In Chapter 5 on verbal communication, we discuss how to use the cooperative principle to produce understandable messages. This means using language that is as informative, honest, relevant, and clear as required for a particular situation. When composing your speech, use the cooperative principle to ensure that your audience comprehends what you are saying. In addition, you can make an emotional connection with your listeners by using language that’s powerfully descriptive. Malala Yousafzai does this in her speech to the United Nations. When discussing the basis for some of the Taliban’s actions, she could have just said, “The Taliban fears education.” This matter-of-fact statement doesn’t make the idea of “fear” real to her listeners. Instead, she told them about the Taliban’s horrific, fear-based acts:

The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society (Yousafzai, 2013, p. 266).

In her speech, Malala took an abstract term—fear—and used descriptive language to convey vivid images. Picturing the loss of innocent lives would make her audience eager to help fund the education of children. As you compose your speech, think about how the use of descriptive language creates compelling images in your listeners’ minds. The How to Communicate: Emotional Appeals feature on pages 454–455 provides specific steps for developing emotional appeals in your speeches.