{"id":30,"date":"2022-11-25T15:22:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T20:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/chapter\/chapter-10-language\/"},"modified":"2023-08-10T23:31:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T03:31:44","slug":"chapter-10","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/chapter\/chapter-10\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 10: Language","rendered":"Chapter 10: Language"},"content":{"raw":"<div id=\"chapter-10-language\" class=\"level1\">\r\n<div id=\"chapter-10-language\" class=\"level1\">\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 1.424em\">10.1 \u2013 What Language Is and Does<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<div id=\"what-language-is-and-does\" class=\"level2\">\r\n\r\nThe Ancient Romans who studied and taught rhetoric divided its study and process into five \u201ccanons\u201d: invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery. The term \u201cstyle\u201d does not refer to clothing styles, but language choices. Should a public speaker use very basic language because the audience is unfamiliar with the topic or more technical language with many acronyms, abbreviations, and jargon because the audience has expertise in the topic? What about academic language with abstract vocabulary or flowery, poetic language with lots of metaphors? Perhaps you have never thought about those questions, but they are ones that influence both the clarity of the message and the credibility a speaker will gain during the presentation.\r\n\r\n<strong>Language<\/strong> is any formal system of gestures, signs, sounds, and symbols used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, either through written, enacted, or spoken means. Linguists believe there are far more than 6,900 languages and distinct dialects spoken in the world today (Anderson, 2012). The language spoken by the greatest number of people (as a first language) is Mandarin. Other widely spoken languages are English, Hindi, Spanish, and Arabic. English is spoken more widely because it is, by far, the most common second language.\r\n\r\nSpoken language is more wordy and repetitive than written language needs to be or should be. It is accompanied by gestures, vocal emphasis, and facial expressions. Additionally, spoken language includes more personal pronouns and more expressive, emotional, colloquial, slang, and nonstandard words.\r\n\r\nThe study of language is, believe it or not, controversial. If you are an education, social sciences, pre-law, or English major, you will somewhere in your college career come up against this truth. While we use words everyday and don\u2019t think about it, scholars in different fields concern themselves with how we choose words, why we choose words, what effect words have on us, and how the powerful people of the world use words. One theory of language, general semantics, says that meaning resides in the person using the word, not in the word (\u201cBasic Understandings,\u201d 2015). As a speaker, keep this mind, especially in regard to <strong>denotative<\/strong> and <strong>connotative<\/strong> meaning. Wrench, Goding, Johnson, and Attias (2011) use this example to explain the difference:\r\n<blockquote>When we hear or use the word \u201cblue,\u201d we may be referring to a portion of the visual spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440\u2013490 nano-meters. You could also say that the color in question is an equal mixture of both red and green light. While both of these are technically correct ways to interpret the word \u201cblue,\u201d we\u2019re pretty sure that neither of these definitions is how you thought about the word. When hearing the word \u201cblue,\u201d you may have thought of your favourite color, the color of the sky on a spring day, or the color of a really ugly car you saw in the parking lot. When people think about language, there are two different types of meanings that people must be aware of: denotative and connotative. (p. 407)<\/blockquote>\r\nDenotative meaning is the specific meaning associated with a word. We sometimes refer to denotative meanings as dictionary definitions. The [scientific] definitions provided in the first two sentences of the quotation above are examples of definitions that might be found in a dictionary. Connotative meaning is the idea suggested by or associated with a word at a cultural or personal level. In addition to the examples above, the word \u201cblue\u201d can evoke many other ideas:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>State of depression (feeling blue)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Indication of winning (a blue ribbon)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Side during the American Civil War (blues vs. grays)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sudden event (out of the blue)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>American states that lean toward the Democratic Party in their voting<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A slang expression for obscenity (blue comedy)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A gang colour<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In plural form, a genre of music (the blues)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNot only is language about who we are; it is about power or at least is used by powerful people. In fact, some educational and political theorists believe that language is all about power. For instance, <strong>euphemisms<\/strong> are often used to make something unpleasant sound more tolerable. In one of the more well-known examples of the use of euphemisms, the government commonly tries to use language to \u201csoften\u201d what many would see as bad. During the Vietnam War, \u201cair support\u201d was invented to cover the real meaning: \u201cbombing.\u201d When you hear \"air support,\" you probably think \u201cplanes bringing supplies,\u201d not \u201cbombing.\u201d\r\n\r\nAlso of note, words change meaning over time, or more specifically, the meaning we attached to them changes. \u201cPretty\u201d used to mean \u201cclever\u201d 250 years ago. \u201cPrevent\u201d meant to \u201cprecede,\u201d not to keep from happening. Language is simply not static, as much as we might like it to be. One of the main reasons we find Shakespeare daunting is that so many of the Elizabethan words are either no longer used or they have changed meanings.\r\n\r\nWith regard to the use of language for power, even unknowingly, feminists in the 1970s argued that the common way we use English language was biased against women. King-sized means \u201cbig and powerful,\u201d but \u201cqueen-sized\u201d means \u201cfor overweight women.\u201d \u201cMaster\u201d was not equivalent to \u201cmistress.\u201d \u201cMadame\u201d has taken on a negative connotation, even though it should have been equivalent to \u201csir.\u201d Many words referring to women had to add a suffix that was often \u201cless than,\u201d such as \u201c-ess\u201d or \u201c-ette.\u201d In the last 30 years we have gotten away from that, so that you often hear a female actor referred to as \u201cactor\u201d rather than \u201cactress,\u201d but old habits die hard.\r\n\r\nCan you think of how advertisers choose words in a way that is meant to affect your thinking and see an object in different ways? Realtors sell \u201chomes,\u201d not houses. McDonald\u2019s sells \u201cHappy Meals,\u201d even though it is essentially the same food they sell that are not \u201cHappy Meals.\u201d As you progress as a public speaker, you will become more aware of the power certain words have over audiences. An ethical communicator will use language in a way that encourages respect for others, freedom of thought, and informed decision making. First, however, a speaker should seek to meet the standards of clarity, effectiveness, appropriateness, and elegance in language.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"standards-for-language-in-public-speaking\" class=\"level2\">\r\n<h2>10.2 \u2013 Standards for Language in Public Speaking<\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 1.424em\">Achieving Clarity<\/span>\r\n<div id=\"achieving-clarity\" class=\"level3\">\r\n\r\nThe first aspect of clarity is concreteness. We usually think of concreteness as the opposite of abstraction. Language that evokes many different visual images in the minds of your audience is <strong>abstract language<\/strong>. Unfortunately, when abstract language is used, the images evoked might not be the ones you really want to evoke. A word such as \u201cart\u201d is very abstract; it brings up a range of mental pictures or associations: dance, theatre, painting, drama, a child\u2019s drawing on a refrigerator, sculpture, music, and so on. When asked to identify what an abstract term like \u201cart\u201d means, 20 people will have 20 different ideas.\r\n\r\nRelated to the issue of specific versus abstract is the use of the right word. Mark Twain said, \u201cThe difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.\u201d For example, the words \u201cprosecute\u201d and \u201cpersecute\u201d are commonly confused, but not interchangeable. Two others are peremptory\/pre-emptive and prerequisites\/perquisites. Can you think of other such word pair confusion?\r\n\r\nIn the attempt to be clear, which is your first concern, you will also want to be simple and familiar in your language. Familiarity is a factor of attention; familiar language draws in the audience. Simple does not mean simplistic, but the avoidance of multi-syllable words. If a speaker said, \u201cA collection of pre-adolescents fabricated an obese personification comprised of compressed mounds of minute aquatic crystals,\u201d you might recognize it as \u201cSome children made a snowman,\u201d but maybe not. The language is not simple or familiar and, therefore, does not communicate well, although the words are correct and have the same meaning, technically.\r\n\r\nAlong with language needing to be specific and correct, language can use appropriate similes and metaphors to become clearer. <strong>Literal language<\/strong> does not use comparisons such as similes and metaphors; <strong>figurative language<\/strong> uses comparisons with objects, animals, activities, roles, or historical or literary figures. Literal language says, \u201cThe truck is fast.\u201d Figurative language says \u201cThe truck is as fast as\u2026\u201c or \u201cThe truck runs like\u2026\u201d or \u201cHe drives that truck like it's the Indy 500.\u201d <strong>Similes<\/strong> use some form of \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d in the comparisons. <strong>Metaphors<\/strong> are direct comparisons, such as \u201cHe is a racecar driver when he gets behind the wheel of that truck.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor rhetorical purposes, metaphors are considered stronger, but both can help you achieve clearer language, if chosen wisely. However, in choosing metaphors and similes, speakers want to avoid clich\u00e9s.\r\n\r\n<strong>Clich\u00e9s<\/strong> are expressions, usually similes, that are predictable. You know what comes next because they are overused and sometimes out of date. Clich\u00e9s do not have to be linguistic\u2014we often see clich\u00e9s in movies, such as teen horror films where you know exactly what will happen next. You can easily think of many common clich\u00e9s: \u201cScared out of my...\u201d or \u201cWhen life gives you lemons. . .\u201d or \u201cAll is fair in....\u201d If you filled in the blanks with \u201cmind,\u201d \u201cmake lemonade,\u201d and \u201clove and war,\u201d those are clich\u00e9s.\r\n\r\nClich\u00e9s are not just a problem because they are overused and boring; they also sometimes do not communicate what you need, especially to audiences whose second language is English. \u201cI will give you a ballpark figure\u201d is not as clear as \u201cI will give you an estimate,\u201d and assumes the person is familiar with American sports. Therefore, they also will make you appear less credible in the eyes of the audience because you are not analyzing them and taking their knowledge, background, and needs into account.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, some clich\u00e9s are so outdated that no one knows what they mean. \u201cThe puppy was as cute as a button\u201d is an example. You might hear your great-grandmother say this, but who really thinks buttons are cute nowadays? Clich\u00e9s are also imprecise.\r\n\r\nIn trying to avoid clich\u00e9s, use language with <strong>imagery<\/strong>, or sensory language. This is language that makes the recipient smell, taste, see, hear, and feel a sensation. Think of the word \u201cripe.\u201d What is \u201cripe?\u201d Do ripe fruits feel a certain way? Smell a certain way? Taste a certain way? Ripe is a sensory word. Most words just appeal to one sense, like vision. Think of colour. How can you make the word \u201cblue\u201d more sensory? How can you make the word \u201cloud\u201d more sensory? How would you describe the current state of your bedroom to leave a sensory impression? How would you describe your favourite meal to leave a sensory impression? or a thunderstorm?\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"effectiveness\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<div id=\"jargon\" class=\"level4\">\r\n<h4>Jargon<\/h4>\r\n<strong>Jargon<\/strong> used in your profession or hobby should only be used with audiences who share your profession or hobby. Not only will the audience members who don\u2019t share your profession or hobby miss your meaning, but they will feel that you are not making an honest effort to communicate or are setting yourself above them in intelligence or rank. Lawyers are often accused of using \u201clegalese,\u201d but other professions and groups do the same.\u00a0Sometimes we are not even aware of our jargon and its inadvertent effects.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"slang\" class=\"level4\">\r\n<h4>Slang<\/h4>\r\nThe whole point of <strong>slang<\/strong> is for a subculture or group to have its own code, almost like secret words. Once slang is understood by the larger culture, it is no longer slang and may be classified as \u201cinformal\u201d or \u201ccolloquial\u201d language. \u201cBling\u201d was slang; now it\u2019s in the dictionary. Sports have a great deal of slang used by the players and fans that then gets used in everyday language.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"complicated-vocabulary\" class=\"level4\">\r\n<h4>Complicated vocabulary<\/h4>\r\nIf a speaker used the word \u201crecalcitrant,\u201d some audience members would know the meaning or figure it out, but many would not. It would make much more sense for them to use a word readily understandable: \u201cstubborn.\u201d Especially in oral communication, we should use language that is immediately accessible. However, do not take this to mean \u201cdumb down for your audience.\u201d It means being clear and not showing off. For a speaker to say \u201cI am cognizant of the fact that\u2026\u201d instead of \u201cI know\u201d or \u201cI am aware of\u2026\u201d adds nothing to communication.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"profanity-and-cursing\" class=\"level4\">\r\n<h4>Profanity and cursing<\/h4>\r\nOther than artistic or comedy venues, there are few places or times when profanity or cursing would be effective or useful with most audiences, so this kind of language is generally discouraged.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"credibility\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Credibility<\/h3>\r\nAnother aspect of effectiveness is that your language should enhance your credibility. First, audiences trust speakers who use clear, vivid, respectful, engaging, and honest language. On the other hand, audiences tend <em>not<\/em> to trust speakers who use language that excludes others or who exhibit uneducated language patterns. All of us make an occasional grammatical or usage error. However, constant verb and pronoun errors and just plain getting words confused will hurt the audience\u2019s belief that you are competent and knowledgeable. In addition, a speaker who uses language and references that are not immediately accessible or that are unfamiliar will have diminished credibility. Finally, you should avoid phrases such as \"maybe\" or\u00a0 \u201cI guess\u201d in a speech. Credible speakers should know what they are talking about.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"rhetorical-techniques\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Rhetorical Techniques<\/h3>\r\nRhetorical techniques engage audiences and make ideas more attention-getting and memorable. Several such techniques are based on a form of repetition. There are too many to mention here, but you can refer to an Internet source for a longer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesaurus.com\/e\/writing\/rhetorical-devices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">list of rhetorical devices<\/a>. You may recognize many of these from high school poetry classes, such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia.\r\n\r\nThis is an important point at which to remember rule number one: know your audience and put them first. Some rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole, may work well with one audience (such as a group of sports fans), but poorly with another (such as a professional and\/or highly educated audience). Metaphors only work if the audience understands the metaphor; the same is true of irony.\r\n\r\n<strong>Irony<\/strong> is the expression of one\u2019s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humourous or emphatic effect. Although most people think they understand irony as sarcasm (such as saying to a friend who trips, \u201cThat\u2019s graceful\u201d), it is a much more complicated device. A speaker may use it when they profess to say one idea, but clearly means something else or say something that is obviously untrue and everyone would recognize that and understand the purpose. Irony in oral communication can be difficult to use in a way that affects everyone in the audience the same way.\r\n\r\nSome of these rhetorical structures have been used quite famously, such <strong>parallelism<\/strong> in <span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">\u201cGive me liberty or give me death\" or <strong>antimetabole<\/strong> in \"It is not...the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.\" In the latter quote, the words \"beginning\" and \"end\" switch order in consecutive sentences for rhetorical effect.<\/span>\r\n\r\nUsing these techniques alone will not make you an effective speaker, but they are powerful tools for capturing an audience's attention, stimulating thinking, and helping them reflect on the subject matter of a speech.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"appropriateness\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Appropriateness<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Appropriateness<\/strong> relates to several categories involving how persons and groups should be referred to and addressed based on inclusiveness and context. The term \u201cpolitically correct\u201d has been much maligned in recent decades, but it originally meant to describe people's bodies and brains in terms that are acceptable to those people. Language has the power to marginalize or exclude individuals and groups. Speakers need to be inclusive in their use of language. Overall, people and groups should be respected and referred to in the way they choose to be. Using inclusive language in your speech will help ensure you aren\u2019t alienating or diminishing any members of your audience.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"gender-inclusive-language\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Gender-Inclusive Language<\/h3>\r\nThe first common form of non-inclusive language is language that privileges a particular gender (usually men) or diminishes another (usually women). There are three common problem areas that speakers run into while speaking: using \u201che\u201d as generic, using \u201cman\u201d to mean all humans, and gender-typing jobs (such as \"policeman\" instead of \"police officer\").\r\n\r\nAnother area where speakers get into trouble with gender and language has to do with assuming a person of a particular job is a particular gender. Too often, for example, people assume that a doctor will be a man and a nurse will be a woman. As a result, they may say \u201cshe is a woman doctor\u201d or \u201che is a male nurse\u201d when mentioning someone\u2019s occupation, perhaps not realizing that the statements \u201cshe is a doctor\u201d and \u201che is a nurse\u201d already inform the listener as to the gender of the person holding that job.\r\n\r\nAnother point to be mindful of is the respectful use of pronouns. If a person has taken the time to tell you their pronouns, use the pronouns they have told you to use. Look back at that last sentence and read it again; you'll notice that the words \"they\" and \"their\" are used as gender inclusive pronouns. The first time you read the sentence, you probably didn't think about it, which is good, but now that you are thinking about it, remember that \"he or she,\" for example, is gender exclusive, as not everybody identifies with gender-binary pronouns.\r\n\r\nThe pronouns that a person was assigned at birth are not necessarily the pronouns that apply to them in adulthood. Respect people's pronouns and use them correctly. If you make a mistake, apologize, correct yourself, and keep working to do better in the future.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"ethnic-identity\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Ethnic Identity<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Ethnic identity<\/strong> refers to a group an individual identifies with based on a common culture. Canada has a rich, diverse, and complex ethnocultural mix of people. Hundreds of Indigenous nations predate the Canadian federation and there is enormous sensitivity about the ongoing damage caused by colonialism and racism targeting Indigenous peoples. Many settler communities also have suffered the effects of racism, often with infamous historical cases, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/komagatamarujourney.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Komagata Maru<\/a> incident and the <a href=\"https:\/\/humanrights.ca\/story\/chinese-head-tax-and-chinese-exclusion-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Head Tax<\/a>. Awareness of history is critical to understanding the diverse needs of audiences.\r\n\r\nIn most situations, a public speaker doesn't need to make any mention of the ethnicity (or gender) of people in the audience, unless ethnicity (or gender) is a specific focus of the discussion, such as the experience of Indo-Canadians working in British Columbia's agricultural sector or the experience of women studying in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The experiences of Indo-Canadians would likely be discussed in terms of how they were unique to the experiences of agricultural workers of European origin, making the distinction necessary, as would be the contrast between the experiences of women and men in the historically male-dominated STEM fields.\r\n\r\nAlso beware that nomenclature changes over time. The preferred terms change over time and do not always have a consensus in society, even within particular groups. As an illustration, the following are four organizations based in British Columbia (emphasis added):\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>BC Assembly of <strong>First Nations<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Union of British Columbia <strong>Indian<\/strong> Chiefs<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Vancouver <strong>Aboriginal<\/strong> Friendship Centre Society<\/li>\r\n \t<li>K\u00edlala Lelum Urban <strong>Indigenous<\/strong> Health and Healing Cooperative<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe cultural sensitivities and distinctions need to be navigated carefully. Speakers need to take the time to research and understand the language and need to be careful when using it, being sure not to slip into a term that was once acceptable, but now is not (or perhaps never was at all). If you make a mistake, apologize, learn from the mistake, and move forward.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"disability\" class=\"level3\">\r\n<h3>Disability<\/h3>\r\nAnother major category of exclusive versus inclusive language that causes problems for some speakers relates to individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities or forms of mental illness. Hurtfully, some people will take a single characteristic of a person and make that the totality of what that person is. For example, some people will notice a person who benefits from the use of a wheelchair and focus only on that aspect of the person, uninterested in any other part of their personality, knowledge, or life experience. The person in the wheelchair might be a great guitarist, sculptor, parent, public speaker, or scientist, but those qualities are not seen.\r\n\r\nAlthough the terms \u201cvisually impaired\u201d and \u201chearing impaired\u201d are sometimes used for \u201cblind\u201d and \u201cdeaf,\u201d this is another situation where the person should be referred to as they prefer. \u201cHearing impaired\u201d denotes a wide range of hearing deficit, as does \u201cvisually impaired. \u201cDeaf\u201d and \u201cblind\u201d are not generally considered offensive by these groups.\r\n\r\nAnother example is how to refer to what used to be called \u201cautism.\u201d Saying someone is \u201cautistic\u201d is not appropriate. Preferable terms are \u201ca person with an autism diagnosis\u201d or \u201ca person on the autism spectrum.\u201d Slang words for mental illness should always be avoided, such as \u201ccrazy\u201d or \u201cmental.\u201d Never casually quip about \"feeling Schizophrenic\" or \"having Alzheimer's today.\" Doing so diminishes people afflicted by those conditions.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"developing-your-ability-to-use-effective-language-in-public-speaking\" class=\"level2\">\r\n<h2>10.3 \u2013 Developing Your Ability to Use Effective Language in Public Speaking<\/h2>\r\nIf you are using jargon, a technical term, a word that has multiple meanings in different contexts, or an often-misunderstood word, you can define the term early in your speech. One way to define a word is with a picture or example of what you mean and perhaps also an example of what you <em>don\u2019t<\/em> mean (visual aids can help here). Don\u2019t worry; this is not insulting to most audiences if the word is technical or unfamiliar to them. On the other hand, as mentioned earlier in the textbook, providing dictionary definitions of common words such as \u201clove\u201d or \u201cloyalty\u201d would be pretty boring.\r\n\r\nSecond, develop specific language. The general semantics movement suggested ways to develop more specific language that reflects the imperfection of our perceptions and the fact that reality changes. You can develop specific language by doing the following:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Distinguish between individuals and the group (that is, avoid stereotyping). Everybody is different and nobody in a group represents everybody else in their culture, gender, religion, or other identifiable group.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Specify times and places of behaviour instead of making broad statements. What was a true of a person in 1999 is not necessarily true of the person now.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Use names for jobs or roles (\u201caccountants,\u201d \u201cadministrative assistants,\u201d \u201cinstructors\u201d) instead of \u201cpeople\u201d or \u201cworkers.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Avoid \u201calways\/never\u201d language. \u201cAlways\u201d and \u201cnever\u201d usually do not reflect reality and tend to make listeners defensive.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Avoid confusing opinion for fact. If I say, \u201cForrest Gump is a tedious movie,\u201d I am stating an opinion in the language of fact. If you preface opinions with \u201cI believe,\u201d or \u201cIn my opinion,\u201d you will be truthful and gain the appearance of being fair-minded and non\u00ad-dogmatic. What should be said is \u201cThe first time I saw Forrest Gump, I didn\u2019t realize it was a farce, but after I saw it a second time, I understood it better.\u201d This sentence is much more specific and clarifying than \u201cForrest Gump is a tedious movie.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThird, personalize your language. In a speech, it\u2019s fine to use personal pronouns as opposed to speaking in the third person. That means \u201cI,\u201d \u201cme,\u201d \u201cwe,\u201d \u201cus,\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d are often helpful in a speech. The first person gives more immediacy to the speech. Be careful of using \u201cyou\u201d for examples that might be embarrassing. \u201cLet\u2019s say you are arrested for selling banned firearms\u201d sounds like the audience members are potential criminals.\r\n\r\nFinally, develop your vocabulary, but do not to show it off. One of the benefits of a college education is that your vocabulary will expand greatly<b>\u2014<\/b>and it should. A larger vocabulary will give you access to more complicated reading material and allow you to understand the world better. But knowing the meaning of a more complicated word doesn\u2019t mean you have to use it with every audience.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"level2\">\r\n<h2>Something to Think About<\/h2>\r\nWhat are some of the clich\u00e9s and slang that have become popular recently? What do they mean? Why would they not be useful in public speaking? Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lssu.edu\/traditions\/banishedwords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Banned Words<\/a> website by Lake Superior State University.\r\n<h2>Attribution<\/h2>\r\nThis chapter was adapted from <a href=\"https:\/\/alg.manifoldapp.org\/projects\/exploring-public-speaking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploring Public Speaking<\/a>, 4th Edition by Barbara Tucker and Matthew LeHew, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div id=\"chapter-10-language\" class=\"level1\">\n<div id=\"chapter-10-language\" class=\"level1\">\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 1.424em\">10.1 \u2013 What Language Is and Does<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"what-language-is-and-does\" class=\"level2\">\n<p>The Ancient Romans who studied and taught rhetoric divided its study and process into five \u201ccanons\u201d: invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery. The term \u201cstyle\u201d does not refer to clothing styles, but language choices. Should a public speaker use very basic language because the audience is unfamiliar with the topic or more technical language with many acronyms, abbreviations, and jargon because the audience has expertise in the topic? What about academic language with abstract vocabulary or flowery, poetic language with lots of metaphors? Perhaps you have never thought about those questions, but they are ones that influence both the clarity of the message and the credibility a speaker will gain during the presentation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Language<\/strong> is any formal system of gestures, signs, sounds, and symbols used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, either through written, enacted, or spoken means. Linguists believe there are far more than 6,900 languages and distinct dialects spoken in the world today (Anderson, 2012). The language spoken by the greatest number of people (as a first language) is Mandarin. Other widely spoken languages are English, Hindi, Spanish, and Arabic. English is spoken more widely because it is, by far, the most common second language.<\/p>\n<p>Spoken language is more wordy and repetitive than written language needs to be or should be. It is accompanied by gestures, vocal emphasis, and facial expressions. Additionally, spoken language includes more personal pronouns and more expressive, emotional, colloquial, slang, and nonstandard words.<\/p>\n<p>The study of language is, believe it or not, controversial. If you are an education, social sciences, pre-law, or English major, you will somewhere in your college career come up against this truth. While we use words everyday and don\u2019t think about it, scholars in different fields concern themselves with how we choose words, why we choose words, what effect words have on us, and how the powerful people of the world use words. One theory of language, general semantics, says that meaning resides in the person using the word, not in the word (\u201cBasic Understandings,\u201d 2015). As a speaker, keep this mind, especially in regard to <strong>denotative<\/strong> and <strong>connotative<\/strong> meaning. Wrench, Goding, Johnson, and Attias (2011) use this example to explain the difference:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When we hear or use the word \u201cblue,\u201d we may be referring to a portion of the visual spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440\u2013490 nano-meters. You could also say that the color in question is an equal mixture of both red and green light. While both of these are technically correct ways to interpret the word \u201cblue,\u201d we\u2019re pretty sure that neither of these definitions is how you thought about the word. When hearing the word \u201cblue,\u201d you may have thought of your favourite color, the color of the sky on a spring day, or the color of a really ugly car you saw in the parking lot. When people think about language, there are two different types of meanings that people must be aware of: denotative and connotative. (p. 407)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Denotative meaning is the specific meaning associated with a word. We sometimes refer to denotative meanings as dictionary definitions. The [scientific] definitions provided in the first two sentences of the quotation above are examples of definitions that might be found in a dictionary. Connotative meaning is the idea suggested by or associated with a word at a cultural or personal level. In addition to the examples above, the word \u201cblue\u201d can evoke many other ideas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>State of depression (feeling blue)<\/li>\n<li>Indication of winning (a blue ribbon)<\/li>\n<li>Side during the American Civil War (blues vs. grays)<\/li>\n<li>Sudden event (out of the blue)<\/li>\n<li>American states that lean toward the Democratic Party in their voting<\/li>\n<li>A slang expression for obscenity (blue comedy)<\/li>\n<li>A gang colour<\/li>\n<li>In plural form, a genre of music (the blues)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not only is language about who we are; it is about power or at least is used by powerful people. In fact, some educational and political theorists believe that language is all about power. For instance, <strong>euphemisms<\/strong> are often used to make something unpleasant sound more tolerable. In one of the more well-known examples of the use of euphemisms, the government commonly tries to use language to \u201csoften\u201d what many would see as bad. During the Vietnam War, \u201cair support\u201d was invented to cover the real meaning: \u201cbombing.\u201d When you hear &#8220;air support,&#8221; you probably think \u201cplanes bringing supplies,\u201d not \u201cbombing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also of note, words change meaning over time, or more specifically, the meaning we attached to them changes. \u201cPretty\u201d used to mean \u201cclever\u201d 250 years ago. \u201cPrevent\u201d meant to \u201cprecede,\u201d not to keep from happening. Language is simply not static, as much as we might like it to be. One of the main reasons we find Shakespeare daunting is that so many of the Elizabethan words are either no longer used or they have changed meanings.<\/p>\n<p>With regard to the use of language for power, even unknowingly, feminists in the 1970s argued that the common way we use English language was biased against women. King-sized means \u201cbig and powerful,\u201d but \u201cqueen-sized\u201d means \u201cfor overweight women.\u201d \u201cMaster\u201d was not equivalent to \u201cmistress.\u201d \u201cMadame\u201d has taken on a negative connotation, even though it should have been equivalent to \u201csir.\u201d Many words referring to women had to add a suffix that was often \u201cless than,\u201d such as \u201c-ess\u201d or \u201c-ette.\u201d In the last 30 years we have gotten away from that, so that you often hear a female actor referred to as \u201cactor\u201d rather than \u201cactress,\u201d but old habits die hard.<\/p>\n<p>Can you think of how advertisers choose words in a way that is meant to affect your thinking and see an object in different ways? Realtors sell \u201chomes,\u201d not houses. McDonald\u2019s sells \u201cHappy Meals,\u201d even though it is essentially the same food they sell that are not \u201cHappy Meals.\u201d As you progress as a public speaker, you will become more aware of the power certain words have over audiences. An ethical communicator will use language in a way that encourages respect for others, freedom of thought, and informed decision making. First, however, a speaker should seek to meet the standards of clarity, effectiveness, appropriateness, and elegance in language.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"standards-for-language-in-public-speaking\" class=\"level2\">\n<h2>10.2 \u2013 Standards for Language in Public Speaking<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1.424em\">Achieving Clarity<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"achieving-clarity\" class=\"level3\">\n<p>The first aspect of clarity is concreteness. We usually think of concreteness as the opposite of abstraction. Language that evokes many different visual images in the minds of your audience is <strong>abstract language<\/strong>. Unfortunately, when abstract language is used, the images evoked might not be the ones you really want to evoke. A word such as \u201cart\u201d is very abstract; it brings up a range of mental pictures or associations: dance, theatre, painting, drama, a child\u2019s drawing on a refrigerator, sculpture, music, and so on. When asked to identify what an abstract term like \u201cart\u201d means, 20 people will have 20 different ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Related to the issue of specific versus abstract is the use of the right word. Mark Twain said, \u201cThe difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.\u201d For example, the words \u201cprosecute\u201d and \u201cpersecute\u201d are commonly confused, but not interchangeable. Two others are peremptory\/pre-emptive and prerequisites\/perquisites. Can you think of other such word pair confusion?<\/p>\n<p>In the attempt to be clear, which is your first concern, you will also want to be simple and familiar in your language. Familiarity is a factor of attention; familiar language draws in the audience. Simple does not mean simplistic, but the avoidance of multi-syllable words. If a speaker said, \u201cA collection of pre-adolescents fabricated an obese personification comprised of compressed mounds of minute aquatic crystals,\u201d you might recognize it as \u201cSome children made a snowman,\u201d but maybe not. The language is not simple or familiar and, therefore, does not communicate well, although the words are correct and have the same meaning, technically.<\/p>\n<p>Along with language needing to be specific and correct, language can use appropriate similes and metaphors to become clearer. <strong>Literal language<\/strong> does not use comparisons such as similes and metaphors; <strong>figurative language<\/strong> uses comparisons with objects, animals, activities, roles, or historical or literary figures. Literal language says, \u201cThe truck is fast.\u201d Figurative language says \u201cThe truck is as fast as\u2026\u201c or \u201cThe truck runs like\u2026\u201d or \u201cHe drives that truck like it&#8217;s the Indy 500.\u201d <strong>Similes<\/strong> use some form of \u201clike\u201d or \u201cas\u201d in the comparisons. <strong>Metaphors<\/strong> are direct comparisons, such as \u201cHe is a racecar driver when he gets behind the wheel of that truck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For rhetorical purposes, metaphors are considered stronger, but both can help you achieve clearer language, if chosen wisely. However, in choosing metaphors and similes, speakers want to avoid clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clich\u00e9s<\/strong> are expressions, usually similes, that are predictable. You know what comes next because they are overused and sometimes out of date. Clich\u00e9s do not have to be linguistic\u2014we often see clich\u00e9s in movies, such as teen horror films where you know exactly what will happen next. You can easily think of many common clich\u00e9s: \u201cScared out of my&#8230;\u201d or \u201cWhen life gives you lemons. . .\u201d or \u201cAll is fair in&#8230;.\u201d If you filled in the blanks with \u201cmind,\u201d \u201cmake lemonade,\u201d and \u201clove and war,\u201d those are clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<p>Clich\u00e9s are not just a problem because they are overused and boring; they also sometimes do not communicate what you need, especially to audiences whose second language is English. \u201cI will give you a ballpark figure\u201d is not as clear as \u201cI will give you an estimate,\u201d and assumes the person is familiar with American sports. Therefore, they also will make you appear less credible in the eyes of the audience because you are not analyzing them and taking their knowledge, background, and needs into account.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, some clich\u00e9s are so outdated that no one knows what they mean. \u201cThe puppy was as cute as a button\u201d is an example. You might hear your great-grandmother say this, but who really thinks buttons are cute nowadays? Clich\u00e9s are also imprecise.<\/p>\n<p>In trying to avoid clich\u00e9s, use language with <strong>imagery<\/strong>, or sensory language. This is language that makes the recipient smell, taste, see, hear, and feel a sensation. Think of the word \u201cripe.\u201d What is \u201cripe?\u201d Do ripe fruits feel a certain way? Smell a certain way? Taste a certain way? Ripe is a sensory word. Most words just appeal to one sense, like vision. Think of colour. How can you make the word \u201cblue\u201d more sensory? How can you make the word \u201cloud\u201d more sensory? How would you describe the current state of your bedroom to leave a sensory impression? How would you describe your favourite meal to leave a sensory impression? or a thunderstorm?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"effectiveness\" class=\"level3\">\n<div id=\"jargon\" class=\"level4\">\n<h4>Jargon<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Jargon<\/strong> used in your profession or hobby should only be used with audiences who share your profession or hobby. Not only will the audience members who don\u2019t share your profession or hobby miss your meaning, but they will feel that you are not making an honest effort to communicate or are setting yourself above them in intelligence or rank. Lawyers are often accused of using \u201clegalese,\u201d but other professions and groups do the same.\u00a0Sometimes we are not even aware of our jargon and its inadvertent effects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"slang\" class=\"level4\">\n<h4>Slang<\/h4>\n<p>The whole point of <strong>slang<\/strong> is for a subculture or group to have its own code, almost like secret words. Once slang is understood by the larger culture, it is no longer slang and may be classified as \u201cinformal\u201d or \u201ccolloquial\u201d language. \u201cBling\u201d was slang; now it\u2019s in the dictionary. Sports have a great deal of slang used by the players and fans that then gets used in everyday language.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"complicated-vocabulary\" class=\"level4\">\n<h4>Complicated vocabulary<\/h4>\n<p>If a speaker used the word \u201crecalcitrant,\u201d some audience members would know the meaning or figure it out, but many would not. It would make much more sense for them to use a word readily understandable: \u201cstubborn.\u201d Especially in oral communication, we should use language that is immediately accessible. However, do not take this to mean \u201cdumb down for your audience.\u201d It means being clear and not showing off. For a speaker to say \u201cI am cognizant of the fact that\u2026\u201d instead of \u201cI know\u201d or \u201cI am aware of\u2026\u201d adds nothing to communication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"profanity-and-cursing\" class=\"level4\">\n<h4>Profanity and cursing<\/h4>\n<p>Other than artistic or comedy venues, there are few places or times when profanity or cursing would be effective or useful with most audiences, so this kind of language is generally discouraged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"credibility\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Credibility<\/h3>\n<p>Another aspect of effectiveness is that your language should enhance your credibility. First, audiences trust speakers who use clear, vivid, respectful, engaging, and honest language. On the other hand, audiences tend <em>not<\/em> to trust speakers who use language that excludes others or who exhibit uneducated language patterns. All of us make an occasional grammatical or usage error. However, constant verb and pronoun errors and just plain getting words confused will hurt the audience\u2019s belief that you are competent and knowledgeable. In addition, a speaker who uses language and references that are not immediately accessible or that are unfamiliar will have diminished credibility. Finally, you should avoid phrases such as &#8220;maybe&#8221; or\u00a0 \u201cI guess\u201d in a speech. Credible speakers should know what they are talking about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"rhetorical-techniques\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Rhetorical Techniques<\/h3>\n<p>Rhetorical techniques engage audiences and make ideas more attention-getting and memorable. Several such techniques are based on a form of repetition. There are too many to mention here, but you can refer to an Internet source for a longer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesaurus.com\/e\/writing\/rhetorical-devices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">list of rhetorical devices<\/a>. You may recognize many of these from high school poetry classes, such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia.<\/p>\n<p>This is an important point at which to remember rule number one: know your audience and put them first. Some rhetorical devices, such as hyperbole, may work well with one audience (such as a group of sports fans), but poorly with another (such as a professional and\/or highly educated audience). Metaphors only work if the audience understands the metaphor; the same is true of irony.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Irony<\/strong> is the expression of one\u2019s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humourous or emphatic effect. Although most people think they understand irony as sarcasm (such as saying to a friend who trips, \u201cThat\u2019s graceful\u201d), it is a much more complicated device. A speaker may use it when they profess to say one idea, but clearly means something else or say something that is obviously untrue and everyone would recognize that and understand the purpose. Irony in oral communication can be difficult to use in a way that affects everyone in the audience the same way.<\/p>\n<p>Some of these rhetorical structures have been used quite famously, such <strong>parallelism<\/strong> in <span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">\u201cGive me liberty or give me death&#8221; or <strong>antimetabole<\/strong> in &#8220;It is not&#8230;the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.&#8221; In the latter quote, the words &#8220;beginning&#8221; and &#8220;end&#8221; switch order in consecutive sentences for rhetorical effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Using these techniques alone will not make you an effective speaker, but they are powerful tools for capturing an audience&#8217;s attention, stimulating thinking, and helping them reflect on the subject matter of a speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"appropriateness\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Appropriateness<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Appropriateness<\/strong> relates to several categories involving how persons and groups should be referred to and addressed based on inclusiveness and context. The term \u201cpolitically correct\u201d has been much maligned in recent decades, but it originally meant to describe people&#8217;s bodies and brains in terms that are acceptable to those people. Language has the power to marginalize or exclude individuals and groups. Speakers need to be inclusive in their use of language. Overall, people and groups should be respected and referred to in the way they choose to be. Using inclusive language in your speech will help ensure you aren\u2019t alienating or diminishing any members of your audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"gender-inclusive-language\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Gender-Inclusive Language<\/h3>\n<p>The first common form of non-inclusive language is language that privileges a particular gender (usually men) or diminishes another (usually women). There are three common problem areas that speakers run into while speaking: using \u201che\u201d as generic, using \u201cman\u201d to mean all humans, and gender-typing jobs (such as &#8220;policeman&#8221; instead of &#8220;police officer&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>Another area where speakers get into trouble with gender and language has to do with assuming a person of a particular job is a particular gender. Too often, for example, people assume that a doctor will be a man and a nurse will be a woman. As a result, they may say \u201cshe is a woman doctor\u201d or \u201che is a male nurse\u201d when mentioning someone\u2019s occupation, perhaps not realizing that the statements \u201cshe is a doctor\u201d and \u201che is a nurse\u201d already inform the listener as to the gender of the person holding that job.<\/p>\n<p>Another point to be mindful of is the respectful use of pronouns. If a person has taken the time to tell you their pronouns, use the pronouns they have told you to use. Look back at that last sentence and read it again; you&#8217;ll notice that the words &#8220;they&#8221; and &#8220;their&#8221; are used as gender inclusive pronouns. The first time you read the sentence, you probably didn&#8217;t think about it, which is good, but now that you are thinking about it, remember that &#8220;he or she,&#8221; for example, is gender exclusive, as not everybody identifies with gender-binary pronouns.<\/p>\n<p>The pronouns that a person was assigned at birth are not necessarily the pronouns that apply to them in adulthood. Respect people&#8217;s pronouns and use them correctly. If you make a mistake, apologize, correct yourself, and keep working to do better in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ethnic-identity\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Ethnic Identity<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Ethnic identity<\/strong> refers to a group an individual identifies with based on a common culture. Canada has a rich, diverse, and complex ethnocultural mix of people. Hundreds of Indigenous nations predate the Canadian federation and there is enormous sensitivity about the ongoing damage caused by colonialism and racism targeting Indigenous peoples. Many settler communities also have suffered the effects of racism, often with infamous historical cases, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/komagatamarujourney.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Komagata Maru<\/a> incident and the <a href=\"https:\/\/humanrights.ca\/story\/chinese-head-tax-and-chinese-exclusion-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Head Tax<\/a>. Awareness of history is critical to understanding the diverse needs of audiences.<\/p>\n<p>In most situations, a public speaker doesn&#8217;t need to make any mention of the ethnicity (or gender) of people in the audience, unless ethnicity (or gender) is a specific focus of the discussion, such as the experience of Indo-Canadians working in British Columbia&#8217;s agricultural sector or the experience of women studying in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The experiences of Indo-Canadians would likely be discussed in terms of how they were unique to the experiences of agricultural workers of European origin, making the distinction necessary, as would be the contrast between the experiences of women and men in the historically male-dominated STEM fields.<\/p>\n<p>Also beware that nomenclature changes over time. The preferred terms change over time and do not always have a consensus in society, even within particular groups. As an illustration, the following are four organizations based in British Columbia (emphasis added):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>BC Assembly of <strong>First Nations<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Union of British Columbia <strong>Indian<\/strong> Chiefs<\/li>\n<li>Vancouver <strong>Aboriginal<\/strong> Friendship Centre Society<\/li>\n<li>K\u00edlala Lelum Urban <strong>Indigenous<\/strong> Health and Healing Cooperative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The cultural sensitivities and distinctions need to be navigated carefully. Speakers need to take the time to research and understand the language and need to be careful when using it, being sure not to slip into a term that was once acceptable, but now is not (or perhaps never was at all). If you make a mistake, apologize, learn from the mistake, and move forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"disability\" class=\"level3\">\n<h3>Disability<\/h3>\n<p>Another major category of exclusive versus inclusive language that causes problems for some speakers relates to individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities or forms of mental illness. Hurtfully, some people will take a single characteristic of a person and make that the totality of what that person is. For example, some people will notice a person who benefits from the use of a wheelchair and focus only on that aspect of the person, uninterested in any other part of their personality, knowledge, or life experience. The person in the wheelchair might be a great guitarist, sculptor, parent, public speaker, or scientist, but those qualities are not seen.<\/p>\n<p>Although the terms \u201cvisually impaired\u201d and \u201chearing impaired\u201d are sometimes used for \u201cblind\u201d and \u201cdeaf,\u201d this is another situation where the person should be referred to as they prefer. \u201cHearing impaired\u201d denotes a wide range of hearing deficit, as does \u201cvisually impaired. \u201cDeaf\u201d and \u201cblind\u201d are not generally considered offensive by these groups.<\/p>\n<p>Another example is how to refer to what used to be called \u201cautism.\u201d Saying someone is \u201cautistic\u201d is not appropriate. Preferable terms are \u201ca person with an autism diagnosis\u201d or \u201ca person on the autism spectrum.\u201d Slang words for mental illness should always be avoided, such as \u201ccrazy\u201d or \u201cmental.\u201d Never casually quip about &#8220;feeling Schizophrenic&#8221; or &#8220;having Alzheimer&#8217;s today.&#8221; Doing so diminishes people afflicted by those conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"developing-your-ability-to-use-effective-language-in-public-speaking\" class=\"level2\">\n<h2>10.3 \u2013 Developing Your Ability to Use Effective Language in Public Speaking<\/h2>\n<p>If you are using jargon, a technical term, a word that has multiple meanings in different contexts, or an often-misunderstood word, you can define the term early in your speech. One way to define a word is with a picture or example of what you mean and perhaps also an example of what you <em>don\u2019t<\/em> mean (visual aids can help here). Don\u2019t worry; this is not insulting to most audiences if the word is technical or unfamiliar to them. On the other hand, as mentioned earlier in the textbook, providing dictionary definitions of common words such as \u201clove\u201d or \u201cloyalty\u201d would be pretty boring.<\/p>\n<p>Second, develop specific language. The general semantics movement suggested ways to develop more specific language that reflects the imperfection of our perceptions and the fact that reality changes. You can develop specific language by doing the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Distinguish between individuals and the group (that is, avoid stereotyping). Everybody is different and nobody in a group represents everybody else in their culture, gender, religion, or other identifiable group.<\/li>\n<li>Specify times and places of behaviour instead of making broad statements. What was a true of a person in 1999 is not necessarily true of the person now.<\/li>\n<li>Use names for jobs or roles (\u201caccountants,\u201d \u201cadministrative assistants,\u201d \u201cinstructors\u201d) instead of \u201cpeople\u201d or \u201cworkers.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Avoid \u201calways\/never\u201d language. \u201cAlways\u201d and \u201cnever\u201d usually do not reflect reality and tend to make listeners defensive.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid confusing opinion for fact. If I say, \u201cForrest Gump is a tedious movie,\u201d I am stating an opinion in the language of fact. If you preface opinions with \u201cI believe,\u201d or \u201cIn my opinion,\u201d you will be truthful and gain the appearance of being fair-minded and non\u00ad-dogmatic. What should be said is \u201cThe first time I saw Forrest Gump, I didn\u2019t realize it was a farce, but after I saw it a second time, I understood it better.\u201d This sentence is much more specific and clarifying than \u201cForrest Gump is a tedious movie.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Third, personalize your language. In a speech, it\u2019s fine to use personal pronouns as opposed to speaking in the third person. That means \u201cI,\u201d \u201cme,\u201d \u201cwe,\u201d \u201cus,\u201d and \u201cyou\u201d are often helpful in a speech. The first person gives more immediacy to the speech. Be careful of using \u201cyou\u201d for examples that might be embarrassing. \u201cLet\u2019s say you are arrested for selling banned firearms\u201d sounds like the audience members are potential criminals.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, develop your vocabulary, but do not to show it off. One of the benefits of a college education is that your vocabulary will expand greatly<b>\u2014<\/b>and it should. A larger vocabulary will give you access to more complicated reading material and allow you to understand the world better. But knowing the meaning of a more complicated word doesn\u2019t mean you have to use it with every audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"level2\">\n<h2>Something to Think About<\/h2>\n<p>What are some of the clich\u00e9s and slang that have become popular recently? What do they mean? Why would they not be useful in public speaking? Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lssu.edu\/traditions\/banishedwords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Banned Words<\/a> website by Lake Superior State University.<\/p>\n<h2>Attribution<\/h2>\n<p>This chapter was adapted from <a href=\"https:\/\/alg.manifoldapp.org\/projects\/exploring-public-speaking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploring Public Speaking<\/a>, 4th Edition by Barbara Tucker and Matthew LeHew, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1660,"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-30","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1660"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":313,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/revisions\/313"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/30\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/speaking\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}