The Art of Oratory and Speech Culture

Semantic features of public speech: the denotative and connotative meaning of words

Words have both denotative and connotative meanings. The denotative meaning is the standard, dictionary-based meaning of a word. Be careful of assuming the audience will all assign the same denotative meaning to your words, though. Some words have multiple denotative meanings, such as scale. Therefore, providing context is important. The connotative meaning is the emotional responses and personal thoughts evoked by a word. Connotations represent various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings. Different audience members may have different reactions to the same word.

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    Inappropriate language: Vulgarisms, cursing, swearing
    
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    Inappropriate language: Malapropism, Eggcorn, “I versus You” Scenarios, Jargons
    

Jargon is a form of shorthand that conveys a specific meaning to the insiders who use it. For instance, within some industries, acronyms like ROI, C-suite, API, or BSB are expected to be used and understood, so when presenting within those industries, using that jargon can be efficient and effective. Though it’s fine to use this specialized vocabulary with a group of industry insiders, it can be confusing and isolating for audience members outside the field or industry. When presenting to a mixed audience where some know and expect jargon and others do not, it is helpful to define the jargon or acronym the first time it is used. Malapropism. A malapropism is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical statement. Eggcorns. An eggcorn is a word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another because it sounds similar and seems logical or plausible.

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    Emphasis, volume and pauses
    

Volume Most likely, this action means they couldn’t hear you. In addition to being fast talkers, some of us are also quiet speakers. This quietness happens for many reasons, from shyness to hearing loss, but is usually something that can be adjusted. To find your optimum volume, it is usually best to get into the room where you’ll be speaking and ask a friend to sit in the back row and see if they can hear you. The other way you can know if people can hear you is by reading the body language of the audience. When listeners can’t hear a speaker, they often lean forward and turn their ear toward the speaker. Volume can also be varied to give some energy and excitement to the speech. Just like we did with mixing the rate of speech, you can also pick words or phrases to be louder or softer when you speak. Raising your voice can perk up an audience. Going softer can also make them lean in to hear what you are saying. Be careful when using a soft voice to not be so soft you can’t be heard. If you use proper, and even a bit overly done, diction when being softer, the audience will still hear you. As noted before, mark down on your notecards or speech outline where you will get louder or softer. Power of the Pause One final note about pausing versus the vocalization of pauses such as ah, ums, like, etc. Instead of using the filler words ah and um, try to take a breath and pause instead. Speakers sometimes feel the pressure to fill dead air with sound. Resist this urge. In fact, while you may be looking through your notecards for something you wanted to mention, a pause gives the audience time to catch up and absorb what you’ve just said. Our nervousness often makes us want to fill the space so the audience doesn’t get bored. There’s no need to do so. Ahs and ums can also make a speaker sound unprofessional and lacking in confidence, so do the best you can to eliminate them from your speech.

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