Definition and skills of speech

Speech, also known as speech or speech, refers to a kind of language communication activity in public, in which vocal language is the main means and body language is the auxiliary means, aiming at a specific problem, clearly and completely expressing one's views and opinions, clarifying things or expressing emotions, and carrying out propaganda and agitation. The following is the definition and skills of my speech. Let's have a look.

What is the core and essence of a speech?

What is the core of the speech? If you strip off the so-called speech skills such as clothing, appearance, glib mouth, eloquent speech, body movements, intonation, audience interaction and so on. In fact, these so-called skills are rubbish. If your speech lacks the real core, it must be valuable and thoughtful to the audience. The essence of speech is the power of thought, and the core of speech is the transmission of value.

Many people often ignore the core of the speech and blindly pursue other skills, gorgeous rhetoric or jokes. If your speech ideas are emphasized and meaningful enough, giving up skills is equally shocking. If you only have bluffing skills, even if you fool the audience, you will eventually be despised and forgotten because of the lack of ideological strength and value.

So once again, no matter what kind of speech topic you face, you should make your speech content rich in audience value and profound and powerful thoughts. This is the great idea conveyed in the great speech of the great man.

You can call yourself a nobody, but no one has ideas and values to share with others. Then the next question is how to improve their own connotation and make their views and arguments more thoughtful. In this regard, I encourage everyone to make daily efforts, read more books, think more, discuss more, learn more, communicate more, sum up more reflections, and at the same time, keep your eyes open and look for inspiration and thinking from all kinds of things. All these efforts will also make you more confident!

Telling stories conveys ideas.

With good ideological strength, how to make it easier for the audience to pay attention and understand when giving a speech? Studies have shown that listeners will soon get sleepy and turn their attention to things they don't understand. Simply put, the human brain will resist what it doesn't understand. Therefore, as a speaker, it is necessary to carry and convey ideas and speech themes through vivid metaphors and easy-to-understand "stories".

Logical syllogism

Clear logic is equally important for a good speech. The logic of the speech is embodied in the structural outline of the whole speech.

What I use the most and find concise and effective is the classic argumentative essay "Syllogism". The first part of the structure, the opening point introduces the background, in short, it means to come straight to the point or ask questions; The second part, the organizational content logically supports and expounds the idea of opening the topic, that is, putting facts to reason or solving problems; The last part summarizes the whole sublimation theme, emphasizes desire and ends the speech.

Language art

With a strong thought, can you really be fascinating by explaining your little story through syllogism? At this time, language art is needed. There are many specialized courses in this field, and everyone has learned a lot in Chinese.

The following are some common ways for tigers:

1) Ask yourself and answer yourself: arouse the audience to think. Here, we must ask introspective and touching questions. These issues are influential and representative. Then, while the audience is still thinking, you firmly state the answer;

2) Special emphasis on important points: I will directly express the particularly important and important points in my speech, saying that a certain point is important, why, why.

3) The use of parallelism: This rhetoric strongly encourages the colorful presentation of ideas and speeches, or a beautiful and influential ending.

Mouth sound control

Our speech is interpreted by speaking, so a beautiful, rich, clear and magnetic sound field will infect and inspire the audience when expounding your thoughts. Although not everyone has a good voice, we must remember that "what we say is what we do". If your thoughts are sincere and your speech is sincere, these firm signals from the heart will definitely infect the audience. You can look for Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream, which is absolutely charming and religious. Tiger wants to share another article about voice control. However, from the conventional voice control skills, we can abide by a basic rule: the more important the content, the more voice should convey control, and at the same time, we can express our views word by word. As long as you are sincere and attentive enough, the audience can feel it. In addition, practicing reciting can improve the ability of language and voice control. The sentence summarized here: speak sincerely and interpret sincerely!

Limb infection

If you have seen Lenin's speeches and so on, they will wave their arms generously to strengthen their speech power. This aspect will vary greatly due to personal style. The basic advice is that if you use body infection, you should express your style freely, calmly and sincerely.

Eye contact

When giving a speech, the speaker should look at the audience generously. The secret is to keep eye contact with all the audience areas during the speech. From the beginning to the end of the speech, look them in the eyes one by one, so that every audience feels that you have seen him. Of course, don't glance around, look erratic, and of course don't blink at the audience, because it's too shocking.

Interact with the audience from beginning to end

You should interact with the audience at the beginning of the speech and attract the audience to participate and share from the beginning. The typical way is to make a field trip or ask interesting questions for you to answer.

Practice! Practice! Practice again

Many people don't know anything as soon as they come to power. Practice makes perfect is an eternal truth. It is recommended that important speeches be rehearsed for more than 9 times and ordinary speeches for 5 times. The more carefully you rehearse, the more effective and valuable your harvest will be. In addition, please invite a few friends to be listeners, and at the same time, it is best to record the whole speech process with a mobile phone or DV camera, and then play it back, analyze and improve it repeatedly. Tiger personally instructed several colleagues to improve in this way, which was very effective.

Some tips

* Watch more videos of celebrity speeches and rehearse the texts of celebrity speeches. Tigers have also recited many famous speeches at historical moments, which will be very beneficial. For example, speeches or speeches at the level of heads of state are good references.

* Walk on the stage with forceful steps, hold your head high, maintain your dignity and show your youthful demeanor.

* Dress according to the occasion, and most of them encourage formal dress or dress according to the occasion.

Self-confidence is very important, however, self-confidence comes from an artist's boldness. Only by exercising and improving the ability to speak hard can self-confidence and speaking complement each other.

* It is a common and effective method to quote the famous sayings and classics of the master appropriately to echo the theme of the speech and support the viewpoints and conclusions. It also requires everyone to pay attention to accumulation and promotion at ordinary times, so that it will not be bad to use.

* Don't underestimate the wisdom of the audience. Repeated explanations of common sense questions will bore the audience.

* Keep it short. Can you sum up your speech in one sentence? This is a powerful verification of the core concept.

Definition and skills of speech Section 2 What is a speech?

Speech refers to the real social activity process in which the speaker expresses his opinions on a certain issue or expounds a certain matter and exchanges information with a wide audience, with oral language as the main form and non-verbal language as the auxiliary form. Also called a speech or a speech.

As a charming oral expression, speech has increasingly become a world fashion, and it is an indispensable part of political competition, business competition, talent selection and daily social interaction in modern society. In today's western society, eloquence, dollar and computer have become "three strategic weapons", and eloquence is at the top of the three weapons, which shows the important role of eloquence in today's western society. In China, oral English classes have gradually entered the modern classroom, and various English speaking competitions have emerged constantly, setting off an "English speaking craze".

A speech must meet the following four conditions: speaker, audience, media, time and environment. Leaving any of these conditions does not constitute a speech. The means of verbal communication include: vocal language, body language and subject image.

Audio language is the most important means of expression in speech activities. It consists of two elements: language and sound. It carries thoughts and emotions with flowing voice, and directly appeals to the hearing organs of the audience. It requires clear and accurate pronunciation, clear, round and sweet voice, and changeable timbre, intonation, voice and rhythm.

Body language is the speaker's posture, movements, gestures and expressions. It is a flowing body movement, supplemented by audio language, carrying thoughts and feelings and directly appealing to the audience's visual organs. It requires accuracy, vividness, naturalness and coordination.

The subject image refers to the speaker's figure, appearance, clothes, hairstyle and manners. The beauty and ugliness of the subject image directly affect the expression of the speaker's thoughts and feelings. It requires the speaker to pay attention to simple and decent decoration, chic and elegant manners, and give the audience a beautiful external image on the premise of conforming to the thoughts and feelings of the speech.

It must be pointed out that if the speech only "speaks" without "acting" and only acts on the audience's auditory organs without acting on the audience's visual organs, there will be a lack of moving subject images and performance activities; If there is only "performance" without "speaking", it only acts on the audience's organs, not on the audience's hearing organs. Therefore, both are indispensable and complement each other. However, the harmony between acting and speaking must be based on speaking, supplemented by acting, and acting must be based on speaking, otherwise it will lose its meaning. Now, the essence of speech can be defined as a realistic information exchange activity in which the speaker expresses his views and emotions in a specific situation, aiming at the reality and future of society, facing the broad audience and using the artistic means of audio language and body language to inspire the audience and urge them to act.

So, what are the characteristics of the speech?

The first is its reality. This is because speech belongs to the category of real activities. Does not belong to the category of artistic activities. It is a practical activity in which the speaker directly publicly states his views and opinions to a wide audience through the judgment and evaluation of social reality. The second is artistry. The artistry here is the art of real activities. Its artistry is the art of real activities. Its artistry lies in its sense of unity and coordination, that is, various factors in speech (language, voice, performance, image, time and environment) form an interdependent and coordinated aesthetic feeling. At the same time, speech is not only a real activity, but also has some characteristics of drama, folk art, dance, sculpture and other art categories, and is integrated with speech to form a speech activity with independent characteristics.

The third is its agitation. If there is no agitation, it is not a speech. No matter whether it is a political speech or an academic speech, there must be strong agitation. This is because:

First, all honest people have a desire to pursue truth, goodness and beauty. When the speaker spreads truth, goodness and beauty, it will naturally arouse * * * and inspire and inspire the audience. Second, the speaker uses his fiery feelings to trigger the emotional fire of the audience, which is easy to achieve the purpose of influencing the audience.

Third, the image, language, emotion and posture of the speaker, as well as the structure, rhythm and plot of his speech, can capture the audience.

Fourth, the intuition of the speech makes it communicate directly with the audience, which is very easy to infect and impress the audience. It can be said that excitement is a sign of the success of the speech.

The fourth is its instrumentality. Speech is not only a science, but also a tool for people to exchange ideas. Any thought, any knowledge, any invention and creation can be spread through words. It can be said that pronunciation is the most economical, practical and convenient communication tool that anyone can use.

Above, we talked about the essence and characteristics of the speech. In actual speech activities, there are two tendencies that deserve attention. First, some speakers only "talk" but not "do", only pay attention to the practicality of the speech and ignore the artistry of the speech, which makes the speech nondescript and boring, thus weakening the effect of the speech. Second, some speakers blindly "perform" excessively, and pursue artistic performance skills such as cross talk, storytelling, recitation and stories, which downplays the authenticity, practicality and seriousness of the speech and makes it look funny and awkward and fail to play its due role. These two tendencies must be seriously overcome.

Section 2 Classification of speeches

From the way of speaking, it can be roughly summarized into five kinds, namely, reading aloud, reciting (or off-script), outlining, impromptu and debating.

(1) Improvised speech: refers to a speech that is organized temporarily without adequate preparation before the speech, which can be active or passive. The so-called initiative refers to the publication without external force to promote and supervise, and the spokesman is generally the moderator of the meeting. If you host a lecture, you should introduce the content, purpose and speaker of the meeting; Such as holding welcome parties, farewell parties, tea parties and festive banquets. We should make opening remarks and some impromptu speeches. The so-called passivity means that the speaker has no intention to make a speech, but is forced to make a speech temporarily under the impetus of external forces (such as the urging of the host).

(2) impromptu speech: use a small number of words or keywords to make a speech.

(3) Reading according to the manuscript: that is, preparing and reading the speech according to the manuscript. Its advantage is that the speaker can carefully consider and scrutinize the content in advance, so that the written speech is rigorous in structure and proper in words. So it is more suitable for more important scenes. For example, the government work report of the National People's Congress, the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the welcome speech to the distinguished guests and so on. Its disadvantage is that the speaker looks down at the manuscript and keeps his eyes fixed on the manuscript paper, which limits the emotional communication between the speaker and the audience.

(4) Recalled speech: that is, the draft has been written, recited and finally recited. It is the most widely used way in China speech contest. Its advantage is that the speaker can make the speech carefully in advance, then practice it carefully, recite it repeatedly and recite it by heart. Only when he is sure, can he give a speech on the stage. This method is more suitable for beginners. The disadvantage of this method is that because the speaker has made detailed and careful preparations for the expression of oral language and body language in advance, there are often traces of performance in formal speeches, and even people feel grandstanding and affectation.

(5) Speech according to the memorandum: It doesn't require the speaker to write a complete speech word by word, just write down the hierarchical structure of the speech in the form of an outline, and then make a speech with the help of the outline. Its characteristic is that it can avoid the defects of reading and reciting speeches-too little emotional communication with the audience; According to several principled outlines, the speaker immediately expanded and expounded the theme. It is realistic that he can adjust the content of his speech according to the audience's reaction and other on-site conditions. In addition, according to the memorandum, the speech also maintains the advantages of reading and reciting the speech-the content of the speech can be prepared in advance. You can have some time to collect materials and consider the main points and argumentation methods of your speech, but you don't have to write the full text. Instead, you can use the outline method to sort out the structural levels and main examples of the whole speech in concise sentences, so that you can use it to open your mind when you speak.

The third section summarizes the differences between Chinese and English speeches.

I. Structural layout

Generally speaking, the structure of English pronunciation is clearer than that of Chinese pronunciation. English speeches often put forward the theme at the beginning, which is simple and clear, and then like to discuss it with some specific facts. Some ideas are often naturally accepted by the audience in the form of storytelling. Even a very formal political speech will list many facts and give many examples. For example, in his inaugural speech, President Reagan simply expressed his determination to do his best to live up to expectations, and then used examples. He recalled the Washington era, from thirteen states to fifty states now, from four million people to more than two hundred million people now, great inventions and creations, and the exploration of the moon. He didn't use boring slogans to show his determination, but remembered the past, compared the present, let the facts speak for themselves, and was full of confidence in the continued prosperity of the United States. Comparatively speaking, the examples used in Chinese speech are not as many as those used in English speech, and the position of the topic is not as fixed as that in English. There are often many modifiers and big articles on the topic of China's speeches, trying to inspire people. In English speech, putting the facts in front can quickly attract the audience. If there are many slogans at the beginning, the audience's appetite will be enough. In the process of discussion, English handouts often have simple arguments and attach importance to "let the facts speak for themselves". English class notes are often a brief summary of the whole article at the end, reaffirming the theme. At this time, the reaffirmation has a deepening effect, and raised hope or left a thought-provoking question. At the end of Chinese speech, there are similarities with English, but there may be many series of appeal slogans. The main differences in the above structural layout are related to the different ways of thinking and writing habits of Chinese and Western people.

Second, choose words and make sentences

A Chinese speech often contains many idioms and quotations. Listeners often find the speaker knowledgeable and are surprised by his flowery words. In the eyes of British and American people, they don't appreciate the use of idioms and proverbs, because on the one hand, they think they have become cliches and nothing new. On the other hand, why can't the speaker put the facts and truth in his own words and borrow others' words like parrots? In the aspect of sentence-making, metaphor, association and other skills are widely used in English speech. For example, Martin Luther King once said in his famous speech "I have a dream":

When the founders of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they signed a promissory note that every American would inherit. This note is a promise that all people, yes, blacks and whites, will be guaranteed "inalienable rights" of "life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness."

When the founders of this country wrote the grand constitution and the declaration of independence, they wrote a promissory note, which every American should inherit. This promissory note is a promise to everyone, not only whites, but also blacks. Everyone has an inalienable right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

He thought of promissory notes in the economic field from the political fields such as constitution and declaration, which is very close to the life of the American people. And the shadow of the promissory note will immediately appear in the audience's mind, and the picture will be dynamic. Such a vivid metaphor can be memorable even after the speech. He added:

I have a dream that one day on the red hill in Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together and share brotherhood; …

I have a dream that one day on the red hill in Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together as brothers.

How many days or even years have passed, most of the contents of the speech will be forgotten, especially slogans, and only those vivid pictures containing the "soul" of the speech will remain in people's minds forever and achieve lasting results.

Third, tone and attitude.

China has always advocated the virtue of modesty, so some speakers often say "I don't have any eloquence" and "I'm embarrassed", which is false and superfluous to westerners: if you really have the ability to speak, why do you say something without eloquence? If you really have no eloquence, why do you stand up and make a fool of yourself? Therefore, different values and morals have different tone and attitude. In spoken Chinese, we can often hear such statements as "we should", "we must" and "we must", which are increasingly ignored in English. Because people are tired of the tone of discipline, the more they say "must" and "must", the more they will rebel. In addition, the audience will suspect that the speaker has no real evidence and will only shout slogans in vain, lacking credibility. Therefore, "we should …" and "we must …" are rarely used in English, even in persuasive speeches. Here, one thing is basically the same in Chinese and English, because it is very important, so I would like to mention by the way, that is, address people kindly, speak in an appropriate way, and narrow the distance with the audience. As listeners, they understand the speaker according to their own knowledge, experience, experience, values and feelings. In order to avoid alienation, speakers often use "friends" and "all of us" to keep in line with the audience. The speaker contacted the audience ideologically, tolerated the audience, and then influenced the audience, making the audience accept the speaker's point of view invisibly.

Fourth, facial expressions and movements.

Whether in Chinese or English, we pay great attention to the loudness of our voices, grasp the priorities and cadence. The expression changes naturally with the change of content. It is easy for people who speak in their mother tongue to understand the emotional color of sentences, but it is more difficult for people who speak in a foreign language to deeply understand the emotional color of words. As a result, when some people speak in a foreign language, their expressions are numb and even inconsistent with the content. For example, when it comes to sadness, the expression is indifferent, and when it comes to humor, the expression is confused. Speech is not only a verbal expression, but also a non-verbal way, such as the expression just mentioned, as well as movements, even flexible ways such as charts and music. This not only helps the speaker to express his ideas, but also makes it easier for the audience to accept them. English speakers may use it more in this respect. Of course, this method should not be abused, otherwise it will weaken the theme, and the audience will feel like watching a play, ignoring the content of the speech itself.

It is beneficial for us to study the differences between Chinese and English speeches. On the one hand, we can learn from each other. On the other hand, when speaking in a foreign language, we should master the characteristics of foreign language speech so as not to appear ridiculous and generous.

Section III Introduction of Major English Speech Contest in China

1."CCTV Cup" National English Speech Contest

Competition plan

The contest is divided into four stages, namely: preliminary, semi-final, semi-final and final.

(1) preliminaries: The Foreign Languages Department of the participating schools (i.e. the preliminaries) is responsible for organizing and implementing, and the number of participants in each preliminaries shall not be less than 30. Competition link: the competition can include special speech, impromptu speech, answering questions and so on. Speech topic: The speech on a specific topic can refer to the semi-final topic of the contest, or can be customized (the topic can be selected from the social hot issues concerned by contemporary college students). The topic of impromptu speech is self-determined.

(2) the rematch: the province (city, autonomous region) as a unit, the provinces (city, autonomous region) foreign language teaching research association to undertake. Qualifications: The foreign language teaching and research groups of colleges and universities in all provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) decide on their own the number of places for each preliminary round to enter the semi-finals. Competition: The competition consists of three parts: fixed topic speech, impromptu speech and answering questions. Speech topic: The topic of the semi-final can refer to the fixed topic speech. The topic of impromptu speech is decided by local research associations.

(3) Semifinal:

Qualifications:

Competition link:

1. Topic-fixing speech: Each contestant will make a 3-minute preparation speech (within plus or minus 15 seconds, otherwise points will be deducted), and the contestants can define their own subtitles;

2. impromptu speech. The competition questions are confidential, and the contestants draw questions 15 minutes in advance. Impromptu speech time 3 minutes;

3. Answer questions: 1 China experts and 1 foreign experts are responsible for asking questions about the contents of keynote speeches or impromptu speeches, and the answer time is 1 minute respectively. In the stage of thematic speech and impromptu speech, physical objects, pictures and other auxiliary props are allowed, but only one kind of props can be used in a speech;

4. Comprehensive knowledge quick answer: the contest questions are confidential. Players draw the group number of "comprehensive knowledge quick answer" in advance, and answer four questions in this group during the competition, and each question must be answered within 5 seconds. 0.05 points for each question, out of 0.2 points, will be recorded in the total score. Questions and answers are all in English, involving basic knowledge, language knowledge, history and culture, current affairs and so on.

(4) Final:

Competition form:

1. Topic-fixing speech: The topic is to be determined, and the time is 2 minutes;

2. Q&A: Ask questions about speeches on specific topics. The audience asks questions, up to 3 questions, each of which is no more than 30 seconds long;

3. Improvised speech: Use the multiple-choice form played on the big screen to play it twice, plus a 30-second countdown for the players to think about, and then make an impromptu argument. The speaking time is 1 minute. The selected topics and the arguments of the contestants will be brought into the next link;

4. Debate Competition: An expert group of the debate competition was established, which was composed of people from different members and occupations at home and abroad. The expert group will ask the players questions from the opposite angle, and the players should convince each other with their own views.

Definition and skills of speech Article 3 First, let's define the speech.

(1) What is the essence of a speech? It is a serious social practice activity with propaganda and artistic purpose. The speaker is required to face the audience, with audio language as the main expression form and situational language as the auxiliary form, and systematically and clearly clarify his views and opinions.

1, speech is different from recitation.

(1) The categories of speech and recitation are different. Speech belongs to the art of spiritual practice, focusing on propaganda and agitation. Recitation is a performing art, focusing on appreciation.

(2) The theme of the speech is realistic and contemporary. The materials recited have great transcendence.

(3) The speech pays attention to passion and its language is special. There is a lively stage language and a staged life language, and the speech must have a passionate point (climax). Recitation pursues artistic conception, and its language belongs to stage performance language.

This speech is different from the general report. Content, the report focuses on policy, authority and guidance. The speech pays attention to typicality and distinctiveness; Linguistically, the report requires conciseness, emotional expression does not require ups and downs, and the tone is stable. Recitation will have ups and downs. Speech is not a performance, it is a performance. Pay attention to control your emotions. The best speaker is that his tears are in his eyes and the tears of the audience are on his face.

Secondly, we understand the meaning of the speech.

(B) the role of the speech

1. Promotion function: promoting historical change, promoting civilization construction and talent growth.

2. Educational function: it is not only educating others, but also self-education.

3. Aesthetic function: the theme of the speech is truth first, truth, goodness and beauty must be praised, and form, language and posture are required. It makes people feel happy. Listening to a speech is not only the evolution of the soul, but also the sublimation of aesthetics.

(3) Preparation of the speech

1, proposed topic.

There are four purposes: to make people know, to make people believe, to make people walk and to make people happy; There are four basic requirements: appropriate, concise, attractive and pleasing to the ear, and the topic should be even.

2. Title type.

(1) topic type-manly demeanor,

(2) symbolism-raising the sails of life,

(3) implicit-heavy wing,

(4) Awakening-Forward, the giant of the East,

(5) Question setting-where are the talents?

(6) Lyric Party, dear mother.

3. Write a good speech.

No matter what content and object you write, all your speeches must have something, reason and emotion, that is, an organic combination of facts, reason and emotion. We usually evaluate a manuscript and say: This manuscript is too true, but it lacks "emotion", and this manuscript is too empty, but it lacks "facts". Argumentation and lyricism without facts are pale, and facts without lyricism and argumentation are dull.

4. Remember the class notes.

5. Practice by yourself.

6. Stage, opening and stepping down.

You should be full of emotions, confident, steady and natural, and look around the audience. The pitch at the beginning should not be too high, just a little lower. Step down smoothly and avoid "gloating" or "looking tired".

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