In a speech.... (1 Viewer)

[Robin Hood]

when your audience are a bunch of teenagers (the setting is, not literally, really there is only a teacher there) would it be appropriate to use slang/informal terms to describe things? i know my teacher wants us to but does possibly offensive terms like 'gay' going too far? Or would it fit in nicely?

 

[Rockyroad]

Lol we recently had to do a speech for Romeo and Juliet for english advanced. And one girl struggled making her essay into a speech. So she said stuff like 'usually studying shakespeare pisses me off...' to try and make it more informal and personal - our teacher was not impressed. Teacher said that it is bad to use colloquial language and you can make it personal by asking rhetorical questions and adding anecdotes. I would not talk in slang if I were you. There isn't anything wrong with the word homosexual. Good luck.

 

[swathard]

yeah, it's better if you write formally for all speeches, regardless of the audience. and yes, rhetoric and anecdotes are important features of a speech that add a sense of audience into your speech anyway - just make sure that the rhetorical quesitons or anecdotes you use are appropriate to your audience and purpose.

GOOD LUCK.

 

[veloc1ty]

You don't need to write formally, but you should write with an erudite audience in mind. Informal =/= unsophisticated.