Ways To Avoid A Cliche And Boring Inspirational Talk
Motivational speakers who wish to avoid cheesy and cliched speeches must, in the first place, have some idea of what ‘cheesy’ means. The Internet is full of self appointed experts. Some claim this expression as ‘American’ and others think that it is an Internet expression. A British dictionary published in 1982, before geek speak was common, suggests that in means something that is artificially sincere, and therefore somewhat paradoxical, like the artificial grins produced by gloomy subjects for camera lenses.
Paradox can be considered an element of both cheese and motivational speeches. Cheese is tasty and nutritious but made of fermented milk. Its bad smell can disgust some human beings who will cheerfully eat mice or rats. A motivational speech may have high sounding sentiments that inspire listeners but be delivered by a low money grubbing cleric or tin pot dictator who manipulates his audience for selfish and insincere reasons.
The fact that this expression has been growing in use for two decades might be a warning sign for public speakers. Although a speech may seem like a one way communicative act, it is not. Am audience may be silent but attentive and judgmental. Their mental activity may be be focused on judging the sincerity and sense of what they hear and process internally.
The word cheesy may itself have become something of a cliche. It has been heard often before and sounds rather clever. It fits easily into the speech patterns of people who do not have to think too closely about what they mean when they use it. The fact that it is derogatory in some general sense is sufficient for many.
The speech of many politicians and some journalists is so riddled with cliches that the doubt arises whether they have given any thought to what they are saying. Language is very largely a matter of sound, like music. Just as people repeat the rhymes and the lyrics of songs without paying too much attention to meaning, so speakers repeat words and phrases because the sounds satisfy, rather than because they mean much.
People do not always recognize a cliche for what it is. They may use a phrase that seems fresh without knowing that it was thought up by Shakespeare five hundred years ago. Without learning a speech by rote an orator can prepare to use specific metaphors or analogies. These will add freshness to his delivery, even if the odd cliche does sneak in.
A speaker can also guard against being insincere by thinking about what he really does want to say. If it sounds to him like what he has said many times before to other audiences he might try to adapt his message to the specific needs of the audience that he is to address. Most people are motivated by needs of one sort or another. Attempting to address those needs may help a speaker to actually be more sincere rather than cheesy.
Public speaking is actually a high risk activity. Motivational speakers like Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill and other politicians are listened to avidly sometimes with disastrous consequences. In many cases audiences might be better advised to listen patiently and tolerantly to the words of teachers, parents and clergymen who must speak persuasively on a daily basis. When it comes to public rhetoric contemporary audiences may be more alert and critical than they were in the past.
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