Analyzing Speeches & Oral Presentations

How Do You Identify a Speech’s Purpose?

The previous lesson discussed techniques for identifying and labeling a speaker’s point of view. Doing so will help you, as a listener, get a better handle on a speech’s purpose.

Broadly speaking, speeches and oral presentations have one of two purposes. A speaker who adopts a positive or negative point of view toward her subject matter is usually advocating a position, actively supporting and arguing in favor of it in an effort to encourage the listener to adopt the same view.

If a speaker’s point of view is neutral, she is likely to be summarizing a position, presenting evidence for and against it without stating an opinion on what the listener should conclude from that evidence.

How Do Word Choice and Delivery Affect a Speech’s Effectiveness?

Delivery and content are equally important to the success of an oral presentation. When you are listening to or evaluating a speech, pay careful attention not only to what the speaker is saying, but also to how the speaker is saying it.

Word Choice and Phrasing

Any given idea or position can be expressed in a wide variety of a ways. A good speaker will select the words and phrases that express his or her point of view in a way that is likely to resonate with the particular audience she or he is addressing.

Consider the following, one of the most oft-quoted orations in American history:

Contrast Henry’s famous turn-of-phrase with the following mouthful:

Though the literal meaning of both passages is virtually identical, Henry’s version is obviously more effective. Why?

• He is economical in his wording.
• He frames the position he opposes in emotionally loaded terms (“as tantamount to embracing slavery”).
• His parting line encapsulates his argument with a pithy, memorable slogan.

Awareness of word choice is crucial to formulating an informed and insightful evaluation of a speech or oral presentation. As you listen to a speech that you need to criticize or assess, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the speaker’s diction and vocabulary appropriate to the audience?
• Is the speaker presenting the material in a factually accurate manner?
• Is the speaker efficient and word-economical, getting quickly to the point and avoiding rambling and digressions?
• In a persuasive speech, has the speaker selected emotional and descriptive words and phrases that will resonate with the audience and leave a lasting impression?
• In an informative speech, has the speaker presented the material using understandable vocabulary and a logical, easy-to-follow order?

The Right Words at the Right Times

The rules of language and grammar tend to be more relaxed in speeches than in writing. Very few forms of writing smile on the use of first and second person, sentence fragments, contractions, or colloquialisms, but such usages are relatively common in a wide array of speech types.

That’s not to say that casual language is appropriate in every speech. The rules and customs that determine what content is appropriate in oral work vary based on three main factors:

• context
• audience
• purpose

Context and Audience

Certain principles of decorum, standards that dictate propriety and appropriateness of behavior and language, apply in every speaking environment.

A halftime locker room speech by a football coach, for example, could be entirely appropriate to its context and audience, but a similar speech would be wildly out of step with principles of decorum if presented by a pet store manager to his or her employees.

Sometimes principles of decorum are codified in a manual or document; other times they are implicit and taken for granted.

Regardless, a good speaker must be aware of and adapt to these standards. Most principles of decorum relate to the composition of an audience and the appropriateness of material and usage to that audience.

Would it be acceptable for a stand-up comic to swear during a routine at an eighteen-years-old-and-up comedy club? Sure. But a priest who used the same language during a religious service would be censured because of the context and audience-specific principles of decorum he was ignoring.

Purpose

A speech’s purpose is the goal that drives and structures it. Just as different audiences and contexts carry with them different rules of language, different purposes necessitate different approaches and usage conventions:

Successful public speakers adapt their speeches and presentations to meet the conventions and needs of their audience and topic.

Delivery

Polished delivery is equally crucial to making an effective speech. For a well-written speech to be effective, the speaker must deliver it in a way that encourages the audience to engage and agree with the topic.

The most famous speeches—from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech to John F. Kennedy Jr.’s inaugural address—are remembered primarily for their signature lines, but those lines stick out in our memories because they were delivered effectively: at the right speed, in the right voice, and at the right time.

Components of effective delivery include:

There is no single “correct” way to approach each of these elements of delivery. Rather, a speaker must select the delivery that is most suitable to the content of a speech and the forum in which he or she is presenting it.

A keynote speaker at a political convention, for example, should talk louder and faster than a eulogist at a funeral. A kindergarten teacher introducing students to letters of the alphabet should make heavier use of repetition than a college professor who is summarizing a grading rubric.

How Do You Evaluate a Speaker’s Credibility?

Identifying and understanding the arguments and logic of an oral argument is not enough to assess it accurately. You also need to know whether the person presenting the argument is credible.

A credible speaker will demonstrate the following characteristics:

If a speech does not demonstrate these qualities, you have less reason to believe its conclusions. The belief that a speaker has a secret agenda, lacks knowledge of the subject, or is relying on one-sided evidence is not enough to disprove the speaker’s conclusions. However, such a belief does significantly undercut the force of the speaker’s arguments. The more you doubt the truth of an argument’s premises, the less support they offer its conclusion.

Review

• A speech whose purpose is advocacy will actively support and argue in favor of a position in an effort to encourage the listener to adopt the same view.
• A speech whose purpose is summary presents arguments and evidence for and against a position without stating an opinion on what position the listener should adopt.
• Principles of decorum are standards that dictate propriety and appropriateness of behavior and language.