Chapter 11:
Using Language
The ability to appropriately select and adjust your language during the speech is as critical to successful speaking as topic selection, audience analysis, and delivery. Words have enormous influence, and finding the right word that can explain, inform, persuade, or entertain audiences is not always an easy task. If we attempt a semantic analysis of the different American English phrases used to inform someone that an individual has died, we can see that there are a variety of ways to say a similar thing. Semantics is the science or study of the meanings of words, symbols, and language. Insofar as these features of communication are central to effective speaking, a speaker’s attention to semantics is essential. Therefore, let us first consider the following semantic properties of our speech: accuracy, clarity, conciseness, and appropriateness of our language.