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Writing for speaking or reading
Russ asked: Is a speech a verbal essay?
I mean, does it have all the structure of an essay and you just say it
with craft or is the actual structure different? Does a speech have to be
simpler, use more examples and repeat the same point in different ways or
is there some other ingredient?
I guess what I am ultimately saying, if I make an essay and present it
with skill is it the same as making a speech and presenting it with skill?
No Russ they are not the same.
People cannot go back to ensure that they got the message.
People read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
The first difference is that people cannot go back and reread to ensure that they got the message.
This is the reason speechwriters: tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them.
In a written outline, you may use bullet points then headlines to summarize then expand. e.g.: 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference.
Then use a bold type at the start of the paragraph where you introduce the concept.
You need to do the same thing in a speech, but you don't have the advantage of bold type or bullets.
You create these with words.
In a speech you include the following text much of which would be redundant in a written essay:
I am going to look at the differences between speech and essay writing on three planes; 1. People can't go back, 2. People read at their own speed, 3. The sound of words makes a difference. Firstly, let us look at this issue of people not being able to go back and reread when the delivery is oral:
Following names or titles is one place where a written account may use a chart or a side bar or a headlined section of the text to identify the characters in the story.
In the spoken version it is necessary to re-anchor the characters, for example: - James - the policeman -
Then summarize - probably not necessary or need not be as detailed in a written essay:
So you see: if a person's mind wanders while reading, and they really want to read the information they can go back. This is not practical in a spoken version, so information may need to be repeated to place it in context.
The second difference is that people read at their own speed, whereas they have to listen at a speed that you dictate. Good speech writing requires attention to this.
Some people will scan or speed read a text, but they are obliged to listen to the full version from your mouth. If I have ten minutes to review a topic before going to a meeting, then I can scan the introductory paragraphs, and maybe the first par under each headline of a well written well laid out article. To listen to a recording of a speech I will not be able to get the message in any less time than the speaker took to deliver it. Well, fast forwarding, cuing and reviewing may help, but it's more disruptive than helpful.
The intended length of the text may also influence the way that you write it.
If this is, as I suspect, a college assignment - then you have been asked to submit 2500 words or whatever. I will rewrite it, then submit it as an article for a magazine that also gives me an assigned number of words.
For a speech, your writing has to be such that you can still deliver the key points of your message even if the previous speaker has very rudely taken a large part of your assigned time. This happens regularly at conferences where industry experts and professional speakers are on the same program. Savvy program organizers know to put the pro on last in a block (say between morning tea and lunch, there may be three speakers - the experts come on first, the good speakers last.). Incidentally most of the experts write essays and read them. The pro speakers write speeches and adapt them to suit what has been said before and other changing circumstances.
On the other hand as a professional speaker, I have been asked to fill two consecutive slots, because someone has failed to appear. With a well written speech this is not a problem. Items can be added or subtracted to suit. This type of framework is unnecessary in an essay.
> Thirdly, the sound of words makes a difference.
There is a term Onomatopoeia - which refers to words which sound like what they mean. Buzz and hiss are examples. In spoken delivery speeding up a passage may be facilitated by the use of short words, delivered at speed. This can add to the effect of the message. In written text it is not possible to rely on the readers to do this.
