast?” is more impactful and the person will likely end up sharing food if you use this power- phrase, because it is justifying your request.

Another power-phrase is “I understand, but…”.

This involves you agreeing with the opposite side of the argument and then stating your side or your point of view.

This will encourage your audience to think from the other side of the spectrum and are likely to consider your argument put forth in the speech.

Use power words

Use power words like ‘incredible’, ‘fascinating’, ‘unquestionable’, ‘most important’, ‘strongly recommend’ in your speech to provoke your audience into awe.

Watch this video of some of the common but effective words that can be used in a persuasive speech.

Give an emotional appeal

Like mentioned earlier as one of the techniques of persuasion called pathos, targeting emotions like joy, surprise, fear, anticipation, anger, sadness, or disgust gives your speech an emotional appeal, and more feel to your content, rather than just neutrally stating facts and reasons.

Hence, to keep your audience engaged and not get bored, use emotions while speaking.

Make use of the non=verbal elements

Actions speak louder than words, and they create a huge difference if used effectively.

There is so much else to a speech than just words.

Non-verbal elements include everything apart from your words.

Maintaining eye contact, matching your body language with your words for effective transmission of the message including how you express your emotions, making use of the visual signs and symbols via a PPT are all important parts of any speech.

Check your paralanguage i.e., your voice intonation, pitch, speed, effective pauses, stressing on certain words to create an impact.

Doing all of these will make your speech more real and effective, and will persuade your audience into taking action.

Give real-life examples

Speak facts and avoid giving opinions.

However, just mentioning hard statistical facts will take you nowhere, as there is a chance that people may not believe the data, based on the possibility of them recollecting exceptions.

Hence, back up your statistics with real-life examples of situations.

Also, consider using precise numerical data.

For example, using “5487 people die due to road accidents every day”, instead of “approximately 5500 people”.

Have no personal stake

You can lose credibility if the audience feels that you have a personal stake in it.

Suppose that you are speaking for the idea of using reusable plastic products, and you say that you are from a company that sells those goods.

People are likely to perceive your argument as promoting self-interest and will not be ready to change their opinion about reusable plastic products.

Consequently, if you argue against your self-interest, your audience will see you as the most credible.

So, if you say that you are working in a plastics manufacturing company and have a statistical record of the pollution caused by it; and then promote reusable plastic as an alternative to stop pollution and save the environment, people are likely to accept your point of argument.

The you attitude

Shift your focus to the audience, and chances are high that they are likely to relate the issue to themselves and are most likely to change.

Hence, use the “you attitude” i.e., shifting focus to the listener and giving them what they want to hear and then making subtle additions to what you want them to hear.

Make a good first impression

The first impression is indeed the last. This is the reason why image consultancy is such a growing sector.

A good first impression works wonders on the people around you, including the audience, and makes your work of convincing a lot easier.

Avoid appearing shabby, ill-mannered, and refrain from using uncourteous and biased language.

Doing these will reverse the effect you want from the audience and will drive them away from your opinion.

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION?

If you are the type who gets nervous easily and have fear of public speaking, practice till you excel in your task.

I used to dread speaking in front of people, and partly still do.

Earlier, unless and until someone called my name to state my opinion or start with the presentation, I didn’t even raise my hand to say that I have an opinion or I am left to present on the topic.

I had to do something about this problem. So, I made a plan.

2 weeks before the presentation, I wrote the script and read it over and over again.

After reading multiple times, I imagined my room to be the classroom and practiced in front of a mirror.

The main thing I was concerned about was keeping my head clear on the day of my presentation. And that’s what happened.

Since my mind was clear and relaxed, and I had practiced my speech over and over again, presenting came more naturally and confidently.

You might ask what is the purpose of impression management?

Impressions are used for Ingratiation i.e., getting others to like us so that they will be more than willing to accept or agree to your point.

If you like someone, you are drawn towards them and are likely to agree on what they agree or say.

TIP- Try to come early to the venue, and dress appropriately to the needs of the occasion. And don’t forget to smile!

PERSUASIVE SPEECH EXAMPLES

1. wendy troxel – why school should start later for teens.

Almost all the important elements of a persuasive speech are found in this TED talk by Wendy Troxel.

Take a closer look at how she starts her introduction in the form of a real-life personal story, and how she makes it relevant to the audience.

Humor is used to hook the audience’s attention and in turn their interest.

She is also likely to be perceived as credible, as she introduces herself as a sleep researcher, and is speaking on the topic of sleep.

Thesis of how early school timings deprive teenagers of their sleep and its effects is introduced subtly.

The speaker supports her statements with facts, answers the question “why” and most importantly, presents both sides of an argument; effects of less to lack of sleep and its consequences and the effects of appropriate and more sleep on teenagers.

The use of non-verbal elements throughout the speech adds value and richness to the speech, making it more engaging.

The use of Pathos as a persuasive technique appeals to the audience’s emotions; at the same time backing the argument with Logos, by giving scientific reasons and research findings to support the argument.

Lastly, the speech is meaningful, relevant, and thought-provoking to the audience, who are mostly parents and teenagers.

2. Crystal Robello- Being an introvert is a good thing

In this example, Crystal Robello starts by giving personal experiences of being an introvert and the prejudices faced.

Notice how even without much statistics the speech is made persuasive by using Ethos as a technique; and how credibility is achieved by mentioning leaders who are introverts.

3. Greta Thunberg- School strike for climate

One of my favorite speeches is the above speech by Greta Thunberg.

She uses all the techniques; pathos, ethos and logos.

Also notice how the speaker speaks with emotions, and uses body and paralanguage efficiently to create a dramatic impact on the audience.

Her genuine interest is clearly reflected in the speech, which makes the audience listen with a level of concern towards the topic, climate change.

To sum up, we looked at the things to keep in mind before writing a speech and also became familiar with the general outline or the structure of a persuasive speech.

We also looked at some of the tips and tricks of persuasion, and lastly, got introduced to 3 amazing persuasive speech examples.

So, now that you know everything about persuasion, rest assured and keep the above-mentioned things in mind before starting your next speech!

Also, check out related posts:

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Rather than

‘Rather than’ is used when giving preference to one thing over another. It is often used in reading and use of English paper, but you can also use it yourself in the writing of speaking paper when giving your opinion about things.

‘Rather than’ can be used as a synonym of “instead of” as their meanings are almost identical. For example you could say “I prefer to go to the cinema rather than the theatre” or “I prefer to go to the cinema instead of the theatre”

The team decided to cancel their training session rather (4)…… risk someone else picking up another injury.

I think that speaking to people directly rather than sending a message is a much better way to communicate…

More From Forbes

How chatgpt can make writing easier — and what to avoid.

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Close up stock photograph of a mature man studying a see-through computer monitor that’s displaying ... [+] text provided by an AI (artificial intelligence) chatbot.

The launch of ChatGPT 17 months ago is considered by many to be a technological inflection point as significant as the launch of the integrated circuit, the internet, and the iPhone. As with any such disruption, each novelty brings out legions of detractors and supporters.

To address both sides of the issue, let’s examine the positive aspects of ChatGPT and, as a cautionary tale, allay the concerns of the detractors.

Generating content

As soon as ChatGPT came out, students started using the technology to do their written assignments which led to charges of cheating as this article by Michael Nietzel indicates. Businesspeople, too, started using the technology to do their daily work—emails, reports, marketing communications, product/service descriptions—and while businesspeople are not likely to be charged with cheating, the practice does have the downside of coming across as either bland, generic, or flowery. The title and subtitle of an article in The Atlantic says it all: “ChatGPT is Dumber Than You Think: Treat it like a toy not a tool.”

Instead, set an honor code for yourself. Never use generative AI tools to generate content from scratch. First, do a rough draft of your own. Then turn to the bot as a productivity tool and prompt it for a draft. Use any ideas or phrases from the bot and work them into a second draft of your own. Be sure you keep both drafts separate to maintain the integrity of your honor code.

Editing content

Read that second draft, now focusing on the language. To heighten the accuracy and color of your description, query the bot again for synonymous words or idiomatic phrases. You can also use dictionary.com, thesaurus.com, or Google’s Power Thesaurus, but if you give ChatGPT a sense of what you’re looking for, its natural language can provide closer suggestions. Don’t just cherry-pick from the list; use your native intuition to make the choice that fits best.

Enriching content

As you develop your text, look for additional information that supports and adds depth to your ideas. If the information you find is lengthy or complex, copy and paste it into the bot and prompt it to simplify. Read the simplification and then work the information into your original draft using your own words.

During the process, be sure to double check the accuracy of your research. ChatGPT is often not only inaccurate but as this New York Times article reports, can provide misinformation.

Polishing content

Continue to review your text. Remember that one of the most frequently cited adages among professional writers is “Writing is rewriting.” With each review, you should be implementing a practice known as “Spaced Learning,” or walking away from your text. It’s a human technique that predates ChatGPT. For context, the opposite of Spaced Learning is cramming—need I say more?

In using ChatGPT and other generative AI tools this way, you will be implementing “error-driven learning,” a practice drawn from technology that enables and improves human thinking. In a recent Wall Street Journal article , Professor Charan Ranganath who runs the Dynamic Memory Lab at the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis, references the work of two cognitive psychologist in 1990 who noted that “neural network models of artificial intelligence learn through trial and error.” Professor Ranganath then ran an experiment in his lab that “used neural network models to simulate what happens in the hippocampus—a critical brain area for rapid learning.” His results found “that the human brain can learn and retain far more through trial and error.”

So go ahead and use ChatGPT to help you generate, edit, enrich, and polish your content, but be sure to keep your hand on the tiller by using an equal measure of your own human capabilities.

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Using speech rather than writing Crossword Clue
Answers for Using speech rather than writing crossword clue, 4 letters. Search for crossword clues found in the Daily Celebrity, NY Times, Daily Mirror, Telegraph and major publications. Find clues for Using speech rather than writing or most any crossword answer or clues for crossword answers.
USING SPEECH RATHER THAN WRITING
Answers for USING SPEECH RATHER THAN WRITING crossword clue. Search for crossword clues ⏩ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22 Letters. Solve ...
Orality (Communication)
Orality is the use of speech rather than writing as a means of communication, especially in communities where the tools of literacy are unfamiliar to the majority of the population. Modern interdisciplinary studies in the history and nature of orality were initiated by theorists in the "Toronto school," among them Harold Innis, Marshall McLuhan ...
Using speech rather than writing
Clue: Using speech rather than writing. Using speech rather than writing is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 1 time. There are related clues (shown below).
Using Speech Rather Than Writing Crossword Clue
Crossword answers for 'using speech rather than writing' (1 exact answer, 165 possible answers). We think the answer is ORAL, last seen in The Guardian Quick.
Using speech rather than writing Crossword Clue Answers
4 letter answer(s) to using speech rather than writing ORAL a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated in the mouth; fixation at this stage is said to result in dependence, selfishness, and aggression
Why does linguistics focus on spoken languages rather than written ones?
Speech is thousands of years older than writing (the earliest known writing is Sumerian cuneiform -pictographs inscribed in clay). So it has primacy over the written word. According to Crystal (2003:178-9) both speech and writing are recognised as 'alternative, equal systems of linguistic expressions'.
Oral
oral: 1 adj using speech rather than writing "an oral tradition" "an oral agreement" Synonyms: unwritten spoken uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination adj of or relating to or affecting or for use in the mouth " oral hygiene" "an oral thermometer" "an oral vaccine" adj of or involving the ...
Using speech rather than writing
Using speech rather than writing. Today's crossword puzzle clue is a quick one: Using speech rather than writing. We will try to find the right answer to this particular crossword clue. Here are the possible solutions for "Using speech rather than writing" clue. It was last seen in The Guardian quick crossword. We have 1 possible answer in our ...
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On Writing vs. Speaking. Paul Graham wrote recently on his perspectives on the written vs. spoken word. Graham admits he's more confident as a writer than a speaker. This biases his comparisons and his essay. He'd have benefited from talking to people who he thinks are both good speakers and good thinkers (and perhaps good writers) as they ...
Speaking and Writing
When learning to write, children are faced with learning a new syntactic, semantic, and textual unit - the sentence. Sentences are a feature of writing rather than of speech. In speech, clauses tend to follow each other in a linear way without necessarily having a known end-point. The sentence, on the other hand, needs to be capable of standing ...
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Although a persuasive speech involves information—even as much as an informative speech—the key difference is that a persuasive speech is designed for "creating, reinforcing, or changing people's beliefs or actions" (Lucas, 2015. p. 306). A persuasive speech makes something happen. In other words, it performs a job.
How To Use "Verbal" In A Sentence: How and When to Use
As an adjective, "verbal" describes something that is related to or expressed in words. It signifies the use of language, either spoken or written, to communicate ideas or information. For example: She gave a verbal presentation at the conference. The lawyer provided verbal evidence to support her argument. 2.
Introduction to Part One: Defining 'Speech' and 'Writing'
In short, the physical and sensory modalities of speech and writing are as distinctly different as the physical processes of speaking and writing. And here too we have an intriguing borderline example: sign language is a kind of "speaking" that is visual-and-spatial, yet also temporal. Speech and writing as different linguistic products ...
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As a preposition, rather than is synonymous with instead of and begins subordinate clauses (clauses that can't stand alone as a sentence) that have a present participle (the -ing form) of a verb serving as a noun (in other words, a gerund ). When rather than functions as a preposition, the verbs in the sentence are not parallel.
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Writing may be an unnatural act, but once it is learned, the first draft of a piece of writing is a lot more usable than the "first draft" of a bit of speech.
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speech rather than writing is in cases of emergency, whether . by phone or face-to-face, due to the need for a quick reac-tion, although the current availability of online phone-apps .
using speech rather than writing (4) Crossword Clue
Answers for using speech rather than writing (4) crossword clue, 4 letters. Search for crossword clues found in the Daily Celebrity, NY Times, Daily Mirror, Telegraph and major publications. Find clues for using speech rather than writing (4) or most any crossword answer or clues for crossword answers.
Rather
Rather - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
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The use of non-verbal elements throughout the speech adds value and richness to the speech, making it more engaging. The use of Pathos as a persuasive technique appeals to the audience's emotions; at the same time backing the argument with Logos, by giving scientific reasons and research findings to support the argument.
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Rather than. 'Rather than' is used when giving preference to one thing over another. It is often used in reading and use of English paper, but you can also use it yourself in the writing of speaking paper when giving your opinion about things. 'Rather than' can be used as a synonym of "instead of" as their meanings are almost identical.
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Using speech rather than writing – Crossword Clue

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20 Responses to “On Writing vs. Speaking”

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15 Persuasive Speeches

Traditional Views of Persuasion

Persuasion and the Audience

Why is Persuasion Hard?

Solutions to the Difficulty of Persuasion

Structure of a Persuasive Speech

Propositions

Types of Propositions

Proposition of Fact

Proposition of Value

Proposition of Policy

Propositions of Definition

Pro-Arguments

Two-Tailed Arguments

Building Upon Your Persuasive Speech’s Arguments

Organization of a Persuasive Speech

Organization for a proposition of fact

Organization for a proposition of value

Organization for a propositions of policy

Media Attributions

'Rather Than': Is It a Conjunction or Preposition?

Word of the Day

Games & Quizzes

Usage Notes

If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It

Rather as a degree adverb

Rather with adjective + noun

Rather a + noun

Rather a lot

Rather + verb

Rather : comparison

Rather like

Rather than : alternatives and preferences

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Active vs. Passive Voice

What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what are their different functions?

Active voice

Passive voice

Active and passive voice usage

How to change passive voice to active voice

Active and passive voice examples

Active and passive voice FAQs

When should you use active vs. passive voice?

How do you change passive voice to active?

A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Persuasive Speech

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND BEFORE WRITING A PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Meaningful and thought-provoking

2. Research your topic thoroughly

Analyze your audience

OUTLINE OF A PERSUASIVE SPEECH

1. INTRODUCTION

Use what-if scenarios

Use personal anecdotes

3. BODY OF THE SPEECH

4. CONCLUSION

TIPS AND TRICKS OF PERSUASION

Keep your introduction short

Be clear and concise

Answer the question “why”

Suggest solutions