Tools in a Great Speechwriter’s Repertoire

Speechwriters know that cadence is the lifeblood of a great speech. When the speaker is gifted, they’ll understand how to bring out the speech’s best through pauses and timing. For other speakers, it can require practice and a few tricks.

This article takes a look at a few of these tricks, and shows how they can be the difference between inspiration and a flop. For instance, audiences understand that lists of items in speeches usually come in threes, so they know when to start applauding if they agree.

Better still is to get the audience to start applauding early, because it gives the impression that they’re so enthusiastic and eager to show their agreement that they can’t wait — and the speaker ends up having to compete to make himself heard above the rising tide of popular acclaim.

One way to do that is to use a three part list, in which the third item is longer than the first two. (via max atkinson)

Love it. I’ve used the three-part list tool a lot, and liked the last one being the longest, but had never thought about it this way.

Originally published April 18th, 2011 on Posterous.