In his memoir, George Shultz, secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan, tells a story about showing his boss a speech he was about to deliver. Reagan approved it, but then added “Of course, if I were giving that speech, it would be different.”

The text [he told Shultz] had been written to be read in the New York Times, not to be spoken aloud. Flipping through the manuscript, Reagan penciled in a few changes and marked out the section that contained, or should contain, the “story.” Nothing of substance was altered, but, writes Shultz, “I saw that he had changed the tone of my speech completely.”¹

While Shultz was a competent enough speaker, Reagan, whose nickname was “the Great Communicator,” awed audiences with his folksy anecdotes and engaging tone. A master of the spoken word, President Reagan was keenly aware that speeches require an oral style—the use of language that is simpler, more repetitious, more rhythmic, and more interactive than written language.² An oral style is particularly important because unlike readers, listeners have only one chance to get the message.

The next time you listen to a speech or even a classroom presentation, consider how the speaker’s language differs from that of this textbook. Here are some things you are likely to note:

Keeping these differences between oral and written language in mind, consider how you can use the following guidelines to write your speeches to be heard rather than read.

Strive for Simplicity

To make certain that your audience understands you, focus on expressing things simply, without pretentious language or unnecessary jargon. When selecting between two synonyms, choose the simpler term. For example, avoid showy and/or empty terms such as extrapolate for “guess” and utilize for “use.” And unless the audience consists solely of the professionals who use it, translate jargon—the specialized, “insider” language of a given profession—into commonly understood terms. As the celebrated presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan notes in her book Simply Speaking:

Good hard simple words with good hard clear meanings are good things to use when you speak. They are like pickets in a fence, slim and unimpressive on their own but sturdy and effective when strung together.³

The late William Safire, another master speechwriter, put it this way:

Great speeches steer clear of forty-dollar words. Big words, or terms chosen for their strangeness—I almost said “unfamiliarity”—are a sign of pretension. What do you do when you have a delicious word, one with a little poetry in it, that is just the right word for the meaning—but you know it will sail over the head of your audience? You can use it, just as FDR used “infamy,” and thereby stretch the vocabulary of your listeners. But it is best if you subtly define it in passing, as if you were adding emphasis.⁴

Be Concise

Concise wording is another feature of effective oral style. Edit any unnecessary words and phrases, bearing in mind that, in general, easy-to-pronounce words and shorter sentences are more readily understood. Use contractions—“I’ll” instead of “I will”—and other shortened forms of the verb to be in conjunction with pronouns (I, he, she, you, we). Contractions reflect how the English language is actually spoken. Thus rather than

I am so happy to be here today. I will first turn . . .

say,

I’m happy to be here. I’ll first turn . . .

Experiment with Phrases and Sentence Fragments

Although they are often avoided in written language, phrases and sentence fragments in place of full sentences may help to communicate an oral message. This speaker, a physician, demonstrates how they can add punch to a speech:

I’m just a simple bone-and-joint guy. I can set your broken bones. Take away your bunions. Even give you a new hip. But I don’t mess around with the stuff between the ears. . . . That’s another specialty.⁵

Make Frequent Use of Repetition

Repetition is key to oral style, serving to compensate for natural lapses in listening and to reinforce information. Indeed, even very brief speeches make use of this extremely important linguistic device. Repetition adds emphasis to important ideas, helps listeners follow your logic, and infuses language with rhythm and drama. For examples of how to introduce repetition into your speeches, see “Use Repetition for Rhythm and Reinforcement”.

Use Personal Pronouns

Oral style is more interactive and inclusive of the audience than is written language. After all, the audience and speaker are physically together in the same space. Audience members want to know what the speaker thinks and feels, and to be assured that he or she recognizes them and relates them to the message. The direct form of address, using the personal pronouns such as we, us, I, and you, helps to create this feeling of recognition and inclusion. Note how Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, uses personal pronouns to begin a speech on why there are too few women leaders:

So for any of us in this room today, let’s start out by admitting we’re lucky. We don’t live in the world our mothers lived in, our grandmothers lived in, where career choices for women were so limited. And if you’re in this room today, most of us grew up in a world where we had basic civil rights, and amazingly, we still live in a world where some women don’t have them. But all that aside, we still have a problem, and it’s a real problem. And the problem is this: Women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world.⁶