How to win an audience informative article

BEFORE READING 

For what occasion would you deliver a speech?

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How to win an audience

We speak to communicate our thoughts, feelings and opinions. We speak to connect with others, to entertain, investigate and persuade. Most of the time, we do this without even considering how we go about it. However, sometimes we need to prepare to make sure we say exactly what we want to say.

Purpose and message A speech is a prepared talk delivered to an audience. We give speeches on many different occasions: political meetings, demonstrations, weddings and birthdays, to name a few. The purpose of a speech, whether it is to inspire or entertain, is always closely linked to the occasion and the audience. So, what do you need to consider when you want to persuade or motivate an audience?

With a persuasive or motivational speech, you want to convince your audience of something or you want to change the way they look at something.

You want to get support for your views, or you might want to inspire your audience to act in some way. For example, perhaps you want to persuade a group of students that voting is not only a right, but a duty, and so inspire them to vote. Or you may want to motivate them to recycle.

Structure Although a speech is a text meant for performing, you have to structure your thoughts. A speech should have an introduction, a body and a conclusion. In the introduction, you can open with a quote or a relevant fact to catch people’s attention. You then state the main reason for your speech in an interesting way. In the body of your speech, you present three main points or arguments. In addition to arguments, anecdotes and stories of personal success might also work well on an audience. In the conclusion, you summarise your arguments. For effect, you can end the speech with a call to action, or get the audience thinking with a rhetorical question.

Language The language you use is the key to getting your message across and captivating your audience. Using the personal pronouns I and you lets the audience know it is a direct message from you to them. Us and we are especially valuable for including your audience in the issue. In addition, you can use emotive language to strengthen your message and sway your audience’s feelings about your point. It is also common to repeat words or phrases to make your message completely clear and memorable. This is helped by the rhythm that repetition can bring. The use of poetic devices, such as similes and metaphors, is valuable too. They create images for your audience, making your language come alive.

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An anecdote is a short, amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

We use emotive language to create an emotional response in an audience. Compare these examples:

 “These trees have stood for hundreds of years.”  “These majestic trees have stood for generation upon generation.”

We use inclusive language to encourage the audience to see their role in an issue but to not feel singled out or blamed. Compare these examples:  “If you all do just a little bit more …”  “If we all do a bit more …”

Simile: The trees stood as tall as towers.

Metaphor: The circus was a magnet for the children.

stress fremhæve gesture håndbevægelse facial expression ansigtsudtryk Performance Last but not least, you have to consider your performance. It is difficult to persuade or motivate people if you don’t convince them that this is important to you. Think about how you use your voice. You can stress words or phrases that are important and you can pause for effect or to let your message sink in. Think about how you can get your message across with body language, through gestures and facial expressions. Finally, don’t be afraid to look at your audience – after all, your purpose is to make them feel they can trust you.

UNDERSTANDING

16 Work with words Work with a partner.

a) Agree on a definition in English for the following terms:

opinion occasion introduction conclusion message body paragraph

Compare your notes.

b) The first paragraph Purpose and message contains five of the focus words in this chapter. Find them and write them down.

Then, make a new sentence with each focus word.

17 Organise information

Work with a partner.

Summarise the text. Read and follow the instructions on the worksheet.

TALKING

18 Make up arguments

Work with a partner. From the text, you have learnt that in the body of a speech, you present three main points or arguments. Imagine that you are going to deliver a persuasive speech about the following topics:

· Gaming should be a school subject! · School should start at 10 a.m.! · Homework should be banned!

a) Think of three main arguments that you would like to include for each of the three topics.

b) Prepare to explain your arguments in class.

main argument 1

TOPIC 1

main argument 2 main argument 3

GRAMMAR

19 Identify subjects and verbs

Study the sentences and identify the subject (s) and the verb (v) in each of the sentences.

Example:

S V

The purpose of a speech is to entertain.

The language you use is the key to getting your message across. Anecdotes are valuable in a speech. Rhetorical questions are useful tools for a speaker.

If you write sentences in the present simple in English, you must add an -s to the verb in the third person.

Example:

S V

I often speak to an audience.

S V

He often speaks to an audience.

Subject-verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement means that there is a match between the subject and the verb.