PATH 4 – Words and Language
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The fourth path is your word and language choice.
There are two simple things to remember in this regard which if you apply them will turn you into a great speaker.
1) Use Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs – keep it simple
Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs are much easier for an audience to follow than long ones. Using long ones can lose your audience and they will not understand your point.
If you find yourself using words that have many syllables this will be harder for your audience to follow so, though tempting, avoid trying to sound ‘clever’ through using words with many syllables, use short words instead.
For example, we could say:
“We can encapsulate the idea by the following …….”
Or
“We can sum up the idea by the following ………”
In the first option the word ‘encapsulate’ has four syllables whereas in the second option the words ‘sum up’ have only two.
The first option is long winded and in trying to be ‘too clever’ we will easily make a presentation much more difficult to follow.
The second option uses shorter words and is very easy to follow. Your audience will understand what you are saying.
So; use short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs to easily get the message and point across to your audience. Simple!
2) Appeal to the senses and fire the imagination
To really get your point across you need to use words that appeal to the senses.
If you can use words that enable your audience to see, hear, feel, perhaps even to smell and taste what you want them to understand then they will understand your message.
How will you know that you are appealing to the senses?
Because you are able to fire their imaginations and create images in their minds!
As an example of this, using the word ‘fire’ produces an image in the mind so you can see it. You can even hear the fire crackling, feel its warmth, and perhaps even smell it.
Metaphors and similes appeal to the way the mind works because you are presenting your message directly to the senses creating images in the mind as you do so.
Because people love metaphors and similes they can really ‘drive home’ your message.
The words ‘drive home’ are of course a metaphor for making your message clear and said in such a way as to emphasise the point by creating an image in the mind.
Another example;
“She was a lioness on the stage presenting her report to her audience”
The image of the lioness creates a picture of someone in command presenting the report.
A simile of a similar situation would be;
“He was like a lion on the stage presenting his report”
An interesting use of metaphors is the use of story telling. You can use a story to create powerful images in the mind that get your point across.
Audiences also love and want anecdotes.
Anecdotes are like mini stories or incidents that you can use to present and illustrate points within your talk. Personal anecdotes are even better as these make the audience identify and directly relate to you. They get the audience on your side personally.
If you can bring humour into your speeches through your word choice and particularly with metaphor, simile, stories and anecdotes then this will get the audience even more on your side.
That’s it and it is quite simple really!
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