In The Lost Art of a Great Speech, Richard Dowis describes seven ways to effectively conclude a speech. Understanding these will give you more options the next time you’re struggling to write a speech ending.

Dowis defines the types of speech conclusions as:

• summary
• humorous
• wrap up
• direct appeal
• thesis
• reference
• inspirational.

Let’s take a brief look at each of these.

With a summary closing you simply summarise the points that you detailed in the body of the speech. This can be effective because it reinforces what you have said. So if you cover three main points in your speech, you can write a few sentences on each point for the ending.

A humorous closing can work well when you find a quotation or anecdote that relates to your speech topic. Humour that is not relevant to the topic, either for the opening or conclusion, will often detract from a speech. If you can’t think of anything funny, there are many websites with quotations and anecdotes on almost any topic. Just search for them.

With a wrap up closing you repeat or mention an opening element to create a complete loop. This could be a fact, anecdote or quotation that you opened the speech with. Listeners will recognise this repetition as a verbal cue. As soon as you mention it, they will realise that your speech is coming to an end.

When using a direct appeal closing you ask the audience to take specific action. At a graduation ceremony, for example, a speaker might ask the new graduates to take a particular action or change their outlook as they begin their careers.

With a thesis closing you restate the main idea of your speech. This type of conclusion is effective when you’re attempting to persuade your audience on one important point.

When using a reference closing you mention the group you are speaking to, the location, date, a quotation or other point that connects you with your audience. If you’re speaking to a community service group, for example, you can research the organisation and mention their history, philosophy or achievements to reinforce the connection between you and the audience.

With an inspirational closing you use an inspirational quotation, poem or anecdote to end the speech. There are many reference websites where you can search for inspirational quotations, poems and stories by subject or author.

For instance, if you were speaking about goal achievement and wanted to inspire your audience, you might quote Thoreau, who said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

It’s important to note that you can combine elements from the different types of conclusions when crafting your speech ending. For example, you can inspire your listeners with a quotation or story, and then make a call to action.

Writing an effective speech conclusion is important. But the ending can be the most difficult part. After completing the opening and body of the speech, it’s easy to run out of ideas and get stuck. Knowing the seven options available when ending a speech will help you overcome these challenges to create effective speeches with maximum impact.

The speech opening is where you have the best chance to build a bridge of understanding between you and your audience. But how do you connect with a new audience when delivering a speech?

In The Lost Art of  the Great Speech, Richard Dowis describes what he calls reference opening to establish common ground between the speaker and the audience. When using a reference opening, the speaker usually makes reference to the speech, the group, the event or something related to one of these.

Some of the possible references you can use are the date, the location, the weather, the organisation you are delivering your speech to, a historical event, a current event, the topic, and the speech title.

Dowis shows how one executive speaking at a forum sponsored by the JC Penney Company, a US department store chain, used a reference opening in his speech.

I’m honoured to have been invited to represent the credit-reporting industry in this discussion of consumer credit. At the outset, I want to commend the JC Penney organisation for its sponsorship of this forum. I can recall many years ago reading about the late JC Penney. He was a dynamic man whose success in building one of the great retail enterprises of all time is testimony to the enormous potential of a free economic system. Mr Penney was also a man whose concern for people and society was apparent throughout his long and productive life.

Another example of a reference opening is found in 50 High Impact Speeches and Remarks by Michael Kador. He shows how Michael Askew, Vice Chairman of United Parcel Service, used a reference opening when he spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Air & Waste Management Association.

It is truly an honour to be addressing an organisation that has done so much to further our understanding of the environment. And you’ve done so in a way that promotes working cooperation among businesses, governments and communities.

What I find most impressive is that you’ve been doing this for 92 years. You don’t stick around 92 years unless you’re doing something right. We’re very aware of that at UPS.

In fact, the Air & Waste Management Association and UPS probably have more in common than you might think. For starters, we each were both founded way back in 1907 at a time when most environmental philosophies governing business and society were fledgling, at best.

This opening highlights what the speaker’s company has in common with the organisation he is addressing. It was a fortunate coincidence that both were founded in the same year, but you can usually find some point that connects you, or your organisation, to the audience.

As mentioned, location can be the basis for a reference opening. The following example from Dowis shows how an executive based in Atlanta used a location reference to connect with his audience in Chicago.

It’s good to be here in the company of such distinguished men and women in the great city of Chicago. Back in Atlanta, we refer to Chicago as the ‘other city the works.’ Chicago and Atlanta do have a great deal in common, quite apart from being the economic and cultural capitals of their respective regions of the country. Atlanta was burned in 1864 by a Yankee general named Sherman; Chicago was burned in 1871 by Mrs O’Leary’s cow.

Dowis also shows how to use literary references in a speech opening to connect with the speech topic. An executive of a forest products company used a literary reference when speaking to the company’s shareholders.

Dr Pangloss, a character in Voltaire’s Candide, was fond of the statement: “All’s for the best in the best of all possible worlds.”

Well, in the field of for-sale residential construction, in finance, and in many other areas for which I have responsibility, we are close to, if not in, the best of all possible worlds.

If you’re having trouble finding a reference opening to help you connect with your audience, you can always try using the date of your presentation as a reference. Sites such as Today-In-History (http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/) list important events, births and deaths that occurred on each day of the year. You might be able to find an event that is relevant to your speech topic or audience in some way.

The options for creating an effective reference opening are as boundless as your imagination and creativity. Writing an effective reference opening requires thought, planning and research. The effort spent, however, will help you get your messages across to receptive and attentive audiences.

What is Rhetoric?

Rhetoric is the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion. In the Western world, rhetoric originated with the Ancient Greeks who defined and developed the techniques that are used to this day.

Let’s look at a few important rhetorical techniques and how they can be applied in speechwriting to express messages clearly and effectively.

 Rule of Three

One of the most common and effective rhetorical devices is called the rule of three, or triad.

When using the rule of three, you include three equal elements in a sentence or series of sentences. Here are a few examples.

Veni, vidi, vici. (I came, I saw, I conquered.)

Julius Caesar

Government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

 I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.

 Franklin D Roosevelt

Barack Obama often uses the rule of three in his speeches.

That’s what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks.

Barack Obama

Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

Barack Obama

The rule of three can also be applied on a larger scale in speeches. For example, you can reveal three interesting facts, tell three anecdotes in succession, or ask three questions in a row.

Anaphora

Anaphora is the technique of emphasising words by repeating them at the beginning of adjacent clauses or sentences.  

In one of the most memorable political speeches from World War II, Winston Churchill used anaphora with great effect.

We shall go on to the end,

we shall fight in France,

we shall fight on the seas and oceans,

we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,

we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,

we shall fight on the beaches,

we shall fight on the landing grounds,

we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

we shall fight in the hills;

we shall never surrender…

 Hillary Clinton used anaphora in her speech to the US Democratic National Convention in 1996.

To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family; it takes teachers; it takes clergy; it takes business people; it takes community leaders; it takes those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us.

To writers and editors unfamiliar with rhetoric, this sentence would seem wordy. For a written format they might edit this sentence to read:

To raise a happy, healthy, and hopeful child, it takes a family, teachers, clergy, business people, community leaders, and those who protect our health and safety. It takes all of us.

But the repetition plays an important role. Repeating  ‘it takes’ emphasises individual points and gives listeners time to reflect on each one.

 Paul Keating used anaphora in his Redfern Address of 1993

Imagine if ours was the oldest culture in the world and we were told that it was worthless.

Imagine if we had resisted this settlement, suffered and died in the defence of our land, and then were told in history books that we had given up without a fight.

Imagine if non-Aboriginal Australians had served their country in peace and war and were then ignored in history books.

Imagine if our feats on sporting fields had inspired admiration and patriotism and yet did nothing to diminish prejudice.

Imagine if our spiritual life was denied and ridiculed.

Imagine if we had suffered the injustice and then were blamed for it.

Barack Obama uses anaphora to persuade and motivate his listeners. This example is from the speech where he announced his presidential candidacy in 2007.

Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let’s make college more affordable, let’s invest in scientific research, and let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.

It has been said that Australian audiences prefer a simpler approach and are cynical towards rhetorical language. Kevin Rudd expressed this sentiment when he said, ‘By way of personal instinct, I have an inherent distaste for grandiose rhetorical statements, which don’t have any substantive dimension to them’.

But rhetorical techniques are found in many speeches by Australian political and business leaders. Kevin Rudd’s apology speech to the Stolen Generations, which was delivered in Parliament in February 2008, included several of these.

In the beginning of the speech, he used epistrophe (also called antistrophe). This is when a word or phrase is repeated at the end of each sentence or clause.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

Prime Minister Rudd used anaphora to conclude the speech.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

 A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Antithesis, Simile, Metaphor and Analogy

Antithesis is when contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a sentence.

Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

John F Kennedy

If we are going to make the investments we need, we also have to be willing to shed the spending that we don’t need.

Barack Obama

A simile is when you compare things that share at least one attribute. Similes usually include the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Education is like a diamond with many facets.

Ronald Reagan

Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Carl Sandburg

A metaphor compares one thing to another, but describes the thing being compared as if it were the other.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of a nation into the beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

Martin Luther King

Nationalism is both a vital medicine and a dangerous drug.

Geoffrey Blainey

An analogy is an extended metaphor or long simile.

Politicians are a lot like diapers; you should change them frequently and for the same reason. Keep that in mind next time you vote.

Robin Williams in Man of the Year

Analogies can be helpful when explaining complex ideas or technical processes in a speech. An executive with an Australian IT company used the following analogy to explain a challenging project.

Updating the telecommunications software was like changing an engine on a 767 jet at 37,000 feet. We were changing one of the engines and needed to ensure that the plane kept running and didn’t fly around in circles.

Rhetorical techniques such as the rule of three, anaphora, epistrophe, simile and metaphor have been used in speechwriting for over two thousand years. Besides engaging audience members, they can make interesting ‘sound bites’ that are more likely to be quoted in the media and remembered.

Although rhetoric is an ancient way to persuade through language, it is equally relevant today. Speechwriters who understand rhetoric and how to apply it skilfully can enhance the credibility of leaders while making their messages more memorable.

Note: This article originally appeared in the Resources section of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) website.

Public Speaking Tips from a Champion

David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking has taught over 10,000 business people to communicate with humour, style and substance. In 2006, he spoke Toastmasters conventions in Australia and offered the following seven basic tips for memorable and effective speaking.

·        Seek out friendly faces in your audience. Much of the fear of public speaking comes from the false belief that audiences want speakers to fail. In reality, some people are less expressive, so they look uninterested. Finding friendly faces and making eye contact will give you comfort and energy when public speaking.

·        Determine what you want your audience to think, feel or do. When public speaking you should have at least one of the following basic purposes: to inspire, to inform, to persuade and/or entertain.

·        Bring your words to life with colourful imagery. Word pictures will make your public speaking more memorable.

·        Before speaking in public, write your speech word for word. Once you have written you speech, you can edit for economy and precision. According to Brooks, “Writing encourages content, and content should be king.” This doesn’t mean that you memorise your speech, but practise it until you are comfortable.

·        David Brooks quotes Bill Gove, a master public speaking trainer. Gove says, “Make a point, tell a story.” People will remember your points better if they are combined with a stories. “Facts tell, stories sell.”

·        Use stories that evoke the universal emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, disgust and fear. Stories don’t have to be about monumental achievements or disasters – ones from personal experience are best when public speaking.

·        Never underestimate the power of laughter when public speaking. People are relaxed when they laugh. When they are relaxed, they can learn. You don’t need to tell jokes – humorous stories from personal experience are more effective than jokes.

For an effective and memorable speeches, follow the seven recommendations of David Brooks, the World Champion of Public Speaking.

Copywriting is the process of writing the words that promote a person, business, opinion, or idea. It can be used as written text, as a radio or television ad, or in a variety of other media.

The main purpose of writing marketing copy or promotional text is to persuade the listener or reader to act — to buy a product or subscribe to a certain viewpoint. Alternatively, copy can be used to dissuade a reader from a particular belief or action.

This is a fairly broad definition of copywriting. It goes beyond the obvious forms of copywriting you might think of. In the last post, I wrote about high-profile direct response copywriters who claim to hold the secrets of copywriting (if you pay them substantial sums for their seminars). But direct response copywriting (such as sales letters) is only one facet of copywriting.

According to the above definition of copywriting, speech writing can be a form of copywriting. Many speeches are aimed at persuading audiences to take a particular action, or not do something that is thought to be undesirable.

Copywriting and sales

Copywriting is closely associated with sales. A definitive book on copywriting – The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly – opens with a quote from an advertising executive who said, ‘A copywriter is a salesperson behind a typewriter’. The book was first published in the mid 1980s and is still completely relevant. But today we would say, ‘A copywriter is a salesperson in front of a computer’. 

Yes, copywriting is about sales. But you may not be selling a product or service – you may be selling an image, idea, brand, or something else that is intangible. If you look at the website of a large company such as IBM, they aren’t selling their products on their home page. They offer a big picture about their company and what they do. They’re selling the idea that they are a reliable and innovative company. When you drill down to the Solutions and Products pages the copy is more sales oriented, but it isn’t the type of copy you’d use to sell a consumer product through a mail order campaign.

So the style of copy needs to be tailored to the types of products or services you sell, your goal and your audience.

In the next post, I’ll look at the indirect approach to copywriting and how it can be used effectively in many situations.

See you next time.

Welcome to our new blog.

In the coming months and years we’ll be covering a diverse range of topics on all forms of written communication for business. We’ll divide these into four main categories: copywriting, speech writing, business writing, editing and proofreading. During the next five weeks ─ through the end of January 2009 ─ we’ll be looking at copywriting.

There is a lot of confusion about copywriting. Many business people don’t have a clear understanding about copywriting and its importance. I’ve met small and medium business owners and managers who are surprised that an outside company or individual would offer to write copy for their business. Some are even surprised that such a service exists. One of their first questions is, ‘How can you write about our business if you’re not in our business?’ Others confuse the term copywriting with copyright, a legal concept for protecting intellectual property.

On the other hand, there are professional copywriters who have a very narrow definition of copywriting. They think that the only good copywriting is direct response copywriting. These are the copywriting gurus who offer to teach you copywriting in a weekend ─ for the special price of $6,000 for a three-day course. You’ll learn all the copywriting secrets and become tremendously successful in a very short time.  

In the coming months I’ll cover copywriting from the ground up. The first step will be to give you a solid definition of copywriting. Then we’ll look at the different types of copy to determine which style is best for your product, your service and your organisation.

 See you soon!