You can use the advice of songwriters to make your speeches sing. You can practically get your audiences to tap their feet, nod their heads, and even hum along to your message by using these eight songwriting approaches.
Triad from Cadence Harmony Rhythm Rhyme Echo Sound Effects #1
Have you ever attempted to waltz to music? (Or at least watched famous people attempt on ABC’s popular competition Dancing with the Stars?) One, two, three… one, two, three was the count performed for you. Your clumsy steps soon became more fluid. You were in the lead. You were in rhythm. Flow was with you.
The three-beat pattern energized you. The three-beat pattern inspired you. And the three-beat pattern made you feel energized. The three-beat pattern is engrained in our daily speech, flowing rhythmically into other people’s ears:
- Wine, songs, and women
- Baker, candle maker, and butcher
- Imposing, dark, and appealing
- Completely and utterly
- Jump and skip to my beat
- Request, Obtain, and Steal
- Delivered, sealed, and signed
- Liberty, happiness, and the pursuit of life.
A triad is a chord in music made up of three notes. A triad is a group of three words or three phrases that are used collectively to boost impact and memorability with a rhythmic 1-2-3 beat, to apply the same idea to speechwriting. Alliteration, where each of the three words starts with the same letter, can increase the effect.
Think about these instances:
- Effective presenters convey concepts with force, intelligence, and vigor. With bravery, conviction, and confidence, they captivate the audience.
- Effective presenters present their viewpoint with conviction, acuity, and persuasion. They stitch their ideas together using the threads of creativity, ingenuity, and imagination.
- Audiences are enriched, educated, and entertained by effective speakers. They pursue credibility, competence, and compatibility.
- How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches has more information on this strategy.
#2: Conclusion
A refrain in music is a line or stanza that is repeated repeatedly. In speechwriting, too.
A refrain is a brief sentence that is repeated throughout (at least) three other sentences. Repetition is less smart for the message and less memorable for the audience than this brief repetitive sentence.
Take this example, which was delivered at the 2004 Republican Convention by the then-First Lady Laura Bush, to consider the messaging strategy and memorability:
Although Abraham Lincoln did not want to go to war, he understood it was necessary to keep the country together. Although Franklin Roosevelt did not want to go to war, he understood that it was necessary to end tyranny. And although my husband did not want to go to war, he was aware that it was necessary for the safety and security of both America and the rest of the globe.
The refrain can also be developed using just two words, as Arnold Schwarzenegger did at the 2004 Republican Convention:
- It is America again.
- Returning from the invasion of our country.
- Returning from the economic attack.
- From the assault on our way of life, back.
Finally, think about former President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 D-Day speech:
The troops of Normandy believed that what they were doing was right, that they were fighting for all of humanity, and that a just God would show them mercy on this beachhead or the one after it.
Third: Cadence
A cadence is a repeated phrase that starts at least six sentences in a row. The words are hammered into the ear by the increased repetition, which increases the rhythmic impact and memorability.
Think about the following line from Martin Luther King Jr.’s well-known “I Have a Dream” speech:
- So let freedom resound from New Hampshire's magnificent hilltops.
- Let freedom resound from New York's towering heights.
- Let the Pennsylvanian Alleghenies, which are growing higher, ring with freedom.
- Let the Colorado Rockies, which are covered in snow, ring with freedom.
- Let freedom resound from California's sweeping mountains. that, though.
- Let the bell of liberty ring from Georgia's Stone Mountain.
- From Tennessee's Lookout Mountain, let freedom ring.
- Let Mississippi's freedom bells resound from every mountain and molehill.
- Freedom should resound from every mountaintop.
Feel the struggle in Winston Churchill’s June 1940 speech to the British Parliament:
- On the seas and the oceans, we will battle.
- We will fight with increasing assurance and vigor in the air.
- We will fight to protect our country at all costs.
- We are going to battle on the beaches.
- We will battle in the streets and the farms.
- We will battle in the hills. Never will we give up!
In August 1964, after accepting a nomination for president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson spoke in this cadence:
- Most Americans support providing older people with medical care. And I concur.
- Most Americans support steady and fair prices for our farmers. And I concur.
- Most Americans want everyone to live in a decent house in a decent area. And I concur.
- Most Americans favor giving every child the best education possible. And I concur.
- Most Americans favor providing employment for all men who desire it. And I concur.
- Most Americans favor winning the fight against poverty. And I concur.
- Most Americans want to continue prospering, growing, and expanding. And I concur.
#4: Coherence
Harmony in music is a harmonious combination of sounds that is visually appealing. A harmonizing sentence structure can be used in speeches to balance the beginning and the finish of a run of (at least) three sentences.
Put your words on a teeter-totter and remember that any weight you place on one side must be counterbalanced by weight on the other. Parallel structure is the more official name for this method.
Shakespeare employed the following teeter-totter, harmonic approach in Shylock’s words in Act III, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice:
- We bleed if you pierce us, right?
- Do we not laugh when you make us laugh?
- Do we not perish if you poison us?
- If you mistreat us, should we not seek retribution?
Here is another illustration of harmony taken from 2006 Super Bowl champion Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts.
- Talent comes from God. Be useful.
- Praise is a gift from man. Give thanks.
- Conceit comes from inside. Be careful.
Finally, here is another illustration of harmony from one of my own presentations about setting deadlines.
- Inmates serve it. Time.
- Musicians note it. Time
- Also, historians document it. Time
#5: Tempo
Depending on your intended message, you can alter the tempo of your speech much like a songwriter alters the tempo of a song from a smooth four beats per measure (waltz) to a brassy eight beats per measure or more (jazz). To create a recurrent beat that resonates with your audience, use at least five verbs in a repetitive sentence pattern.
Look at the verb-driven, rhythmic speechwriting samples below. First, let us look at another instance of Shakespeare’s Shylock from Act III, Scene I of The Merchant of Venice:
A Jew is just as likely to be fed with the same things, injured with the same things, afflicted with the same diseases, treated with the same things, and warmed and cooled by the same summers and winters as a Christian is.
On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy employed this rhythmic device in his inaugural speech:
To ensure the continuation and triumph of liberty, we are prepared to pay any price, carry any weight, endure any adversity, stand with any ally, and confront any adversary.
Finally, remember what the Rev. Billy Graham said:
Humor assists us in ignoring the inappropriate, comprehending the unusual, tolerating the uncomfortable, overcoming the unexpected, and enduring the intolerable.
#6: Rhyme
Every cheerleader, poet, and singer are aware that rhyme is a tested technique for developing rhythm.
Look at the poetry “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley’s opening lines:
- From pole to pole, the Night that surrounds me is as dark as a hole.
- I give thanks to whatever gods there may be for my invincible soul.
To create a rhythmic flow that pushes greater emphasis and significance to the desired message, effective speechwriters use rhyme in a specific order.
Look at this 13-sentence rhyming example:
- Architects cannot renovate it.
- It cannot be incorporated by businesses.
- It cannot be taught in churches.
- Developers cannot innovate it.
- It is not calculable by engineers.
- It cannot be regulated by legislation.
- Judges are unable to decide it.
- Attorneys cannot litigate it.
- Manufacturers are unable to produce it.
- Politicians are not permitted to use it.
- Scientists are unable to define it.
- Technicians cannot generate it.
- It can only be planned by you.
The following is an example of how rhyme can help you create movement, meaning, and memorability:
- The legal division is concerned with liability.
- Visibility is a priority for the financial division.
- The manufacturing division emphasizes capabilities.
- The marketing division emphasizes accessibility.
- The advertising division prioritizes visibility.
- Additionally, the public relations division emphasizes credibility.
#7: Echo
You can use the crowd to your advantage to add additional rhythm to your speech and get them to repeat a crucial part of your message.
Take this illustration, used by the late Senator Ted Kennedy at the 1988 Democratic Convention to criticize Vice President George Bush for separating himself from then President Ronald Reagan’s decisions on contentious matters. Take note of how the audience response is sparked by the rhythmic sentence structure. Where Was George? is echoed by the audience after the third or fourth rendition.
The vice president claims he was not present, cannot remember, or was never informed of the administration’s covert plan to sell Iran guns. Therefore, it is reasonable to ask: Where was George when that enormous error was being made?
The vice president claims that the intelligence report on General Noriega’s role in the cocaine cartel was never shown to him, he cannot recall seeing it, or he does not understand it. So, it is reasonable to ask: Where was George during the preparation and discussion of that report?
The vice president says he cares about seniors, but it is clear he was either unaware of or absent when the administration repeatedly pushed to cut Social Security and Medicare. So, it is reasonable to ask: Where was George at the time those judgments were being made?
The vice president, who today speaks passionately about civil rights, was either not present or did not fully understand when the administration planned to restrict voting rights, provide tax incentives to segregated schools, and reject the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988. So, it is reasonable to ask: Where was George during all those assaults?
Eighth: Sound Effects
To convey more emotion and give inanimate objects alive, such as “squealing” tires, “groaning” gates, “whining” sirens, “whistling” trains, “gurgling” creeks, or “screaming” winds, use a term for the sound effect, such as “crash,” “boom,” or “crunch.”
The formal name for this technique is onomatopoeia, and it concentrates on words like “slap,” “slash,” and “growl” where the sound of the word implies the meaning. Search for verbs in your speech and try to replace at least one of them with an onomatopoeic phrase. Say “the carpenter’s hammer thumped out a steady rat-a-tat-tat” rather than “the carpenter pounded the nail.”
