Words are the public speaker’s tools of the trade, and the words you choose to style your speech will play a large role in connecting with your audience. Style is the specific word choices and rhetorical devices (techniques of language) speakers use to express their ideas and achieve their speech purpose.

Used in all its richness, language allows us to visualize an image and even get a sense of sound or smell. Poets and novelists use descriptive language to breathe life into that something or someone and to make their words leap off the page into the reader’s mind. In public speaking, you too can use the evocative power of language to captivate your audience. Carefully choosing the right words and images is crucial to helping listeners understand, believe in, and retain your message.