Verbal Communication and Language

What is Language? Language is the system of verbal (spoken or written) or gestural symbols (non-verbal/sign language) a community uses to communicate and is central to the speechmaking process.

Language is Ambiguous Thought (reference): Memory that audience member have with an object, concept, or event Referent: Object, concept or event a symbol represents Symbol: Word or phrase spoken

The bottom line of the triangle is broken because the is not necessarily a connection between a symbol and a referent because the words we use to name things are human inventions. Remember there is concrete language (tangible objects) and abstract language (concepts) i.e. Freedom People in different cultures have different life experiences and thus name and define the world differently

Ambiguous Language: Idioms An idiom is a fixed, distinctive expression whose meaning is not indicated by its individual words It was over my head

Language and Public Speaking Compared to written language, spoken language is more interactive More causal More repetitive Redundancy: repeating yourself Strategically repetitive: telling your audience what your are going to say, tell them the information, and then remind them what you said

Imagery and Rhythm Imagery Rhythm Similes (as or like) Metaphors Personification Parallelism (identical structure) Repetition Alliteration (beginning sounds) Antithesis (opposites)

Keep It Simple As we give a speech, we want to keep our message and language simple enough so an audience will understand our message the first time they hear it. Don’t “dumb it down” Define terminology before using it in your speech

Propaganda There are 5 propaganda techniques that are generally used in advertising. Bandwagon Testimonial Transfer Repetition Emotional