Special Occasion Speeches: Introductory, Presentation, Acceptance, and Commemorative, Schemes and Mind Maps of History

Download Special Occasion Speeches: Introductory, Presentation, Acceptance, and Commemorative and more Schemes and Mind Maps History in PDF only on Docsity! 353 S pecial occasions are the punctuation marks of day-to-day life, the high points that stand out above ordinary routine. Christenings, weddings, funerals, graduations, award ceremonies, inaugurals, retirement dinners—all these are occasions, and they are very special to the people who take part in them. Nearly always they are occasions for speechmaking. A close friend proposes a toast to the bride and groom; the sales manager presents an award to the sales representative of the year; a family member delivers a moving eulogy to the deceased. These speeches help give the occasion its “specialness.” They are part of the ceremonial aura that marks the event. Speeches for special occasions are different from the speeches we have considered so far in this book. They may convey information or persuade, but that is not their primary purpose. Rather, they aim to fit the special needs of a special occasion. In this chapter we look at the most common special occasions and the kinds of speeches appropriate for each. Speeches of Introduction Speeches of Presentation Speeches of Acceptance Commemorative Speeches Speaking on Special Occasions 18 Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 353 8/17/11 9:13 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles 354 CHAPTER 18 Speaking on Special Occasions Speeches of Introduction “Distinguished guests, the President of the United States.” If you are ever in a situation in which you have to introduce the President, you will need no more than the eight words that begin this paragraph. The President is so well known that any further remarks would be inappropriate and almost foolish. Most of the time, however, a speech of introduction will be neither this brief nor this ritualized. If you are introducing another speaker, you will need to accomplish three purposes in your introduction: Build enthusiasm for the upcoming speaker. Build enthusiasm for the speaker’s topic. Establish a welcoming climate that will boost the speaker’s credibility. A good speech of introduction can be a delight to hear and can ease the task of the main speaker. Usually you will say something about the speaker and the topic—in that order. Following are some guidelines for speeches of introduction. Be Brief During World War I, Lord Balfour, Great Britain’s foreign secretary, was to be the main speaker at a rally in the United States. But the speaker introducing him gave a 45-minute oration on the causes of the war. Then, almost as an afterthought, he said, “Now Lord Balfour will give his address.” Lord Balfour rose and said, “I’m supposed to give my address in the brief time remaining. Here it is: 10 Carleton Gardens, London, England.” 1 Everyone who has ever sat through a long-winded introduction knows how dreary it can be. The purpose of a speech of introduction is to focus attention on the main speaker, not on the person making the introduction. A speech of introduction will usually be no more than two to three min- utes long, and may be shorter if the speaker is already well known to the audience. Make Sure Your Remarks Are Completely Accurate Many an introducer has embarrassed himself or herself, as well as the main speaker, by garbling basic facts. Always check with the speaker ahead of time to make sure your introduction is accurate in every respect. Above all, get the speaker’s name right. If the speaker’s name is at all difficult—especially if it involves a foreign pronunciation—practice saying it in advance. However, don’t practice so much that you frighten yourself about getting it wrong. This was the plight of an announcer whose gaffe is now a classic: “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States—Hoobert Heever!” Adapt Your Remarks to the Occasion In preparing your introduction, you may be constrained by the nature of the occasion. Formal occasions require formal speeches of introduction. If you were presenting a guest speaker at an informal business meeting, you might be much more casual than at a formal banquet. speech of introduction A speech that introduces the main speaker to the audience. Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 354 8/27/11 1:05 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles Speeches of Presentation 357 Speeches for special occasions are part of the ceremonial aura that makes certain events special, as in these remarks by Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Bill Clinton To my friend, President Mandela, Americans as one today, across all the lines that divide us, pay tribute to your struggle, to your achievement, and to the inspiration you have given us to do better. Today we offer a man who has received the Nobel Prize the highest honor within the gift of this country. . . . Those of us who share his vision and lift him up in honor today owe it to him to build a permanent partnership between Americans and Africans—for the education of our children, for the solution of our problems, for the resolu- tion of our differences, for the elevation of what is best about us all. . . . In forgiving those who imprisoned him, he reminded us of the most fundamental lesson of all—that in the end apartheid was a defeat of the heart, the mind, the spirit. It was not just a structure outside and jail houses within which people were kept; it was a division of the mind and soul against itself. We owe it to Nelson Mandela not simply to give him this award, but to live by the lesson he taught us and to tear down every last vestige of apartheid in our own hearts—everything that divides us, one from another. For those of us who have been privileged to know this remarkable man, no medal, no award, no fortune, nothing we could give him could possibly compare to the gift he has given to us and to the world. The only gift that is true recompense is to continue his mission and to live by the power of his profound and wonderful example. Now, as prescribed by the law, it is my privilege to present the Congres- sional Gold Medal to President Nelson Mandela. PRESENTING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 357 8/27/11 1:05 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles 358 CHAPTER 18 Speaking on Special Occasions Speeches of Acceptance The purpose of an acceptance speech is to give thanks for a gift or an award. When giving such a speech, you thank the people who are bestowing the award and recognize the people who helped you gain it. The acceptance speech below is the companion piece to the speech of presentation by Bill Clinton. It was delivered by Nelson Mandela in accepting the Congressional Gold Medal, and it exemplifies the major traits of a good acceptance speech—brevity, humility, and graciousness. 2 acceptance speech A speech that gives thanks for a gift, an award, or some other form of public recognition. Nelson Mandela Thank you. President Clinton, Mr. Speaker, distinguished members of the Senate and the House, ladies and gentlemen. . . . It has been my great privilege to serve a people whose bondage to an inhuman system evoked the solidarity of all those who love freedom and justice, a people whose triumph over the divisions of racist doctrine has given new life to humanity’s hope for a world without hatred and discrimi- nation. I am conscious that in bestowing the Congressional Gold Medal upon me you are evoking these bonds between our nations and paying tribute to the whole South African nation for its achievements in realizing our shared ideals. It is in that spirit that I humbly accept the award, aware at the same time of the great honor you do me by using me as the vehicle of a unique distinction conferred by this hallowed institution of American democracy. As one who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of unity, I am moved by the consensus in your nation’s regard for the achievements of my people. And I feel a great pride in the fact that with a few citizens of other coun- tries who have received this high honor, the name of an African is now added. . . . The award with which you honor me today is an expression of the com- mon humanity that binds us, one person to another, nation to nation, and people of the north to people of the south. I receive it with pride as a sym- bol of partnership for peace, prosperity, and equity as we enter the new millennium. I thank you. View an excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s acceptance speech in the online Media Library for this chapter (Video 18.1). ACCEPTING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL Commemorative Speeches Commemorative speeches are speeches of praise or celebration. Eulogies, Fourth of July speeches, and dedications are examples of commemorative speeches. Your aim in such speeches is to pay tribute to a person, a group of people, an institution, or an idea. Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 358 8/17/11 9:13 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles Commemorative Speeches 359 As in an informative speech, you probably will have to give the audi- ence information about your subject. After all, the audience must know why your subject is praiseworthy. As in other speeches, you may draw on examples, testimony, even statistics to illustrate the achievements of your subject. Your fundamental purpose in a commemorative speech, however, is not to inform your listeners but to inspire them—to arouse and heighten their appreciation of or admiration for the person, institution, or idea you are praising. If you are paying tribute to a person, for example, you should not simply recount the details of the person’s life. Rather, you should penetrate to the essence of your subject and generate in your audience a deep sense of respect. When speaking to commemorate, you want to express feelings, to stir sentiments—joy and hope when a new building is dedicated, anticipation and good wishes at a commencement celebration, lament and consolation at a funeral, admiration and respect at a testimonial dinner. A commemorative speech is like an impressionist painting—“a picture with warm colors and texture capturing a mood or a moment.” 3 But while the painter works with brush and colors, the commemorative speaker works with language. Of all the kinds of speeches, none depends more on the creative and subtle use of language. Some of the most memo- rable speeches in history, including Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, have been commemorative. We continue to find such speeches meaningful and inspiring largely because of their eloquent use of language. One of the most effective commemorative speakers in recent history was President Ronald Reagan. After the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, Reagan delivered a nationally televised eulogy to the astronauts killed in the blast. Below are two versions of Reagan’s closing lines. The first is what he might have said, stripping the text of its warm emotional content and poignant language: Like Francis Drake, the great explorer of the oceans, the Challenger astronauts gave their lives for a cause to which they were fully dedicated. We are honored by them, and we will not forget them. We will always remember seeing them for the last time this morning as they prepared for their flight. Here is what Reagan actually said: There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, was buried in it.” Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete. The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.” The final words—“‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God’”—are especially effective. Drawn from a sonnet called “High Flight” that View the ending of Ronald Reagan’s eulogy to the Challenger astronauts in the online Media Library for this chapter (Video 18.2). Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 359 8/27/11 1:05 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles 362 CHAPTER 18 Speaking on Special Occasions In this chapter we have considered speeches of introduction, speeches of presenta- tion, speeches of acceptance, and commemorative speeches. Your job in a speech of introduction is to build enthusiasm for the main speaker and to establish a welcoming climate. Keep your remarks brief, make sure they are accurate, and adapt them to the audience, the occasion, and the main speaker. Speeches of presentation are given when someone receives a gift or an award. The main theme of such a speech is to acknowledge the achievements of the recipient. The purpose of an acceptance speech is to give thanks for a gift or an award. When delivering such a speech, you should thank the people who are bestowing the award and rec- ognize the contributions of people who helped you gain it. Be brief, humble, and gracious. Commemorative speeches are speeches of praise or celebration. Your aim in such a speech is to pay tribute to a person, a group of people, an institution, or an idea. A commemorative speech should inspire the audience, and its success will depend largely on how well you put into language the thoughts and feelings appropriate to the occasion. Summary speech of introduction (354) speech of presentation (356) acceptance speech (358) commemorative speech (360) Key Terms After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions: 1. What are the three purposes of a speech of introduction? What guidelines should you follow in preparing such a speech? 2. What is the main theme of a speech of presentation? Depending on the audi- ence and occasion, what two other themes might you include in such a speech? 3. What are the three major traits of a good acceptance speech? 4. What is the fundamental purpose of a commemorative speech? Why does a successful commemorative speech depend so much on the creative and subtle use of language? For further review, go to the LearnSmart study module for this chapter. Review Questions Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 362 8/17/11 9:13 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles Exercises for Critical Thinking 363 1. Attend a speech on campus. Pay special attention to the speech introducing the main speaker. How well does it fit the guidelines discussed in this chapter? 2. Observe several speeches of presentation and acceptance—at a campus awards ceremony or on a television program such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards, or Tony Awards. Which speeches do you find most effective? Least effective? Why? 3. Analyze “Elie Wiesel” (page 361) in light of the criteria for commemorative speaking presented in this chapter. Exercises for Critical Thinking Luc06732_ch18_352-363.indd Page 363 8/27/11 1:05 AM user-f494 /202/MHSF283/Luc06732_disk1of1/0073406732/Luc06732_pagefiles