How a Speech Has Its Effect: techniques

CAMELS EAT PARIS

Connectives / The structure of the speech is very important and it needs to be organised into clear paragraphs. These paragraphs need to be connected with linkwords/connectives. E.g. firstly, secondly, moreover etc.
Alliteration / Repeating consonants at the start of words: “collective strength, collective care.” These help to make an expression more memorable for the listener. E.g. Margaret Thatcher’s slogan against litter: “Bag it or bin it, together we’ll win it.”
Metaphor / These are used to turn a vague idea into a clear, visual image.
Implied comparison.
e.g. You are my sunshine.
Emotive language / This is used to provoke a strong reaction in the audience such as hatred, anger, fear, disgust etc.
e.g. Compare: “Children have been killed” VERSUS The innocent children were massacred / butchered.
Listing / Linking similar ideas in lists is a common feature of speeches. E.g. “Our lives are miserable, laborious and short.” (Animal Farm, George Orwell)
Similes / An explicit comparison between two things using “as” and “like”.
e.g. “the day melts away like a snowflake”. OR “Her hair was like gravy, running brown off her head”!
Examples / Speakers may often include examples from history or everyday life in order to add weight to their argument and to illustrate their ideas.
Anecdote / Telling stories to illustrate a point e.g. “And I think of the young children who live in shanty towns with no running water …”
Triplets / Also known as three-part lists.
e.g. In Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address he concludes with the three-part list: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Pronouns / e.g. you, we, I
Use of you makes the listener feel that the speaker is addressing him/her personally and so feels included in the message.
Antithesis / This is the use of opposites or contrasts.
“Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light." (St Francis of Assisi)
Rhetorical Question / Questions which do not require an answer. They can be used so that the speaker can then go on an answer it OR they have a built-in common-sense answer. Used to grab the audience’s attention.
Ideas repeated / Repetition can have a very powerful effect on audiences. It also makes sure the message is clear. E.g. Winston Churchill in his wartime speech in 1940: “we shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..”
Statistics / e.g. the number of juvenile offences fell by 37%
Statistics add weight to someone’s argument