Phrasing Techniques For Public Speaking

 

Phrasing is a poorly understood practice that can have a tremendous amount of significance on the impact delivered by a speech. In public speaking, where the difference between a lifetime of immortality and a five second claim to fame before being balled up and thrown in the garbage relies almost entirely on a speech’s delivery rather than its content, phrasing plays a tremendous role. Closely related to emphasis, phrasing is going to be the key element in allowing the audience to feel as though the speaker is talking directly to them rather than reciting their lines as if they were nothing more than a marionette.

 

The art of phrasing is the act of grouping together words, phrases, clauses and other elements of speech when speaking so that the listener can easily grasp the meaning and significance of what is being said. When speaking in their daily lives speakers use phrasing without consciously thinking about it. Phrasing is dictated early in life by how quickly the speaker’s air supply is exhausted; as the speaker grows into adulthood they will learn how to phrase their words to effectively communicate their thoughts and feelings.

 

Thoughts are expressed in phrases, and speakers who do not master the art of phrasing will never succeed in public speaking. Fortunately, phrasing is something that can be learned if a speaker is willing to put time and effort into the following techniques:

 

Pausing. Pauses are essentially spoken punctuation marks that help the listener distinguish between the different ideas that are being expressed. Commas are presented as short pauses, with longer pauses being assigned to colons and semi-colons. These pauses signify the conclusion of a section of thought or the shift from one topic or another, and when used properly they effectively reinforce the interpretation that the speaker wants their audience to draw from their words.

 

Grouping. Grouping is the effective use of the pauses learned in technique #1. Pauses, particularly extended ones, need not only apply to places indicated by the proper punctuation. A pause can be inserted anywhere in a speech that it will effectively serve. The location of a pause, or the grouping of thoughts and ideas, should not be determined by the speaker’s breath capacity. Grouping should be determined solely by its ability to clearly express and/or convey thoughts and emotions to the audience.

 

The phrasing that a speaker uses in public speaking should be very similar to that which they use in their daily lives. Remember, the impact of a speech is determined by its ability to reach out and entangle its audience. Phrasing, when used in a comfortable manner, makes the listener feel as though they are the focus of the speaker’s complete attention and makes the message they are attempting to convey intimate rather than impersonal.

 

My Name Is Christopher Carlin And I Want To Give You Twenty Free Public Speaking Tips

 

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