Skip to main content

Speaking Tip #5: "Choose the Right Words"


Choose words for your speech that are both memorable and descriptive. Some words because they are so well chosen, live on through history.

For Example:
President Abraham Lincoln's: (272 words) Gettysburg Address: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
House Divided Speech: “A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Emma Lazarus':  Pedestal Statue of Liberty:Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Patrick Henry's: Second Virginia Convention:
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”

Prime Minister Winston Churchill's: Never Give Up speech: Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt's: First Inaugural Address: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's:
“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony; where there is error, may we bring truth; where there is doubt, may we bring faith; and where there is despair, may we bring hope”.

"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mist of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

By choosing the right words, your stories become miniature movies that your audience is invited to watch, enjoy, and remember.

Please share your thoughts and comments about this blog.

Until next week remember to choose the right words for your speech to make your story memorable and visual.




Madeline Frank, Ph.D.,  is a 2014 Certified World Class Speaking Coach. She has been coaching and mentoring business professionals to be champion speakers for over 5 years. She is  an Amazon.com Best Selling Author,  speaker, business owner, teacher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful.  Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold.  Contact Madeline Frank for your for booking and other inquiries  at mfrankviola@gmail.com




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking Tip #9: "Vocal Variety"

Just like in a movie each character has a different voice. When you tell a story you are acting out the different characters by changing your voice for each new character. A man’s voice will be deeper. A woman’s voice will be higher and a child’s voice has a child like quality of excitement about it. How do you talk to a baby? Does your voice get quieter and do you speak a little higher? When you are telling a story with different characters, you will want to practice your different characters voices and move slightly for each different character. When you are talking to a friend about a serious topic you will at times, speak faster and more excitedly to get your point across. Your friend will also vary the speed of their voice with the excitement they are trying to get across to you. The volume might be a little higher than normal because of the excitement! When you are “sharing a secret” with your friend you will lower your volume and speak more quietly, even when it is ju...

Speaking Tip #24: Give Your Audience a “Road Map” to Follow

When you have a long presentation to make, give your audience a map to follow during your speech presentation. Craig Valentine, World Champion of Public Speaking and one of my coaches , calls this a “Road Map” for your audience to follow: For example in my speech presentation on “Connecting with Others” I will introduce my “Road Map” by saying,   “And this comes to you in the form of the 4 Ls, for “Levels of Conversations”. 1) How you can begin your first level of conversation with “Small talk”. 2) Then you’ll pick up your second level for “Fact disclosure”. 3)   You’ll then pick up your third level for how to connect your conversation with ‘Viewpoints and opinions”. By giving your audience a “road map” to follow, in three steps, your presentation will be clear, concise, and meaningful to your audience. Please share your thoughts and comments about this blog. Until next week give your audience a “Road Map” to follow during your speech pres...

Speaking Tip # 11: "How & When to Move in Your Speech"

Your movement is prompted by your story. Move to show action. On stage create a place for a time line, for past, present, and future. On stage you move from   “right to left”. If you have three stories each story has a place for you to go on the stage. Remember you need to move only a few steps.   When your speech is a “Problem/solution” speech have two places on the stage. The right side of the stage is for the problem and the left side is for the solution. Remember you need to move only a few steps. At the conclusion of your speech when you call back to each story, you gesture back to where you told your story originally. In my story “Quietly Walk Away From A Snake”   -When my husband walks quickly to our boat to open the battery hatch- I show this by quickly walking to a point I have “decided on” the stage and make the motion for opening the boat hatch. (Walking forward and to the right a few steps.) After he sees “the 3 large black snakes” he quietly leans...