What makes a speech interesting and memorable? The speaker’s delivery style plays a significant role in drawing the audience in and generating impact. However, if we look at the speech itself the “written text”, this becomes an interesting question. A written text is a “literacy” exercise yet a speech is verbal and therefore it would be important to construct the “written word” in a manner that lends itself to verbal delivery or the “spoken word”.
One possible approach to this is to examine the difference between literate tradition (documenting information in a written format) and oral tradition (documenting information in a verbal format).
In modern society and business we rely heavily on literacy yet when we make speeches we revert to an oral activity. If a speech is “literate” it may result in language and concepts that are purely factual, analytical and abstract. Orality is more emotive, immediate and concrete. Thus, hypothetically, if we implement elements of orality in a speech it may create greater accessibility, impact and could be easier for the audience to relate. We have all, for example, experienced the impact that story-telling has in a speech or presentation and this depicts the impact or “orality”.
Walter Ong, one of the primary scholars who have investigated “orality” has defined “formulaic styling” in orality. These are stylistic characteristics that enable oral societies to retain complex ideas because these package ideas, memorably for easy recall. In the document below elements of the formulaic styling of orality is defined and then illustrated using the following speeches:
• 2008 Victory Speech – Barrack Obama
• “I have a dream” Martin Luther King
• “I am an African” – Thabo Mbeki
1. Additive
This implies that thoughts apply additive clauses rather than subordinate clauses. In other words ideas are stringed together in a manner that creates flow in contrast to syntactically concise written expression. This almost creates one long sentence that contains a string of subjects, which is quite different from written expression.
Examples:
“I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.” – Mbeki
“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled” – Obama
2. Aggregative
This refers to the fact that oral tradition expresses in thought that is aggregative rather than analytical. Therefore words are coupled with strong descriptive adjectives and adverbs to generate vivid images.
Example:
“…from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers;” – Obama
3. Redundancy
Redundancy, specifically in the form of repetition is another stylistic component of orality. This implies “repetition of the just-said that keeps both speaker and hearer surely on track” W. Ong (1982)
Examples:
“So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” – King
“This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids” – Obama
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer” – Obama
“…and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can. “ – Obama
4. Traditionalist
This element causes oral tradition to present new developments as fitting the traditions of the “Ancestors” or the historical.
Examples:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” – King
“When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.” – Obama
5. Human Life-world
Oral based thought is”close to the human life-world.” This implies wording that the audience can relate to and that links ideas to knowledge that they have and concepts/ experiences that they can identify with.
Examples:
“I have a dream today. (Note the biblical life-world. Isaiah 40 vs 4). I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together .(Note here the national anthem lifeworld) This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My
country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” – King
“Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.” Obama
“Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.” – Obama
6. Antagonistic
Oral based thought is agonistically toned in that it plays on the story telling tradition that portrays an “us vs. them” or “good vs. bad” tone.
Example:
“To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you” – Obama
7. Situational
Thoughts are basically situational rather than abstract. This dictates that language is used to set the scene, create a concrete experience of the situation rather than pure fact or abstract concept.
Example:
“It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives” – Obama
“It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause” – Obama
