chapter 9

expertise

An idea many associate with credibility (discussed since time of Ancient Greece).

Rosie the Riveter

During the World War II, millions of women were recruited to do the jobs of men conscripted for the war effort. In 1942, the artist J. Howard Miller was asked to paint a poster for the Westinghouse Company challenging gender stereotypes in support of women moving into jobs previously done by men.

Explain how vivid language engages an audience

Using vivid language helps paint images in the audiences mind, which can not only create a mood or stir feelings but also help your listeners remember your speech.

Rhetorical scholar Barry Brummett views style as:

he core of self-understanding

style is implicated in your

disposition, which is what others perceive to be the inherent qualities of your person

Which is an example of irony?

Amy says to her teenaged daughter, "A ski trip with your boyfriend? Six states away? With no chaperone? No, I have no problem with that at all!" This is an example of irony -- saying one thing while meaning another.

Rhetorical scholar Barry Brummett anchors the concept of style to:

personhood

impression management

A high awareness of one's style (described by sociologist).A high awareness of one's style (described by sociologist).

Which statement is true about Aristotle's more formal use of the term lexis?

Aristotle said that the subject of style specifically concerned word choice and diction.

Which statement is true about Aristotle's informal use of the term lexis?

Aristotle used the word to denote one's manner of speaking in general.

What is the relationship between style and disposition?

Audiences perceive your disposition through your style. Style is implicated in your disposition.

Know the difference between denotation and connotation

Denotation: The literal and primary meaning of a sign, what you would expect to find in the dictionary.Connotation: The feeling one associates with a sign.One could accidentally evoke connotation when one means denotation and vise versa.Ex: Rose (thought of a colorful and fragrance flower or the feeling of love)

Tips on speaking style

Dress appropriately for the speaking situation. Present your best and most confident self. Choose words that not only reflect your expertise but also relate to the audience. Select words that help you establish a rhythm appropriate for the occasion. Use vivid language, repetition, and other artful language choices when appropriate and possible. Avoid technical jargon, biased language, and slang.

metaphors

Figure of speech that compares 2 seemingly dissimilar things.

tropes

Figures of speech. EX: metaphor, simile, irony

Why was it probably easier to separate what one said from how it was said in ancient Greece?

In ancient Greece the human voice was the dominant mode of communication. Ancient Greece was an oral society.

similes

Metaphors that use or imply the word "like."

disposition

Perceptions of your character

_____ would NOT have been considered part of lexis by the ancient Greeks.

The clothes people wear

connotation

The feeling one associates with a sign.

denotation

The literal and primary meaning of a sign, what you would expect to find in the dictionary.

vivid language

concerns words that are sensuous, cuing the mind to the experiences of touch, taste, sound, smell, and sight.

jargon

the specialized or peculiar language of a particular community or group.

· Recognize questions that you can ask about the audience to help with word choice

1) Is my audience familiar or unfamiliar to me?2) Am I an outsider or insider?3) Should I be formal or informal?

· List language choices that will assist with perception of expertise and credibility

1) Use simple and concise language2) Be accurate3) Avoid jargon4) Use concrete imagery

slang

A final area of word choice you should be aware of concerns the use of slang, which refers to the informal language of a group of people. In popular culture, slang is often associated with groups that identify in respect to class, race, or profession. You may even have a slang that is particular to your group of friends. The advent of texting over the last two decades has generated a written slang that those less familiar to texting may find off-putting in a speech: "JK" and "LOL" are meaningful to many, but some older audiences unfamiliar with these terms would be baffled if a speaker used these acronyms in a speech. Despite some exceptions, you should generally avoid the use of slang because, by definition, slang is an insider language. To use slang denotes a membership in some sort of community, and in many speaking situations, you will have no clear indication that everyone in the audience is also a member of the community from which your slang hails. This means that slang is likely to alienate at least some audience members. The point of speaking publicly is not to alienate but rather to include. In popular culture, many people think of style in terms of appearance or fashion. In the tradition of public speaking, however, style refers broadly to how you present yourself to others in a variety of ways: in words, in deeds, in your confidence, and yes, in how you look. Style indicates the place where the body and representation meet. In this chapter, we focused most pointedly on style in respect to language choice: Based on your speech situation, purpose, and goal — including the audience and their expectations — what kind of words and language choices better represent you and what you mean to say? In chapter 10, we take up style as it more directly implicates our bodies, considering the following types of questions related to delivery: How should one dress when speaking to an audience? At what rate and volume should a presenter speak? What gestures should a speaker use?

On Rhythm and Word Choice

Because public speaking is fundamentally about oral delivery, keep in mind that you cannot speak to an audience in the same way you would write to a reader. As noted in the chapters on outlining and organizing your speech, you are striving as a speaker to create a mental map of your speech in the minds of your listeners. Enumeration and the repetition of phrases are ways that you signal to your audience the structure of your speech. To enhance or amplify your speech's meaning and feeling, you also need to think about evocative or vivid language, which refers to word choices that evoke vivid images and vibrant feelings in the minds of your audience. Jargon and overly abstract, technical language is flat. In this sense, style concerns what we might call word painting, imparting a sense of vivid imagery, melody, and rhythm with words. Most people enjoy vibrant mental pictures and respond bodily to verbal rhythms; being aware of this fact will help you develop a speaking style that encourages memory and audience interest.

· List three types of language speakers can avoid

Bias language, sexist language, and slangBias language, sexist language, and slang

· Describe how repetition and rhythm can add interest

By repeating words, phrases, or sentences (even sounds) in key moments throughout a speech, you can capture the attention and imagination of your audience.

Am I an outsider or an insider?

Closely related to determining the familiarity of your audience is the question concerning whether you are included in the community you are speaking to. If you're making a speech to your public speaking class, you can safely assume you're an insider: you are all required to present speeches to your class, you all identify with one another in terms of the anxiety you feel while giving speeches in this setting, and you all know you are being judged on your speech by your instructor. You don't necessarily need to mention your insider status or your shared experience, but you can assume your classmates will not be hostile to your speaking in general. If you are an outsider to the group you are speaking to, word choice is a little trickier — even if the audience knows who you are before you speak. In general, if you are an outsider to the audience, you will need to be more formal and carefully select words that you know from your audience analysis will resonate with most of them. A common example of incorrectly adopting the style of an insider is using "y'all" — a contraction of "you all" frequently used in the southern United States as a gesture of familiarity. "How y'all doin'?" is a common rhetorical question speakers from the south use to address southern audiences. When a speaker from, say, New York uses the phrase "y'all" to address a southern audience, it can come off as inauthentic or stylistically inappropriate. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when determining familiarity with an audience is the use of inclusive language. Terms like "we" and "us" are signatures of an inclusive style. As a speaker, when you say phrases like "when we get on our bikes and ride to the park" or "when we watch a series on Netflix," you rhetorically place yourself, the speaker, in the same group as the audience. Care should be taken that "we" and "us" phrases are contextually appropriate and that you are justifiably a member of the group you include yourself in.

vivid language

Concerns words that are sensuous, cuing the mind to the experiences of touch, taste, sound, smell, and sight.

sexist language

From a very early age, most of us were raised to identify with a biological sex: either you are male or you are female. As you grow older, you may identify with a different sex, both, or neither. Regardless, in our culture all sorts of gender assumptions are made about our supposed natures based on that initial biological assignment, and the messages about how to be a "man" or a "woman" are powerful and often constraining. The tension we all experience to become a "man" or a "woman" is an issue of gender, and it will persist throughout our lives. We simply have to learn how to navigate the assumptions about our characters based on our biological assignment as best we can. As a speaker, you should strive to include everyone, regardless of how he or she defines and navigates his or her gender, sex, and sexuality. If assumptions about our person based on our gender identity are often beyond our control, there is one thing we can control as speakers: how each of us makes assumptions about the character of others based on gender. In just about every speaking situation, we cannot assume that the experience of those identified as women is the same as the experience of those identified as men, and vice versa. Even so, you will hear speakers refer to people in the abstract as "he" or "she," even though people can be one, the other, or in some cases both or neither. Speakers also mistakenly use gendered pronouns in respect to social roles and professions (for example, nurses are women; firefighters are men). Paying attention to your use of pronouns can help you avoid these kinds of mistake. Making very simple word substitutions can help you avoid alienating or offending members of your audience. For example, "A good dentist is trained to attend to the pain of his patients." Whoops! Not all dentists are male. The better phrasing would be, "A good dentist is trained to attend to the pain of her or his patients." Saying "he or she" or "her or his" is more inclusive and encourages every member of your audience to imagine himself or herself in your example. At the time of this writing, many people in North American culture are moving toward using "they," "them," and "their" as a generic pronouns to be more inclusive.

Vivid Language

Gorgias of Leontini, one of the most famous orators of all time, stressed the importance and impact of vibrant language in public speaking as early as the fourth century BCE. He said that a colorful description of an oncoming army can be almost as powerful as "the sight" of "hostile persons" wearing an "array of bronze and iron." A particularly colorful army of words may even inspire "people [to] flee in panic when some danger is imminent as if it were present."8 Using vivid language helps paint images in the audience's mind, which can not only create a mood or stir feelings but also help your listeners remember your speech.

Is my audience familiar or unfamiliar to me?

If the audience you will be speaking to knows you — and you know them — your language choice can be more relaxed. This is because the prior information the audience has about you — their knowledge of your style — will help you anchor the meaning that you wish to communicate. Misunderstanding is less likely because the audience will know where you're coming from. If you're giving a speech at a wedding reception, even if many members of the audience are not personal friends or family members, you have mutual knowledge of the couple you will be speaking about and probably share many similar experiences with them. The language you use can be less formal. If you are speaking before an audience you do not know well, consisting mostly of strangers, the general rule is to use more formal language.

On Political Correctness

In our time, the concept of political correctness has become a hotly debated one. In general, political correctness refers to the attempt to avoid expressions or behaviors that marginalize, exclude, or insult people who are different from ourselves — which would include the use of biased and sexist language and, in some cases, slang. A popular example of politically correct language would be using "humankind" instead of "mankind," or using "he and she" instead of simply "he" as a generic pronoun. Until the twentieth century, the use of "mankind" and "he" as generic terms for human beings was relatively commonplace. Some believe that political correctness can go too far, becoming extreme. Others argue, however, that striving to be politically correct does more good than harm, encouraging people to be more mindful of their word choices

malapropism

Is the accidental confusion of ideas or similar-sounding words (referred to as "Freudian slip.")

Why should you avoid jargon unless you have the time to define them or your audience is highly specialized?

Jargon does not communicate clearly unless the audience is specialized or you take the time to define them. It impedes clarity.

Avoid Jargon.

Jargon refers to specialized language of a clique or group of experts that only they can understand, often closely tied to a given profession. If you are a social scientist and work with statistics, you might be familiar with "regression analysis" and "Cronbach's alpha." Unless your audience is composed entirely of social scientists familiar with these kinds of terms, however, it's best to avoid them. In general, you should avoid specialized terms and language unless you have the time to define them or unless your audience is highly specialized. One of the main goals of public speaking is to communicate clearly and effectively and to evoke a clear mental picture in the minds of your audience members. Unless the audience is familiar with it, jargon does precisely the opposite.

Malapropism

Malapropism is the accidental confusion of ideas or similar-sounding words, sometimes referred to as a "Freudian slip." Malapropisms are excellent examples of how language "uses us" and often inspires laughter. The late Yankee's legend Yogi Berra, for example, was famous for his malapropisms: "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical." Malapropisms, however, can also be as simple as using the wrong word, such as saying "for all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes." Freud believed these kinds of slips of the tongue show how language works unconsciously through us, expressing feelings and desires we may not be consciously aware of — such as feelings about one's parents: "Psychoanalysis means saying one thing and meaning your mother."

The most familiar kind of irony takes the form of satire or sarcasm, such as humorist Stephen Colbert's remarks about then president George W. Bush at a 2006 roast — an event that involves the formalized, good-natured ribbing of someone:

Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32 percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias. . . . Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half-empty . . . because 32 percent means it's two-thirds empty. There's still some liquid in that glass, is my point. But I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Note that Colbert means to be humorous here. His use of irony makes something relatively abstract (poll numbers and what they actually mean) into something concrete (drinking a glass of water). Irony often functions to bring what seems abstract or hard to grasp into sharp focus. One must be careful when using irony because it involves communicating meaning indirectly. Whenever you are indirect in public speaking, you always run the risk that some people in your audience may not get the joke or, worse, will be offended. When you are reasonably sure that a use of irony will be both understood and appreciated by an audience, go ahead. But if there is any chance that someone will not get your ironic sense of humor or possibly be offended by sarcasm, rethink it.

· Explain style and how it connects language and the body

Old: Style is the way or manner in which one said something.New: The way in which a person presents themself to others.People tend to have a style based off the way they move, the way we say things, etc.

Expertise and Credibility through Word Choice

One element of style that has been discussed since the time of ancient Greece is expertise, an idea many associate with credibility.7 In his treatise on public speaking, Aristotle identified the difficulty of the "expert" speaking to audiences that were "inexpert" as one of the key challenges of the public speaker — and word choice makes all the difference. In most of the public speaking situations you will encounter, you'll be speaking to family and friends; in others, however, the problem Aristotle pointed out will become an issue, especially in your professional life. As a student in a public speaking class, "speaking to the inexpert" is one of the problems you are going to be asked to address in your informative and persuasive speeches. In both of these speeches, it is assumed that you have knowledge or expertise that your classmates do not, and it will be your task to communicate that expertise in a way that your audience can understand. In speaking to inform, you present yourself as an expert on a topic that most of your classmates do not know about; in speaking to persuade, you present yourself as an expert on a topic that you hope your audience will change their minds about — and perhaps even act on. In both informing and persuading, your expertise is established through credibility, or the audience's perception that you can be trusted as someone who knows his or her stuff. Assuming that you will at one point or another need to adopt the position of an "expert" speaking to an audience that is "inexpert" or at some level uninformed about your topic, you should keep the following guidelines in mind: (1) use simple and concise language, (2) be accurate in your use of language, (3) avoid jargon or specialized language that only the expert understands, and (4) strive to use concrete imagery. Let us discuss each guideline briefly in turn.

Repetition and Rhythm

Repeating important phrases not only assists audiences in remembering what you said but also helps establish a pleasing sense of rhythm. Children's book author Dr. Seuss is famous for the rhythm of his prose, which is achieved through the repetition of words — as he does with "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" in The Cat in the Hat — as well as through the rhyming of words. Note, however, that rhyming words tend to connote deliberate artistry, such as in poetry and rapping; therefore, you may want to use that technique sparingly. Alliteration, or the recurrence of the same sound in a series of words, is another artful way to make your message memorable. By repeating words, phrases, sentences — even sounds — in key moments throughout a speech, you can capture the attention and imagination of your audience.

Biased Language

Simply stated, biased language refers to the use of words and phrases that indicate unfounded assumptions about others based on personal experience. All human beings have a tendency to be biased, thinking in words and a language that references our individual experiences of the world. For example, we often have stereotypes about groups of people to which we do not belong: older people and younger people; people from different parts of the world; people of different religious backgrounds, class affiliations, racial identifications, gender roles, sexual orientations; and so on. Part of growing up, as you may recall from your youth, is learning not to universalize your individual experience of the world as if it were everyone's experience of the world. If you have grown up in a rural or country area, for instance, you may believe that people from the city are rude and fast talking; if you have grown up in a city, you may believe that people in the country are slow and uncultured. The country hick and city slicker are among the more familiar stereotypes of American life, parodied in countless Hollywood films. As you meet people from places where you did not grow up, you come to realize that they do not resemble your stereotypes at all. We tend to learn, as we grow older, that people are more alike than they are different. Biased language takes many forms, but all of them rest on unfounded assumptions about others. Consider how biased language can occur when a speaker without disabilities discusses people with disabilities (PWD). For example, "Mr. Smith's autistic son Daniel helped me clean the house" may seem like nonbiased language, but for many PWD and their families, the phrase is unpleasant. This is because the disability is mentioned before the person, which implies that the person is defined by his or her disability. People-first language is more appropriate: "Mr. Smith's son Daniel, who has autism, helped me clean the house" is a respectful way to refer to Daniel. As a public speaker, you need to keep your assumptions in check. When speaking, avoid choosing words that assume that those different from you share your limited experience of the world. When trying to avoid bias in speaking, the so-called Golden Rule can be modified as a guide: speak to others as you would like to be spoken to. Respect the real differences of people in your audience while building on the human experiences you share in common. Remember that public speaking is ultimately about building or celebrating community, and one of the best ways to do that is to ensure that everyone feels included by your language.

We might think about one's linguistic style in terms of DJing a party. As a DJ, your primary job is to play music that encourages people to dance and enjoy themselves. Part of this job involves choosing what songs you want to play and when you want to play them. DJs often develop a track list ahead of time in order to have a game plan, but during the party itself, DJs often deviate from their plan based on how the crowd is responding. Unfamiliar music will disappoint dancers, but too many overplayed songs can bore them as well.

The analogy here is that in choosing words and adapting language to your audience, you can think about yourself as a kind of public speaking disc jockey, selecting the words and phrases that will get the audience to metaphorically dance with you.

Using Language That Uses Us: Cultivating Awareness

The inherent risk of using irony is that someone may not get it, mistaking your attempt at humor as a declaration of conviction. This kind of misunderstanding points us to a difficult but nevertheless important dimension of word choice: the unconscious of language. Language can have meanings beyond our intention. For this reason, one of the most important components of style is cultivating an awareness of what words may mean regardless of what you or I intend them to mean. The task of a cultivated style is trying, as best we can, to make conscious those meanings that normally escape our notice. As public speakers, we are able to direct the possible meanings of what we say. Even so, this dimension of saying more than we know we are saying persists throughout our lives. For this reason, rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke famously asked: "Do we simply use words, or do they not also use us?"11 Many scholars of public speaking have answered Burke's question positively by arguing that we communicate meanings that we do not intend all the time. For example, a number of political communication scholars have argued that key terms used by politicians — such as "politics," "government," "media," "people," and "president" — control the speakers and writers more than they think they control them: a left-leaning politician may say "government" in a speech and mean something positive to be developed, while a right-leaning person in the audience may hear "government" as something negative that must be stopped. Admittedly, when we start thinking about how much we are not in total control of the meaning of what we say, it's easy to get anxious. Because meaning is co-created by people using language, most of us are quite generous to one another. As symbol-using animals, we have to be charitable to one another when speaking and try to meet others halfway — indeed, this charity is another name for listening. Even so, there are a number of unfortunate word choices that can discourage audiences from listening, causing them to offer less charity and attribute meanings to your words that you may not intend. Cultivating an awareness of language in these specific areas is crucial for encouraging listening. Ignoring these areas of language choice will put you at risk of alienating your audience. These areas include the use of biased language, the use of sexist language, and the use of slang.

Adapting Your Language: What Do You Play?

The most important factor in choosing the words, figures of speech, and general vocabulary that you will use is knowing your audience. What is appropriate to say to one audience may be entirely alienating to another one. In the chapter on audience analysis (chapter 3), we discussed elements of audience psychology and preparing your speech in respect to beliefs, attitudes, and values. In selecting language for a particular audience, however, you must also think practically about audience familiarity and expectations of formality. In adapting language to an audience, ask yourself three questions: (1) Is my audience familiar or unfamiliar to me? (2) Am I an outsider or an insider? (3) Should I be formal or informal?

alliteration

The recurrence of the same sound in a series of words (make your message memorable).

irony

The trope for saying one thing but meaning another.

the effect of repetition and rhythm

The use of repetition and rhythm in choosing language for a speech can be powerfully effective for an audience, encouraging their emotional and intellectual engagement and memory. Choosing one's words and structuring the rhythm and pacing of sentences for oral delivery often constitute the last part of drafting a speech. We might compare one's language style to the icing on a cake: the structure is exceedingly important, but how you dress it really does influence how it "goes down." Language choice is not merely icing, though; it influences the experience, and therefore the meaning, of a speech. Artistry in public speaking is often subtle when speaking to persuade or inform, but it is usually more explicit and encouraged in celebratory speaking. For an especially eloquent example of repetition and rhythm in a speech, consider the closing remarks of President Barack Obama for a eulogy he gave in honor of South Carolina state senator Reverend Clementa Pinckney, who was one of nine people hatefully assassinated during a Bible study at his church in June 2015: Amazing grace. Amazing grace. (Begins to sing) — Amazing grace — (applause) — how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind but now I see. (Applause.) Clementa Pinckney found that grace. Cynthia Hurd found that grace. Susie Jackson found that grace. Ethel Lance found that grace. DePayne Middleton-Doctor found that grace. Tywanza Sanders found that grace. Daniel L. Simmons Sr. found that grace. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton found that grace. Myra Thompson found that grace. Through the example of their lives, they've now passed it on to us. May we find ourselves worthy of that precious and extraordinary gift, as long as our lives endure. May grace now lead them home. May God continue to shed His grace on the United States of America. (Applause.)

style

The way in which a person presents themself to others.

Which statement is true about defining style for our time?

Today style is a much bigger, more encompassing concept than it was in ancient Greece. Style today refers to many things beyond speaking -- from musical genres to clothes that people wear.

Should I be formal or informal?

Use contextual reasoning to help you determine the degree of formality required for your speaking situation. In general, a formal speaking situation (a history report for class, a student volunteer meeting, and so on) requires more formal language. "How y'all doin'?" is probably not the best opening remark in a formal setting. "How is everyone doing?" is more formal. Informal settings — such as a party, a celebration, or a brainstorming session at your job — provide you with a lot more leeway in your choice of words. If you are scheduled to speak somewhere and do not know how formal or informal the audience will expect you to be, ask the person or people who asked you to speak about the audience so that you can better prepare your speech. One related question you can ask is, "How will the audience be dressed?" Perhaps no other question helps you to zoom in to an appropriate style of speaking more directly: matching words with attire is one of the more interesting ways in which word choice can be adjusted in public speaking situations. As a general rule of thumb, the more formally an audience dresses (suits or jeans?), the more formal the speaking style. A good example of this rule is the award shows seen on national television every year. If you've watched the Academy Awards, you know that it is considered a formal affair, with the attendees wearing sophisticated dresses and suits or tuxedos. The speeches — mostly introduction, tributes, and thank-you speeches — are formalized and tightly timed. Sure, there are thank-you speeches that seem overly long or perhaps even too sentimental, but the language is generally formal, bereft of slang and informal terms like "y'all." In contrast, MTV's Video Music Awards is a less formal affair, with speeches to match: some thank-you speeches are formal, but the dressing styles and often flamboyant behavior of many of the artists in attendance mirror the rambling, sometimes incoherent speeches of the award winners.

On the successful cable show Project Runway, fashion designers compete against one another by creating clothes that are scored by a panel of judges. Supermodel Heidi Klum is the show's famous host, but the breakout cultural celebrity of the program is Tim Gunn (sadly, no relation to the author) — the impeccably dressed fashion consultant who mentors contestants and advises them on their design choices. Gunn's stylistic judgments are widely recognized in the popular press as tasteful and insightful. Examining a dress designed by one contestant, Gunn remarks, "This is so clean, sophisticated, polished, it's very elegant — it's high spirited!"1 Gunn's quick wit and discerning eye led to his own show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, in which he advises a variety of guests on their lifestyles or ways of being in the world, for which fashion is only a part.

What does Tim Gunn's stylistic sensibility have to do with public speaking? A lot! First, he is a great public speaker. Second, and more importantly for this chapter, Gunn's understanding of style does not reduce to clothing choices; Gunn insists that style concerns how you present yourself to others overall, as a human being. Contestants who do well on Project Runway are often those who understand that style is not simply about design but also about confidence: how you speak, the vocabulary you use, all the things that make you unique to others. Style concerns having a strong sense of self and knowing how to share that sense with others. In public speaking, style is traditionally discussed in two ways: (1) in terms of the selection and use of language, and (2) in terms of the delivery of a speech. In keeping with this tradition, this chapter will focus specifically on language choice, and chapter 10 will focus on delivery. Once you start thinking about style more holistically, you will begin to see how the way you present yourself to others connects to what you say and how you say it. Although language choice and delivery are covered in separate chapters, the two go hand in hand. To get a better sense of why this is the case, let's briefly examine the origin of the concept of style.

Which is an example of impression management?

When former President George H.W. Bush was Ronald Reagan's vice president, he was perceived as being "wimpy." Image consultants worked with him, and by the time he was elected, he had changed his style to one that was forceful and masculine. -which is the way in which a person navigates his or her self-presentation in body and language.

Be Accurate.

When speaking publicly, try to say precisely what you mean in order to convey to an audience that you mean what you say. Inaccurate or vague terms and phrases are often off-putting to audiences. For example, how many times have you heard a public official say something like, "Mr. Franken will have a statement at a future time." Well, when? "Mr. Franken will have a statement on the matter next week" is more satisfying. "Mr. Franken will have a statement next Tuesday at noon" is even more satisfying because it is not vague but specific — and hopefully accurate!

Use Concrete Imagery.

Words are abstractions because they represent something that is not present. If I say "dog," I evoke a mental image of a dog in your head because as a writer I cannot plop a dog into your lap. Language serves as a mental placeholder, so that people can discuss and refer to things that are not present. In this respect, when choosing words for a speech, remember that you are creating mental pictures in the minds of your audience. Concrete words, terms, and images are much more likely to put the image of your speech into focus than are vague ideas, which create a blurry mental picture at best. Even so, illustrating abstract ideas — such as justice or love — with concrete examples will be more satisfying to an audience: "Should Mr. Johnson continue to be shackled behind bars when we have DNA evidence proving his innocence?" concretely anchors a discussion of justice with the vivid image of shackles and jail bars.

Speaking accurately involves:

avoiding vague language.

For the purposes of public speaking, expertise is:

credibility

Tropes

figures of speech. Popular tropes include metaphor, simile, and irony. Perhaps the most studied elements of speaking style are figures of speech — or, more simply, tropes. There are literally hundreds of tropes, but among the most common to public speaking are metaphor and irony.

For rhetorical scholar Barry Brummett, style is intimately caught up in our individual:

identities

Use Simple and Concise Language.

in public speaking situations, sticking to shorter words is easier to follow. Concise words that state exactly what you mean to say will also help an audience follow your message. Remember that when you speak, audiences are primarily concerned with comprehension, and you're trying to help them create a mental image of your speech in their heads. Big words, or too many words, can confuse people. Using words that are unfamiliar to your audience — foreign words or Latin phrases like in situ or prima facie — can confuse an audience too (perhaps you are confused right now, reading the terms in situ and prima facie; they mean "in position" and "based on first impression," respectively).

Care must be taken when using irony because:

it communicates indirectly, and not everyone may "get it."

According to rhetorical scholar Barry Brummett, "Style is a complex system of actions, objects, and behaviors that is used to form _____ that announce who we are, who we want to be, and who we want to be considered akin to."

messages

common tropes

metaphor:using a word, an idea, or a concept in order to represent something dissimilar "Gah! This algebra problem is a bear!" simile:a smaller metaphor that uses or implies the word like "Love is like an ATM machine, and you've overdrawn." irony: saying one thing but meaning something else "That was as fun as getting kicked in the rear end!"

similes

metaphors that use or imply the word "like." When metaphors are smaller in scope, we tend to call them similes. A simile is a specific metaphor that almost always uses or implies the word "like." Taylor Swift's title track on her 2012 multiplatinum album Red is driven by a long list of similes comparing a former boyfriend to a fast car: "Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street." Loving someone can also be like settling into a big old beanbag chair, although such an observation is perhaps best left unsung.

expertise

refers to having knowledge or skills particular to a given field. In the context of public speaking, expertise is closely associated with credibility.

What is the relationship between style and impression management?

style is a form of impression management

· political correctness

the attempt to avoid expressions or behaviors that marginalize exclude, or insult people who are different from ourselves (includes bias, sexist language, and slang.)

alliteration

the recurrence of the same sound in a series of words. -or the recurrence of the same sound in a series of words, is another artful way to make your message memorable. By repeating words, phrases, sentences — even sounds — in key moments throughout a speech, you can capture the attention and imagination of your audience.

irony

the trope for saying one thing but meaning another. A more complicated figure of speech that is very common in our culture today is irony, which refers to saying one thing but meaning something else. Irony is almost always a form of humor that is meant to make audiences laugh or, at least, smile.

Which statement is true about the signs we use that communicate our character?

the way we move

metaphor

tropes or figures of speech that compare two seemingly dissimilar things. The most familiar tropes are metaphors, which concern using a word, an idea, or a concept to represent something else. Typically, a metaphor is a comparison of two things that initially seem dissimilar but are shown to be similar in some way. For example, consider this common cultural phrase: "You've got to jump if you want to fly!" The meaning of the phrase is that success requires taking risks; however, it's told in language that evokes bird flight. Creating vivid images to assist audiences with memory and encourage enjoyment is the primary reason for using metaphors in public speaking. Metaphors can be large and elaborate, such as describing the government of a state as the steering of a ship, weathering the winds of economics and the seas of international strife

Inaccurate or _____ terms and phrases are often off-putting to audiences, so speakers should aim to be more specific when possible.

vague

A vivid style of language concerns what we might call

word painting