How to Hold an Audience in the Palm of Your Hand! Part 5

Insert the ‘white spaces’

One of the things that makes a good advertisement is the amount of white space surrounding the words. Advertising writers know that ads are easier to read when there is lots of white space to balance the words.

And so it is with speeches. If you try to add emphasis to your words and insert the white spaces by way of pauses, giving people time to think, you will certainly contribute markedly to the effec­tiveness of your speech.

The English language is beauti­ful and rich. It has apt words to convey the exact meaning you want. Be objective and work your way through the speech, making sure that you are using the simple words that express exactly the shade of meaning you want. Be careful to avoid repeating the same words. Use your Thesaurus to find variations of words you want, to give the vividness that good speeches contain.

Another very useful trick is to employ the occasional alliteration. Alliteration is the technique of using phrases made up of words beginning with the same letter. This endows the speech with magic and emphasis that really set the message alight. For example, “the greedy, grabbing gnomes of gov­ernment” conveys much more than “the collectors of customs”. Make sure, of course, that you excite the desired sentiment when you use alliteration. Don’t just employ the device for its own sake.