Project 4 - How to Say It (Part 1: Coaching)

This project is about choosing the right words to give your speech power and communicate your ideas effectively.

Your speech topic is particularly important when it comes to word choice.

Speeches that contain stories (whether they're about your experiences or the experience of someone you know) lend themselves particularly well to using vivid words and rhetorical devices. Whether you're doing a humorous speech, a persuasive speech, or even a motivational speech, you have the opportunity to use poetic language to give your speech more depth and communicate your ideas better.

Informative speeches, however, lend themselves less to vivid words and rhetorical devices, and more to short words and short sentences. This is because during an informative speech, you need to get your ideas across clearly (and often quickly, too). That's not to say that you can't be descriptive during an informative speech, but you've got to ask yourself whether doing so is actually going to enhance your message or not.

I recently gave an evaluation of a club member who was working on this project. His speech was about upcoming changes to the Toastmasters program (i.e. an informative speech). At the time, I felt that he didn't quite meet the objectives of the project as there were no vivid words or rhetorical devices used throughout. However, reflecting on it now I think that for an informative speech, his word choice was perfect. He had short sentences and short words to enhance his communication. However, I think he would've learnt more about the power of words if he'd chosen a different type of speech and speech topic.

My advice to you for this project is - don't do an informative speech for this project. Do anything but. You'll have more chance to use descriptive words (and use them well) if you choose another type of speech, with a topic that involves a story or two. An entertaining speech would be ideal.

Here are some examples of speech topics you can use when you want to have a field day with using vivid words and rhetorical devices:

• Visiting a new location (describe the sights, sounds, and people you have come across)
• Meeting a new person (describe the sound of their voice, the way they are dressed, the way they walk etc.)
• Eating your favourite food (describe the look, the taste and the smell of the food. Describe the sound of the wrapper as you open it).
• A favourite craft or hobby 

So there you have it! Here's a video to motivate you to get started:

Stay tuned..in the next post I'll show you the speech I gave for this project.