And I proudly present you “The Global Lexica-Semantic Model of a Monologue Speech” made-up by me, with the purpose of intensifying the training of monologue speech and where a lot of attention is paid to the listeners’ perception of it. If you ask me why lexica-semantic model and not just the lexical model, I would tell you that not only words we use are important to make a good speech, but as well the meaning of each part of speech matters.
1.2.2.1 The Introduction part of a monologue speech
The Introduction part of the speech and its role in speech making. The introduction part of the speech, also known as the head of the speech, first of all, must attract the attention of the listeners. “Unless a speaker can attract his listeners’ attention at once, his or her effort will be a failure.” These are the words of a great American lawyer Clarence Darrow. So, from these words we can see how important is the first impression during the monologue speech. And I would like to mention that it is useful for the speaker as well. The speaker feels more free when the listeners’ faces shine with interest.
In most monologue speech situations, the introduction has three main objectives. We will look at each of these objectives in turn.
1. Getting the attention and interest of listeners.
If your topic is not much of the interest, then the listeners may say to themselves, “So what? Who cares what are you talking about?” The speaker may quickly lose the listenersʼ interest if she or he doesn’t use the introduction to get their attention and quicken their interest. And the part or even the sentence that draws the attention of the whole audience is called “ the hook”. And as in any work, would it be a song, a novel, a piano or a violin composition, or even a writing task; there has to be a hook in any of these. So does the speeches require a hook. Itʼs one of the most essential parts of the introduction part of the speech.
a) Relate the Topic to the Audience.
People pay more attention to things that affect them directly. If the speaker relates the topic to the listeners, they are much more likely to be interested in.
Suppose, for example, one of the students begins his speech like this:
Today I am going to talk about jogging ‒ both fascinating and healthy hobby. I would like to introduce you to the basics of jogging and why it is so important for us to lead a healthy life.
This is certainly a clear introduction, but itʼs not the one to get you hooked on the speech. Now what if that student was to begin his speech this way ‒ as one student actually did.
It was a Sunday morning. I decided to get early and have some fresh air and went out. Then I met a really beautiful girl doing some jogging. And I was so excited when I saw her, and I was brave enough to go and ask her whether she were or not against if I joined her. She did not refuse and itʼs a year since we are together and keep jogging every Sunday morning. That has become a tradition for us and a sign to show ourselves that we are stronger than we seem, because itʼs really difficult to get up early on Sundays, as you may all know. But we fight ourselves every time and keep getting up, keep running when out of breath, and this is how we learn not to give up but become winners every time.
This time the student has used just the right bait. And he grabbed the attention of the whole class. And the audience saw not only jogging being a healthy sports but other useful sides as well. That meant that that student had a really good critical thinking and he showed the emerald from lots of sides which makes the speech more interesting. The students and me listened to him so attentively. He got us hooked.
And here is another example of my another excellent student about dreams who started her speech really creatively and fascinated me as well.
You are being chased by a creature of an unbelievable horror. You keep running, yet he gets closer and closer. You run as fast as you can and you are already out of breath. Your legs are aching, you feel a lot of pain on your feet, and you can keep running no more. And his paws get your back and the monster’s dreadful laughter freezes your bones. You are completely helpless ‒ eye to eye with death.
Then you wake up, gasping for air, you heart beating like a drum, your face damp with sweat. It takes a few minutes for your heart and breath to slow down. You dispel your fears with the words, “It was just a dream, just a dream.” Soon you slowly drift back to sleep.
By using vivid language to describe all her classmates had experienced, that student made sure of an attentive audience.
b) State the Importance of the Topic.
Presumably, you think your speech is important. You should tell the audience, why they should think so as well. While I was reading one of the New York Times Journals, I struck into such an article. Here is how Judith Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, used this method to involve her audience in a speech to the American Bar Association Center on Children and Law:
We know that a child is born into poverty in the United States every 36 seconds, and we see 12.8 million children living below the poverty line. We see an estimated 8.5 million children, nearly 12 percent of all U.S. children, without health insurance programs. A child dies from neglect or abuse every six hours, a child is killed by gunfire almost every three hours, and the number of neglected or abused children would fill up the city of Detroit.
These are striking statistics. By citing them in her introduction, Judith Kaye emphasized the importance of her topic and grabbed the attention of her audience.
Clearly this technique is easy while discussing social and political issues such as child abuse, terrorism, endangered species, and difficult conditions in a radioactive regions, but itʼs appropriate for other topics as well. Here is how one student from UK handled it in his speech about starting a home aquarium:
It is really hard to hold a fish. Fish won’t roll over or jump over your leg. You wonʼt get these creatures curving up on your lap, chasing a ball of string, or rescuing a sinking child.
Yet despite these shortcomings, 300 million tropical fish have found their way into 16 million UK homes. Each year $50 million of tropical fish are sold in the United Kingdom, and they have earned a spot next to APDT(Association of Pet Dog Trainers) and the cuddly kitten in the hearts of millions of people. Today I would like to get you to know how to start a home aquarium and enjoy owning a tropical fish.
Whenever you discuss a topic, importance of which may not be clear to the audience, you should think about demonstrating its significance in the Introduction part of your speech.
c) Startle the Audience.
A sure way to arouse interest quickly is to startle the listeners with an arresting or intriguing statement. Everyone in the audience paid close attention after this speaker’s introduction.
Think of the four important people to you. Who comes to mind? You brother? Your sister? Your wife or husband? Your best friend? Now guess which one of them will need a permanent psychologist during his lifetime. According to the Department of Kazakhstan Health Association every fourth citizen of our country needs a psychologist to lead a normal lifestyle.
Notice the gradual buildup to the speaker’s arresting statement, “Now guess which one of them will need a permanent psychologist during his lifetime.” This statement startles the audience and drives home at a personal level the problem of psychological problems of the closest people to them. The effect would have been much less if the speaker said, “Psychological issues are a very serious problem in our life.”
This technique is highly effective and easy to use. But the speaker must make sure that the startling introduction relates directly to the topic of the speech. If a strong opening is chosen simply for its shock value and then the speaker goes on talk about something else, the audience will be confused and possibly may even get annoyed.
d) Arouse the curiosity of the audience.
People are curious about your speech. One way to draw them into your speech is with a series of statements that progressively whet their curiosity about the subject of the speech. For example, look at this splendid opening from a student speech entitled “The Gift of Life”:
Each of you, my friends, has a gift. What kind of gift it is? Itʼs not a birthday gift or a Christmas gift. Itʼs a gift that could save a life – maybe more than one. If you decide to give it, you lose nothing.
Some people bury their gift. Others burn it. All but one of you who completed my questionnaire would gladly receive the gift, but only 25percent of you have decided to give it. This gift is the donation of your vital organs when you die.
Not only does this speaker relate the topic directly to the classmates, he gets them further involved by building suspense about the “gift” that each of us has. Notice how much less effective the introduction would have been if he just said, “ Today I’m going to talk about the donation of organs.”
e) Question the Audience.
Asking a rhetorical question is another way to get your listeners thinking about your speech. Sometimes a single question will do:
How would you respond if a loved one was the victim of terrorism?
In other circumstances, you may want to pose a series of a questions, each of which gets the audience deeper and deeper into your monologue speech. Here is how one student used it:
Have you ever spent sleepless nights preparing for your examination? Can you remember rushing to finish your report given as a homework because you waited too long to start writing it? Do you often feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to get done at school? At home?
If so, you may be the victim of a poor time management. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can follow to use your time more effectively and to keep control of your life.
Like beginning with a startling statement, opening with a question works most effectively when the question is meaningful to the audience and firmly related to the content of the speech. It also works best when you pause for just a moment after each question. This adds dramatic impact and gives the question time to sink in. The audience, of course, will answer mentally – not out loud.
f) Begin with a quatation.
Another way to arouse the interest of the audience is to start with an attention-getting quotation. You might choose your quotation from Shakespeare or Confucius, from the Quran or Bible, from a poem, or a film. The key fact is that the audience has to appreciate the author of the quotation. Here is how one student used this method to encourage his peers to study hard:
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” These words of the great philosopher, scientist and the first teacher of the world Aristotle could easily apply to each of us. We all know that it is hard to sit and study for long hours. But, the fruits it gives has a genuine sweetness. Look at the student named Almas who went to the republic Olympiad on Biology last year and took the bronze medal. Now he is the pride of our school and state. Tomorrow he will be the pride of our country, and the next day he will be the pride of the world. That is how must real man act.
By opening with Aristotleʼs words, the student not only got his peersʼ attention, but also got them to know the central theme of her speech. Notice, too, that the quotation used above as an example is a short one. Opening the speech with a lengthy quotation will set your audience yawning.
g) Tell a Story.
We all enjoy stories – especially if they are provocative, amusing, dramatic or suspenseful. To work well as introductions, they shall be also clearly relative to the main point of the speech. Used in this way, stories are perhaps the most effective way to begin a monologue speech. On one of the lessons, a student told a story to open her speech about the problem of Kazakhstanʼs teenager girls nowadays:
There was a soul who was waiting for the day she would be born. She was wandering what the life outside was like. She was imagining it as a bright light, with many beautiful things in it that would make her very happy. And of course, what she wanted to see the most, was her mother. She hoped to see her angelic face, to touch her skin, to see her beautiful eyes, smile, because she was already hearing her sweet voice. But at some moment, she heard her mother cry and wanted to cry too. But she didnʼt have eyes or even tears to do so. But even so, she was saying, “Mommy please donʼt cry, when I will be born, we will be very happy together.” And suddenly, she felt a burning and agonizing pain. She was wandering what was it, and why was this happening to her. She didnʼt know that her mother was doing an abortion.
Like many good introductions, this one does a double job – it gets listeners emotionally involved in the speech, and previews the main topic of the speech. The speaker can also use stories based on his or her own experience. Here is how one pre-med student used such a story. She began by recounting the first time she observed doctors performing surgery in the operating room:
There I stood, wearing a surgical mask, in the middle of a large, brightly lit room. In the centre of the room were five figures huddled over a table. I found it difficult to see since everything was draped in blue sheets, yet I didnʼt dare take a step toward the table.
The one of the figures called to me, “Asiya, get over here and take a closer look.” My knees buckled as I walked through the sterile environment. But eventually I was there, standing over an unconscious body in the operating room.
The seven ways to introduce a monologue speech discussed above were “the most effective and easy to work with” ways to begin the monologue speech for the students. These methods to introduce the monologue speech are easy to understand and use for the high school students. And of course it depends on their critical thinking what method to choose depending on their speech topic, audience(mostly their peers), and the occasion so that it would be the most suitable.
2. Revealing the topic of the monologue speech.
In the process of gaining attention, the speaker should be sure to state the topic of the speech. If he or she does not, then the listeners will get confused. And once they are confused, the chances of getting them absorbed in the speech is extremely low.
This is a basic point – so basic that it may hardly seem worth mentioning. Yet it may be surprising how many students need to be reminded of it. Some students may give such a speech in which the topic is not clear by the end of the introduction. As an example what to avoid, here is such an introduction:
Imagine taking a leisurely walk on one of the highest mountains of our country – Altay. The sun is high in the sky, reflecting brightly off the snow around you. The nature is so wonderful and peaceful. You grab a camera, snap a shot, and check the result. The picture is perfect. But will it be perfect in the future? That is the question I want to explore today.
What is the topic of this speech? Photographing? No. Birding? No. Tourism in the tropics? No. The student was talking about efforts to restore the natural beauty of the Altay mountains. But the topic was not clear to the audience. And imagine if instead of the above introduction, there would be a one like this:
Siberian ibex, argali, Siberian musk deer, the wild boar, Mongolian gazelle, snow leopards – these and other creatures have lost over 50 percent of their habitat in Altai Mountains over the past few decades. Now, however, there is an $8 billion program to preserve their home in the Saylyugem national park. The largest restoration effort in the history of the world, it will rejuvenate one of Kazakhstanʼs most diverse ecosystems and protect it for future generations.
This opening would have provided a way to get the audienceʼs attention, but it also would have related directly to the speech topic. If the speaker beats around the bush in the introduction, the speaker may lose his or her listeners. Even if they already know the topic of the speech, it should be restated clearly and concisely at some point in the introduction.
3. Previewing the body of the speech.
Most people are poor listeners, even in everyday life. They tend to listen and think about something else at the same time. And that is why they need all the help they can get in sorting out a speakerʼs ideas. One way to help them is to tell in the introduction what they should listen for during the rest of the speech. Here is an excellent example, from a speech by CBN Director Abykayev Nurtai Abykaevich at the Department of Justice Project Safe Childhood Conference in Astana:
Today I would like to talk about what we in the CBN are doing to attack child exploitation on the Internet. I want to touch on what we must do to meet your needs in terms of evidence collection and prosecution. Lastly, I want to talk about the role of both parents and the private sector in addressing this scourge.
After this introduction, there was no doubt about Nurtai Abykaevichʼs topic or the main points he would cover in his speech.
In some types of speeches, the speaker may not want to reveal his/her central idea until later in the speech. But even in such situations the audience must not be left guessing about the main points they should listen for as the speech unfolds. Nearly always, the speaker should include a preview statement in the introduction part of the monologue speech.
In some circumstances, the speaker may have to explain an important term in detail. Here is how one Biology Olympiad student handled the problem in a speech about the DNA:
We all know that giraffes only give birth to little giraffes, dogs to dogs, cats to cats, and even the smallest organisms like bees give birth to bees only. But why is it so? The answer is in a molecule, which is called deoxyribonucleic acid, mainly known as DNA. It contains the genetic instructions that make each species unique. The instructions in the structure of DNA is passed from adult organisms to its offspring during reproduction. That is why the children look alike their genetic parents.
And after previewing the body we have to move further into the speech. And the next part of the speech is “The Body” of the speech which is the most important part.
1.2.2.2 The main part or the body of a monologue speech
The most important thing in preparing the Main Part of the Speech is organizing it in order. “Why?” you may ask. The answer is that a well organized speech will always serve better than that of the unorganized and impromptu one. That is for the students who have no good knowledge about how to give a monologue speech and are at the stage of learning about it. Listeners demand coherence. Unlike readers, they cannot flip back to the previous page if they have trouble grasping the speaker’s ideas. In this respect, speech is similar to a movie. Just as a director must be sure viewers can follow the plot of a movie from beginning to end, so must a speaker be sure that speakers can follow progression of a speech from beginning to end. This requires speeches to be organized strategically. They should be put together in particular ways to achieve particular results with particular audiences. [54, p21].
Speech organization is important for other reasons as well. It is closely connected to critical thinking. And the principal of the Petropavl Kazakh-Turkish high school Aubakirov Erzhan noted that critical thinking is now has more tendency to be developed in nowadaysʼ Kazakhstan educational system than giving just a plain knowledge of a subject. He thinks that nowadays less attention should be paid to olympiads and the focus ought to be on expanding the critical thinking abilities of the students.
While a student works to organize his/her speech, he/she gains practice in the general skill of establishing clear relationships among his/her ideas. Using a clear, specific method of speech organization will improve the studentʼs ability to deliver a message fluently. The first step in developing a strong sense of speech organization is to gain command of the three basic parts of the speech – introduction, body, and conclusion – and the strategic role of each. In this part of my diploma paper we deal with the body of the speech [9, p.83].
The body is the longest and the most important part of any speech. Also (NB) the body should be prepared first.Because it is easier to create an effective introduction after you know what exactly you will say in the body. The process of organizing the body of a speech begins when you determine the main points [23, p.19].
Main Points. The main points are the central features of any monologue speech. They should be selected carefully, phrased precisely, and strategically arranged. Here are the main points of a studentʼs speech about the medical uses of hypnosis:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the major uses of hypnosis.
Central Idea: The major uses of hypnosis today are to control pain in surgery, to help people stop smoking, and to help students improve their academic performance.
Main Points:
a) Hypnosis is used in surgery as an adjunct to chemical anesthesia.
b) Hypnosis is used to help people stop smoking.
c) Hypnosis is used to help students improve their academic performance.
These three main points form the skeleton of the body of the monologue speech. If there are three major uses of hypnosis for medical purposes, then logically there can be three main points in the speech.
How to choose the main points? Sometimes they will be evident from the specific purpose statement. Suppose your specific purpose is “To inform my listeners about the development, technology and benefits of hydrogen fuel cells.” Obviously, your speech will have three main points. The first will deal with the development of hydrogen fuel cells, the second with the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells, the third with the benefits of hydrogen fuel cells. Written in outline form, the main points might be:
Specific purpose:
To inform my audience about the development and benefits of hydrogen fuel cells.
Central Idea:
Developed as a highly efficient form of energy, hydrogen fuel cells use sophisticated technology and offer a number of economic and environmental benefits.
Main Points:
a) Hydrogen fuel cells were developed to provide a highly efficient form of energy.
b) Hydrogen fuel cells produce power through an electro-chemical reaction involving hydrogen gas.
c) Hydrogen fuel cells provide an economically and environmentally superior method of powering motor vehicles.
Even if your main points are not stated expressly in your specific purpose, they may be easy to project from it. Let’s say you specific point is “To inform the audience of the basic steps in making stained-glass windows.” You know each of your main points will correspond to a step in the windows making process. They might look like this outline form:
Specific Purpose:
To inform my audience of the basic steps in making stained-glass windows.
Central Idea:
There are four steps in making stained-glass windows.
Main Points:
a) The first step is designing the window.
b) The second step is cutting the glass to fit the design.
c) The third step is painting the glass.
d) The fourth step is assembling the window.
e) The main points will not always be so easy to be settled. Often they will emerge as you research the speech and evaluate your findings. Suppose your specific purpose is “To persuade the listeners that our country should not approve proposals for online voting.” You know that each main point in the speech will present a reasonwhy online voting should not be instituted in your country. But you are not sure how many main points there will be or what they will be. As you research and study the topic, you decide there are two major reasons to support your view. Each of these reasons will become a main point in your speech. Written in outline form they might be:
Specific Purpose:
To persuade my audience that our country should not approve proposals for online voting.
Central Idea:
Our country should not approve online voting because it will increase voter fraud and disfranchise people without Internet access.
Main Points:
a) Our country should not approve online voting because it will increase voter fraud.
b) Our country should not approve online voting because it will disfranchise people without access to the Internet.
Number of Main Points.
To make the best out of your speech, you have to develop two main points at least, and mostly it should contain two or three, but as well four main points is also acceptable by the audience. But if you have too many main points you may face trouble with your audience sorting it out.
If, when you list your main points, you find that you have too many, you may be able to condense them into categories. Here is a set of main points for a speech about yoga:
Specific Purpose:
To inform my audience about the practical use of yoga.
Central Idea:
Yoga is an ancient practice that involves the whole body.
Main Points:
a) Yoga breathing starts with deep inhalation.
b) Yoga breathing requires slow exhalation.
c) Yoga breathing includes prolonged pauses.
d) Yoga breathing provides many benefits.
e) Yoga postures involve all parts of the body.
f) Yoga postures increase flexibility.
g) Yoga postures strengthen muscle tone.
You have seven main points – which is too many. But if you look at the list, you can see that the eight points fall into two broad categories: yoga breathing and yoga postures. You might, therefore, restate your main points this way.
One part of practicing yoga involves proper breathing.
Another part of yoga involves body postures [63].
Strategic order of Main Points.
Once you establish your main points, you need to decide the order in which you will present them. The most effective order depends on three things – your topic, your purpose, and the audience you are going to address. Now we are going to look at the five basic patterns of organization which I think are the most effective and easy to understand, use and are flexible to use with different types of speeches for the students of high school.
1. Chronological Order.
Speeches arranged chronologically follow a time pattern. They may narrate a series of events in sequence in which they happened. For example:
Specific Purpose:
To inform my audience how the Great Wall of China was built.
Central Idea:
The Great Wall of China was built in three major stages.
Main Points:
a) Building of the Great Wall began during the Qin dynasty of 221-206 B.C.
b) New section of Great Wall were added during the Han dynasty of 206 B.C.-220 A.D.
The Great Wall was completed during the Ming dynasty of 1368-1644 [63].
Chronological order is also used in speeches explaining a process of demonstrating how to do something. For example:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the steps in laser-assisted corrective eye surgery.
Central Idea:
There are three main steps in laser-assisted corrective eye surgery.
Main Points:
a) First, a thin layer is sliced off the surface of the eye to expose the cornea.
b) Second, an ultraviolet laser is used to reshape the cornea.
c) Third, the thin layer sliced off at the beginning if the surgery reaffixed to the eye [63].
N.B. Chronological order is especially useful for informative speeches.
2. Spatial Order.
Speeches arranged in spatial order follow a directional pattern. That is, the main points proceed from top to bottom, from east to west, from right to left, inside to outside or some other route. For example:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the structure of a hurricane.
Central Idea: A hurricane is made up of three parts going from inside to outside.
Main Points:
a) At the center of a hurricane is the calm, cloud-free eye.
b) Surrounding the eye is the eyewall, a dense ring of clouds that produces the most intense wind rainfall.
c) Rotating around the eyewall are large bands of clouds and precipitation called spiral rain bands.
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