Academic Vocabulary: Academic Words - Olsen Amy E. 2012

Chapter 8. Speech

Tips for Any Occasion

Speeches come in various forms. You may need to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience. You may have had weeks or months to prepare, or you may have to give an impromptu speech with little or no time to gather your thoughts. You could give a speech to ten good friends or before thousands of strangers. You might be asked to speak at a wedding or a board meeting. The following are some tips you can use for any kind of speaking engagement.

If it is appropriate to your topic and audience, using levity to begin a speech can help you and your audience to relax. By telling a joke or an amusing anecdote, you may find that you win your audience over in the first few minutes. People enjoy hearing stories, and when the stories are about the speaker, they can be particularly effective.

As you plan your speech, make sure your examples are relevant to your topic. You should use examples that deal with the subject you are talking about. For example, if your speech is on pollution, you will want to give examples of how bad the water supply is or how poor the air quality has become, not tell how you burned a casserole last night. Also, make sure that you check the verity of any statements you make. You want to be accurate in what you say.

Another way to support your statements is by using expert testimony. Find people who are authorities on your topic, and quote them to back up your views. Before you use those people as sources, find out what their credentials are and whether other people in the profession respect them.

Think about the ramifications of your statements. What impact will your comments have on your listeners? Also beware of making derogatory statements. You shouldn't belittle your listeners or make negative statements about gender, race, or other characteristics.

A technique that can make your speech vivid is visualization. Use words that will help listeners see what you are talking about. Describe the people and places that are important to your speech by using sensory details. Tell how something sounded, smelled, or tasted.

Lastly, don't forget a summation that covers your main points. Remember that your closing is your last chance to reach your audience. If there is something you want them to remember, tell them once again. Give your speech a sense of conclusion. Don't leave your audience feeling that something is missing.

Using these simple techniques can help you feel more confident any time you are asked to step up to the podium.

Predicting

For each set, write the definition on the line next to the word to which it belongs. If you are unsure, return to the reading on page 50, and underline any context clues you find. After you've made your predictions, check your answers against the Word List on page 55. Place a checkmark in the box next to each word whose definition you missed. These are the words you'll want to study closely.

Set One

to the point

the quality of being real or correct

a short account

lightness of speech or manner

spontaneous

□ 1. impromptu (line 3) ...

□ 2. levity (line 10) …

□ 3. anecdote (line 11) ...

□ 4. Relevant (line 15) ...

□ 5. verity (line 18) ...

Set Two

proof

developments

insulting

the formation of a mental image

a concluding statement

□ 6. testimony (line 20) ...

□ 7. ramifications (line 24) ...

□ 8. derogatory (line 25) ...

□ 9. visualization (line 27) ...

□ 10. summation (line 30) ...

Self-Tests

1 Match each word with its synonym in Set One and its antonym in Set Two.

Synonyms

Set One

1. summation 

a. image

2. testimony

b. result

3. visualization 

c. addition

4. ramification

d. story

5. anecdote 

e. proof

Antonyms

Set Two

6. verity

f. supportive

7. levity

g. unrelated

8. relevant

h. seriousness

9. derogatory

i. planned

10. impromptu

j. falsehood

2 Finish the sentences. Use each word once.

Vocabulary list

levity

derogatory

testimony

verity

anecdote

impromptu

visualization

relevant

summation

ramification

1. When I want to relax, I use ... to picture myself sleeping in a meadow filled with flowers.

2. My sister told me a fanny ... about trying to get her son to bed.

3. I have to give a(n) ... speech tomorrow; I hope my instructor gives me a subject I know at least a little about.

4. We needed some ... in the room after Steve spent half an hour telling us about his gallbladder operation.

5. I got up and left the meeting when the speaker started to make ... statements about my college.

6. I wanted to believe the man's ..., but the way he kept looking down made me think he was lying.

7. The ... of arriving twenty minutes late didn't occur to me until I looked at the timetable and saw that we would just miss the ferry.

8. I wasn't sure about the ... of the speaker's assertion that the moon is one hundred miles from the Earth.

9. I need to find a book on snakes because I think it will have ... examples for my talk on dangerous animals.

10. In her ..., the mayor reviewed the major plans for the next year of her term.

3 Use the vocabulary words to complete the following analogies. For instructions and practice, see Completing Analogies on page 4.

Vocabulary list

levity

derogatory

testimony

verity

anecdote

impromptu

visualization

relevant

summation

ramification

1. shopper : customer :: story : ...

2. complimentary : you have a beautiful home :: ... : what an ugly house

3. bought a new sweater : purchase :: the sun is hot : ...

4. insult: anger :: joke : ...

5. escape : disappearance : : branching out :______

6. exercise : take a long walk :: ... : picture a sunny beach

7. unconnected : unrelated :: pertinent : ...

8. charity : I gave fifty dollars to the Cancer Society :: ... : I saw him rob the bank

9. intended : planned :: ... : spontaneous

10. first: last:: opening : ...

Identify the two vocabulary words represented in the drawings.

Context Clue Mini-Lesson 3

This lesson uses examples to explain the unknown word. The examples may consist of one illustration of the word or be a list of items. In the paragraph below, circle the examples you find that clarify the meaning of the underlined words. Then use the examples to write your own definitions on the lines next to the words that follow the paragraph.

Lucelia had always been a steadfast friend. She came to visit me daily when I was in the hospital, and she wrote to me weekly when I lived overseas for a year. She had also always been easy to talk to and quite vociferous in her opinions. She never hesitated to tell me what brand to buy or who to vote for. I was, therefore, shocked when she came over one night and refused to say anything. She just sat on my couch trembling. I tried to elicit a response by asking her questions like ''Are you sick?" or "Do you want a cup of tea?" After an hour, she opened up and told me that she had seen an apparition. She had seen her dead grandmother before and that hadn't seemed to bother her much. This time she said she had seen Napoleon, and seeing a famous person had really scared her.

Your Definition

1. Steadfast …

2. Vociferous …

3. Elicit …

4. Apparition …

Interactive Exercise

Pretend that you are preparing a speech on why the cafeteria needs better food. Make your answers to all but Question 10 deal with this topic.

1. Write an anecdote you could begin your speech with.

2. Give two examples that would be relevant to this topic.

3. Who could give expert testimony on food?

4. Explain one way you could check on the verity of the manager's statement: "Providing healthy food is just too expensive for the cafeteria."

5. In using visualization, to which two senses would you want to appeal the most?

6. How could you add levity to your talk?

7. What might be one ramification of your speech?

8. What type of derogatory statement should you avoid using?

9. Write a sentence that would be part of your summation.

10. If you had to give an impromptu talk about something, on what topic would you speak?

Shades of Meaning

Learning new vocabulary is more than learning synonyms. While some words you learn may be similar to other words you know and may be used in place of another word, every word is unique. Good writers choose their words carefully. Words have different shades of meaning, and consci­entious writers think about those differences when picking a word to use. A careful reader also responds to those differences in meaning. In some cases the differences are slight, such as "On Sundays I eat a big dinner" or "On Sundays I eat a large dinner" But replacing "big" or "large" with "huge" or "gigantic" (both synonyms for "big") does alter the image of how much food the person is eating. Some synonyms have even bigger differences. For the sentence, "The clever woman found a way to get out of debt," "clever" could be replaced with the synonyms "smart" or "crafty" The reader would have a different reaction to the woman depending on whether the writer selected "smart" or "crafty." When reading or writing, pay attention to the diverse ways words can be used.

Words to Watch

Which words would you like to practice with a bit more? Pick 3-5 words to study, and list them below. Write the word and its definition, and compose your own sentence using the word correctly. This extra practice could be the final touch to learning a word.