TALK WORD

Examples bring a speech to life. Just as pictures serve as graphic illustrations for a printed text, examples serve as verbal illustrations for an oral message. In fact, some scholars prefer the term illustration to example. This term derives from the Latin illustrare, which means “to shed light” or “to make bright. Good examples illuminate the message of your speech, making it clearer and more vivid for your audience.
In addition to clarifying ideas, examples can also arouse attention and sus- I tam interest. A speech without examples is usually boring. Examples make ideas seem real by providing concrete applications. They demonstrate that] what you have said either has happened or could happen. Speakers acknowledge these functions when they say, “Let me give you an example.” Similarly,. examples may be used to personalize your topic and to humanize both you and your message. Sue Suter, speaking before the Dallas conference of the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped, used a series of brief examples to point up the challenges she had had to overcome as a disabled person.
Examples about people give the audience someone with whom they can identify, thus involving them in the speech. Personalized examples help the audience to experience the meaning of your ideas, not simply to understand them. Examples that point out common experiences, beliefs, or values also help to bridge gaps in cultural understanding. When Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, she used many brief examples to demonstrate that all women share common problems and face a common destiny.

Closure. The principle of closure is based on people’s natural tendency to seek completion.8 We like to have patterns carried through so that we feel we have the “whole story.” Have you ever started reading a magazine article in a waiting room, only to find that someone had torn out the last page of the story? Do you remember how frustrated you felt? Your need for closure had been violated.
The principle of closure applies to several speech designs.
For example, if you omit an important category when developing your topic, listeners may notice its omission. If you leave out a necessary step in a sequence, audiences may sense the flaw. Although all speeches should satisfy this need, there are two speech patterns for which closure is absolutely essential. These are cause- effect and problem-solution designs. Because we want the world to seem purposeful and controllable, we want all events to have clear causes and all problems to have satisfactory solutions.
A cause-effect speech can go in two directions: It can begin by focusing on some present situation as an effect and then seek its causes, or it can look at the present as a potential cause of future effects. Sometimes these variations can be combined. You might take a current situation such as a budget deficit on campus and develop a speech tracing its origins. If you had enough time, you might continue by predicting the future effects of the deficit, such as tuition increases. Understanding the causes could help your listeners see what needs to be done to reduce the deficit. Predicting future effects might make them want to reduce it.

Speakers sometimes “borrow” a narrative from an anthology of stories jokes and then strain to connect it with their topic. Narratives should never be used simply to amuse listeners. They must also help you make your point An irrelevant narrative distracts listeners. The audience can also be turned off by stories that foster negative stereotypes or that contain offensive language Finally, ask yourself whether the narrative will seem fresh and original. If listeners have already heard your story, they may decide you have nothing n to say.
Storytelling is an important folk art. Set off the story from the rest of your speech by pausing as you begin and end the story. Slow down! Tales are to be savored, and the pause is essential to the unfolding drama. Your language should be colorful and active, and you can use voice and dialect changes to signal listeners that a “character” is speaking. Create a sense of anticipation and suspense as you build to the punchline or conclusion. If your story evokes laughter, wait for it to subside before going on. Since storytelling is an intimate form of communication, reduce the distance between yourself and your listeners—either by actually moving toward them or by being less formal. Finally, you should practice telling your story to get the wording and timing just right.
Avoid stories that are funny at the expense of others. If you poke fun at anyone, let it be yourself. Speakers who tell amusing stories about themselves sometimes rise in the esteem of listeners. When this technique is effective. the stories that seem to put the speakers down are actually building them up.

You should structure the body first, so that you can build an introduction and conclusion that fit your message. To develop the body, determine your main points, decide how to arrange them, then select effective supporting materials. To discover your main points, prepare a research overview of the information you have collected. This summary can help you spot major themes that can develop into main points.
Arrange your main points so that they follow natural mental patterns based on the principles of similarity, proximity, and closure. The similarity of objects or events may suggest a categorical design for structuring main points. Proximity suggests that things should be discussed as they happen together in space or time. If they occur in a time sequence, use a sequential design for your speech. If they occur in physical relationship to one another, a spatial design might be appropriate. The structure of the body satisfies the principle of closure when it completes the design it begins. Cause-effect and problem-solution designs require closure in order to be effective.
Supporting materials fill out the speech and buttress ideas. In an ideal arrangement, you should support each point with information, testimony, and an example or story that emphasizes its human aspects.

Is it only what you mentally absorb and how you behave that count in reaching the top? Of course, sloppy and tired geniuses have been honoured and awarded internationally. But how clean and orderly they kept themselves was also talked about unpleasantly. You do not want to be remembered this way, do you?
Before coming to school and no matter how tired or hurried you are, manage to a bath, brush your teeth, comb your hair, powder your face and wear clean clothes and footwear. Check that your books, notebooks and your school bag are also clean, usable and presentable. Be careful to maintain cleanliness and orderliness with your clothes, footwear and school things. Nobody wants or admires a slop. Even an intelligent slop. Always bring a comb, a hankie and possibly a toothbrush and small toothpaste along with your snacks in your school bag. Try to come to school early enough to have time to tidy yourself before classes begin. Comb your hair and tie it up (if you are a girl with long hair) or style it neatly (if you are a girl with short hair or if you are a boy). Wipe any dirt or smudge from your face, neck, arms or legs with your hanky. And brush your teeth after lunch if your classes end in the afternoon. Everyone wants to be near someone who smells clean and is clean and tidy from head to toes. Clean your shoes inside and out and check for cracks. Sew your torn socks and wash them daily.

Feel physically comfortable from beginning to end. Even before starting to read the exam paper, put all your personal belongings under your seat or on the side. Do not be encumbered or pressured by anything on your lap, at your back or on your sides during the exams. This also discourages cheating. Only your ball pen and a handkerchief may be allowed on your hands during the exam.
Be sure you are wearing comfortable clothes or uniform. Do not wear a tight-fitting one when you take the exams so you will not be bothered by bursting buttons or plunging sleeves. Girls with long hair should put their hair in a bun or hang in pony tail. Or draw it back with a headband so you can read the test papers comfortably and without annoyance. Those with slight coughs or any other ailment should take their medicines before coming to class and if they are strong enough to do so.
Sit up straight. Let your entire weight fall on the seat. Lean on the back of your seat and your right arm on the rest. Your head should not strain forward, sidewards or backward. It should hang loose. Never arch your back at any point of the exam. This will pressure you a lot, impair memory and produce a poor posture. Your posture will not help your brain produce more information. And sit calmly. No swinging of thechair or of your feet, no tapping of your finger or ball pen on the seat. Just stay put and sit still. The exam will be over sooner than you know it.
While going through the test paper, you may or may not feel that your answers are correct. The most uncomfortable feeling is that of not being sure! Don’t give in to the discomfort. Credit yourself for the good try. Just be sure you really do your best — without straining — in tackling the questions. If you really and sufficiently reviewed, you will neither fear nor regret. Time and again, this is being said and cannot be over-emphasized. It is a choice you must begin making or never make. If you are dead- set about becoming an exemplary student, you would have turned every stone in preparing and this alone can make you feel pretty sure you take any quiz, test or exam with flying colors.