Your use of language in your speech will have an immediate effect on how audience members perceive you. To make that effect positive—to be seen as a competent and credible speaker—you’ll want to use language that is appropriate, accurate, assertive, and respectful.

Use Words Appropriately

The language you use in a speech should be appropriate to the audience, the occasion, and the subject matter. As a rule, audience members will expect you to uphold the conventional rules of grammar and usage associated with General American (GA) English, but as prepared for the ear. The more formal the occasion, the closer you will want to remain within these conventional bounds. Listeners view speakers who use General American English as more competent—though not necessarily more trustworthy or likable—than those who speak in a distinctive dialect (regional variation of speech).¹¹

There are obviously times, however, when it may be appropriate to mix casual language, dialects, a second language, or even slang in your speech. Done sensitively, the selective use of these elements, called code-switching, can encourage identification and imbue your speech with friendliness, humor, earthiness, honesty, and nostalgia.¹² The key is to ensure that your meaning is clear and your use is appropriate for the audience. Consider the following excerpt:

On the gulf where I was raised, el valle del Rio Grande in South Texas—that triangular piece of land wedged between the river y el golfo which serves as the Texas–U.S./Mexican border—is a Mexican pueblito called Hargill.¹³

An important aspect of using language appropriately is avoidance of the “shock jock” syndrome—an informal term for a radio host who uses suggestive language, bathroom humor, and obscene references. These (ab)uses of language are never appropriate in a public speech event. Even those audience members who otherwise might not object to off-color material will react to it unfavorably.

Use Words Accurately

Audiences lose confidence in speakers who misuse words. Check that your words mean what you intend, and beware of the malapropism—the inadvertent use of a word or a phrase in place of one that sounds like it¹⁴ (“It’s a strange receptacle” for “It’s a strange spectacle”).

More broadly, choose words that are both denotatively and connotatively appropriate for the audience. The denotative meaning of a word is its literal, or dictionary, definition. Although some concrete words have mainly denotative meanings—surgery and saline, for example—through long use most words have acquired special associations that go beyond their dictionary definitions. The connotative meaning of a word is the special (often emotional) association that different people bring to bear on it. For example, you may agree that you are “angry” but not “irate,” and “thrifty” but not “cheap.” Consider how the connotative meanings of your word choices might affect the audience’s response to your message, including those of non-native speakers of English.

Use the Active Voice

Speaking in the active rather than passive voice will make your statements clear and assertive instead of indirect and weak. Voice is the feature of verbs that indicates the subject’s relationship to the action. A verb is in the active voice when the subject performs the action, and in the passive voice when the subject is acted upon or is the receiver of the action:

Use Culturally Sensitive and Gender-Neutral Language

Be alert to using language that reflects respect for audience members’ cultural beliefs, norms, and traditions. Review and eliminate any language that reflects unfounded assumptions, negative descriptions, or stereotypes of a given group’s age, class, gender, disability, geographic, ethnic, racial, or religious characteristics. Consider, too, whether certain seemingly well-known names and terms may be foreign to some listeners, and include brief explanations for them. Sayings specific to a certain region or group of people (termed colloquial expressions or idioms), such as “back the wrong horse” and “ballpark figure,” can add color and richness to a speech, but only if listeners understand them.

Word your speech with gender-neutral language: Avoid using third-person generic masculine pronouns (his, he) in favor of inclusive pronouns such as his or her, he or she, we, ours, you, your, or other gender-neutral terms (see Table 16.3).