Thursday, January 28, 2021

 

Note to myself on writing a speech on language

 

Artwork showing books at Stevens MRT train station, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury


I have draft speeches on language but my mentor says it sounds like a lecture or a series of one liners. How do I turn it into speech with a message, a beginning, middle and end? I would be happy to have advice on the speech construction, or the text o… 

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  • Angela Lansbury
     Great question! I agree it takes more than a list to make an interesting speech. You must ask yourself what the purpose of your speech is. What do I want to communicate to others that will bring us closer together? Or do I want to persuade people to think or act differently? Or do I simply want to entertain? I would urge you to choose one goal in a speech; otherwise, there is a tendency to do none of them well.
    I am an intellect, so I prefer to persuade or at least stimulate thought. Here are some ideas: You might explore--using different examples throughout--how language evolves through error, evolution, and intent. You could take a stand about devolution of language founded in the decline in the quality of education. Or you could differentiate the finer points exemplified here in this thread and all of the people's responses--mispronunciations/misspellings vs. malapropisms vs. preferred usage vs. academic points of contention. Or you could focus on the human element around this subject--I've seen people here express rage, disdain, apathy, humor, tolerance, elitism, philanthropy... Or you might include opinions on how important it is to master language in a professional context--how misspellings and malapropisms affect how one's work, competency, intelligence, and upbringing are judged. Or you could focus on the cultural aspects of language--either within the US or other country or internationally--there are dialects, differing social classes, and regional influences on language. You could dive into the underground world of "unofficial" language--urban dictionary website comes to mind as arguably the cutting edge of language evolution.
    Hope this helps!

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is teacher of English. (Advanced English and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, an aspiring polyglot.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs, and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 
She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:
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