Speech for Dummies 101

Public Speaking Course

Unit 1: Communicating Using Plain English

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.” – William Butler Yeats

Introduction

The best speaker relates to his/her audience and delivers their message as concise and precise as possible, based on relevant contexts.

    Through this introductory course, we hope you will be able to:
      1. Understand the content of a speech
      2. Choose the simplest sentence between two that conveys the same meaning
      3. Write your own simplified version from a complex script
      4. Evaluate and reflect on the process and challenges of breaking down sentences to be more concise and precise
      5. Gain the skills to write your own speech in a concise way using proper pragmatics (relevant context) and semantics (choice of words)

Understanding the Speeches

1. Listen to the following two speeches
2. Write down the main ideas from each
3. Read the explanations below each video and cross-check with your notes, make sure you understand the content

Donald Trump

US Presidential Candidate

    Fun Facts:
  • Representing Republican Party
  • Unique Look
  • Entrepreneur
    Here are the highlights from Mr. Trump’s speech:
  • Mr. Trump began his remarks saying he initially planned to focus on Hillary Clinton, “and all of the bad things and we all know what’s going on,” adding “especially how poor she’d do as president in these very, very troubled times of radical Islamic terrorism.” He promised that speech would come “very, very soon.”
  • Mr. Trump called for a moment of silence for the dead in Orlando, saying it was an attack against people and “an attack on the right of every single American to live in peace and safety.” He continued, “We need to respond to this attack in America as one united people.”
  • As his first policy proposal if elected president, Mr. Trump reiterated his plan to temporarily ban Muslim immigration. He said in particular that he would ban immigration from countries where terrorism was a threat. He said, referring to the assailant in Orlando, that “thousands and thousands of people, many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer” are pouring into the country, and that the ban “will be lifted when and as a nation we are in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people coming into our country.”
  • Even though he said at the top of his speech that it would not be about Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump criticized his likely opponent for her foreign policy, again sowing some conspiratorial bent on Mrs. Clinton’s grasp of the terror threat: “She has no clue in my opinion what radical Islam is, and she won’t speak honestly about it if she does, in fact, know.” He quickly pivoted his criticism of Mrs. Clinton to the debate over gun laws, falsely saying she wants to abolish the Second Amendment, “leaving only the bad guys, terrorists with guns.” He added: “Not gonna happen.”
  • Mr. Trump repeatedly framed the threat of terrorism in the realm of immigration, claiming that there were “hundreds of thousands” of Muslim immigrants who are coming into the United States unscreened. (The United States does indeed have a screening process.)
  • Mr. Trump referred to himself as a better friend of women and the L.G.B.T. community than Hillary Clinton, referring to his immigration ban against Muslim immigrants as one against people “who reject our values.” While it was notable how far Mr. Trump went in his efforts to embrace the L.G.B.T. community, often using inclusive pronouns like “our” and “we,” he remains opposed to same-sex marriage.
  • Making blanket statements against an entire religion, Mr. Trump said that the Muslim community “know what’s going on” regarding terrorism, despite no evidence of that in the Orlando killings. He said the Muslim community had “to work with us.” He added: “They knew the person in San Bernardino was bad. They have to turn them in.” He was referring to the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., last December when a Muslim couple shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22.
  • Mr. Trump concluded his remarks with a promise, if he were to be elected president, for a “safe society,” and he riffed on his campaign slogan: “We will make America rich again. We will make America safe again. We will make America great again.”

    • Excerpt taken from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s Speeches: What You Missed

Hillary Clinton

US Presidential Candidate

    Fun Facts:
  • Representing Democrat Party
  • Prospective First Female President
  • Former First Lady
    Here are the highlights from Mrs. Clinton's speech:
  • Mrs. Clinton, invoking a “nightmare that’s become mind-numbingly familiar,” said it was “not a day for politics.” The shooter may be dead, she said, “but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive.”
  • Mrs. Clinton said that despite some progress in combating Islamic State forces on the ground in Iraq and Syria, the group would “seek to stage more attacks” wherever it could. She pledged to make the targeting of “lone wolves” a top priority as president.
  • Noting that the shooter in Orlando, Fla., had been on the F.B.I.’s radar, Mrs. Clinton said the country required “more resources for this fight” and called for the removal of “weapons of war” from the streets.
  • Mrs. Clinton, noting the acrimonious national debate over guns, said everyone should be able to agree that “If the F.B.I. is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun.”
  • Mrs. Clinton said it was “long past time” for the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait to stop allowing their citizens to finance extremists.
  • Mrs. Clinton, observing that the shooting targeted a gay nightclub, said that “an attack on any American is an attack on all Americans.” Addressing gay Americans, she said, “You have millions of allies who will always have your back. And I am one of them.”
  • Seeking to contrast her approach with the self-promotional impulses of Donald J. Trump, Mrs. Clinton said America was “not a land of winners and losers,” calling it “a country of ‘we,’ not ‘me.’”
  • Mrs. Clinton called to mind the sense of national unity after the Sept. 11 attacks, reminding voters President George W. Bush quickly “sent a message of unity and solidarity” to Muslims. “It is time to get back to the spirit of those days,” she said, “the spirit of 9/12.”

    • Excerpt taken from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s Speeches: What You Missed

Interactive Quiz: Can you tell the difference?

    These sentences have the same meaning, but one is more wordy and complex than the other.
    Choose the sentence that is easiest to understand but does not loose the essential meaning of the sentence!

      Example 1

      a. It will be lifted, this ban, when and as a nation we’re in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people coming to our country.
      b. The ban will be lifted once we find the most effective way to screen the people who are coming to our country.


      Example 2

      a. We have to stem the flow of Jihadists from Europe and America to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and then back again.
      b. We need to find the root cause of the circular move of the Jihadists from the West to the Middle East.

Exercise: Simplify these Excerpts

Before you start on the exercise, please read this How to Write in Plain English guide.

Instruction: Based on your notes from the speeches above, please simplify these excerpts so they can best deliver the meaning each speaker is trying to convey (pragmatics) using as less words as possible (semantics).


Exercise 1

Original Excerpts
Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
“It will be lifted, this ban, when and as a nation we’re in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people coming to our country.” “We have to stem the flow of Jihadists from Europe and America to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and then back again.”
Your Simplified Version
Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
The ban will be lifted once we find the most effective way to screen the people who are coming to our country.
We need to find the root cause of the circular move of the Jihadists from the West to the Middle East.

Exercise 2

Original Excerpts
Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
“When I’m elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world, where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies; until we fully understand how to end these threats.” “The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive, and we must attack it with clear eyes, steady hands, unwavering determination and pride in our country and our values.”
Your Simplified Version
Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
When I’m elected, I will suspend immigration from countries that have been a threat for the US, Europe and our allies until we come to a better understanding of the best solution.
The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the root cause of this movement is still alive. We must be aware of this threat and do our best to fight it with the values we have as individuals and a country.

Challenge: Write Your Own Speech!

Now that you have mastered how to rewrite sentences to be more concise based on the pragmatics and semantics needed, try to write a draft of your own speech!

    Please follow the following steps and check the boxes when you're done with each step:

External Resources

Skills You Need

Plain English