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Stephen E. Lucas is Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1999, he surveyed his peers to compile a list of the top 100 American speeches of the twentieth century. The list, co-compiled with Prof. Martin Medhurst of Texas A&M University, reflects the opinions of 137 leading scholars of American public address.

Lucas is also the author of The Quotable George Washington and a textbook, The Art of Public Speaking. Here he discusses good speechmaking, and the speaking skills of William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow.

What makes an effective speech?

The main requirement for a successful speech is having something important to say. Lots of times people focus on delivery, personal appearance, gestures, eye contact, and the like. Those things are certainly important. But the most important thing is the speaker’s message. If you have a message that you’re committed to, that you want to communicate to people, you will communicate better.

What’s a good way to structure a speech ?

One basic structure for a speech falls into three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Each part is designed to do something different. You need to have an introduction that gets the audience’s attention and lets people know about the importance of the subject, why it’s important for them to listen. It makes a first impression. In journalism they call it a “hook”: something that’s going to pull your audience in to your speech. The introduction should also reveal the speech’s topic and give the audience some idea of the main points to be discussed.

The body of the speech is where the speaker develops his or her main points — the big ideas of the speech. You should probably limit yourself to 4 or 5 main points in a speech, whether it’s a 10-minute or a 60-minute speech. That will give you time to develop the points you’re making. If you have too many main points, the audience will have trouble sorting them out and you may find that you aren’t able to develop them in enough depth to be clear and convincing.

The conclusion is important because it’s where you leave your most lasting impression. It’s the last chance to drive the ideas home to the audience, and ideally the speaker will find a way to leave a lasting impression, both in terms of what he or she says, and in terms of the delivery. Some famous speeches end with stirring conclusions. A celebrated one is Patrick Henry’s exhortation to “give me liberty — or give me death.”

How much structure does a speech need?

Some speeches need to be very tightly structured–especially those in which the speaker is imparting technical information or developing a strong logical argument. On the other hand, a eulogy or wedding toast can be quite effective with a looser structure. Some people speak logically, and if you took a transcript of their speech, it would read almost as if it were written prose. But we know spoken discourse is usually less formal than written discourse, and most speeches, if written out, would not read nearly as well. Nonetheless, the key is that the audience needs to follow the speaker from idea to idea. As your speech unfolds over time, like a film does, you have to help the audience follow your ideas from step to step, the way viewers follow the plot of a film.

Do you have other advice on structuring?

A common piece of advice is to tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell them what you’ve said. This is good advice, but speakers can provide a compelling sense of structure through more subtle devices. Above all, you need to keep in mind that listeners do not have the kinds of visual cues available to readers. When you listen to a speech, there are no subheads, no paragraph breaks, no punctuation marks to let you know where the speaker is at any given moment. Your listener can’t go back and reread a portion of the speech if it’s unclear, or if his or her attention should wander for a moment. The speaker must make sure his or her ideas are clear as the speech proceeds.

What should a speaker know about delivery?

The most effective presentations get their ideas across without calling attention to the speaker’s delivery. Good speakers know how to use vocal variety, gestures, pauses, eye contact, and facial expressions to reinforce what they’re saying with their words, but they don’t come across as artificial or overly rehearsed. Most audiences prefer delivery that combines a certain degree of formality with the best attributes of good conversation — directness, spontaneity, animation, vocal and physical expressiveness, and a lively sense of communication.

How can a speaker use his or her voice to reinforce the speech’s impact?

By using her or his voice — its tone, pacing, intonation, and rhythm — a speaker can control the momentum of a speech. Take, for example, a speech conclusion. One type of ending is a crescendo, where a speaker builds in power and emphasis to a vocal climax of the speech. The classic example is Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. By the end, he’s speaking in thunderous tones, of the day when “all God’s children… will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’” He delivers this with a vigor that builds to an unforgettable end.

Sometimes a speaker will do the opposite, and do a “dissolve” ending, building down to a gentle end. It’s like a singer in a spotlight that gets smaller and smaller, and with the singer’s last, poignant notes, the light goes out. This also provides deep emotion. Douglas MacArthur does this in his farewell to Congress, the “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech.

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Hutong are a community of inner-city houses that run east to west through China’s capital.

First built in the Yuan Dynasty, they are the epitome of traditional Chinese living.

The typical hutong design is four houses facing a courtyard.

The term hutong is actually the name for the alleyways between the cluster of homes.

At one time there were more than 6,000 hutong in Beijing. But today the number has dwindled to less than 2,000.

For artist Kuang Han, these homes are the last reminder of the capital’s past. And he is passionate about capturing them in his work.

Han has sketched hutong for more than 10 years.

His distinctive drawings have become popular not only with Beijingers, but also with those who visit the city.

“Beijing has very few hutong painters… Some who live here just take for granted what is actually great beauty.”

What began as a hobby has become a way to cement these homes with the stories they hold.

“I lived for six years in hutong when I was young and began sketching it. Only then did I realize that Beijing has such a profound culture. In my own way I am collecting stories of time gone by.”

What is unique about Han’s work is that he only uses pencil.

He says it’s the only media that truly reflects the colour and texture of the hutong.

“I only had two pencils at the time, one was a carpentry pencil, the other a sketching one. I used to paint in watercolour but when you look at these hutong, their walls and bricks are grey. You cannot represent this kind of feeling using oil painting. It just doesn’t feel right.”

As more hutong feel the weight of the demolition ball, Kuang Han’s sketches have become treasured memories. For some, it’s the only physical reminder of their childhood home.

At one of my exhibitions three old ladies embraced me and cried and thanked me for keeping an image of their home. My drawings are very close to the life of Beijing citizens.”

Hutongs have become Han’s life. Although he is passionate about their preservation, he understands that a city is never static.

“It’s a contradictory problem. To the aspect of culture and history we should keep them. But to the aspect of this city developing we can’t stop it. Hutong life is a hard one and the facilities are extremely basic. But we really should think about how to repair them or find another way to keep the hutong.”

Having produced more than a thousand sketches, Kuang Han has captured the colourful history of Beijing life. It’s his way of giving the next generation a chance to remember the past on paper.

About the broadcaster:

Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Edwin Maher is a New Zealand-born TV journalist who now works in China.

Maher established his broadcast career in Australia, working many minor roles, particularly as a weatherman, in many cities before beginning a 25-year career with Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1979.

Maher is particularly famous in Australia for his use of a varied and creative number of pointers to highlight items when delivering the ABC’s weather forecast.

In 2003, China Central Television sought to expand its CCTV International to be more professional and accessible to Western audiences, or in the words of Jiang Heping, “putting Chinese wine into a foreign bottle”. Jiang approached Maher to become the first western anchor for CCTV. Maher was recruited because of his precise diction speaking English and his experience in voice coaching. Maher taught speaking in private lessons, lectured at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and even released audio lessons on voice. He accepted the job with CCTV and started in March 2004.

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