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How To Make A Perfect Speech With Imperfect English

Jeffrey Davis • Jun 24, 2013

Joseph Kim gives a beautiful speech here about his journey from North Korea to America. It’s a story filled with wisdom, deep emotion, and courage. Mr. Kim has an admirable grasp on speech craft, commanding his audience through detail-laden recollections.

I’d like to call your attention to his English. As to be expected, his English is a bit choppy, but nearly every phrase is intelligible, and the speech comes off very well. How does he manage this? By adhering to a few simple principles:

1) He speaks slowly, and takes a breath at the ends of each thought group (i.e. at the end of each punctuation mark)

2) He pays attention to syllable and sentence stress

3) He makes sure that his intonation rises on the focus word of each phrase.

Every phrase in American English has one word which carries the most meaning. This word is called the focus word and it gets a lift in intonation on the stressed syllable. For instance, if I start a conversation with the phrase “I lost my hat”, “hat” would generally be considered the focus word. Each new idea within the conversation will be the focus word and get a change in pitch.

By focusing on intonation, pitch and sentence stress, Mr. Kim is able to be understood despite a few garbled sounds. Intonation and syllable and sentence stress are the most important components of American English.

That’s my tip for the day! If you would like to work on your presentation or your English skills, call me to discuss our different private coaching options.

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AOC and the Art of Public Speaking

By Jeffery Davis • 16 Dec, 2019

AOC does not become a victim of her adversary's expectations for her English or her intellect. It fires up her public speaking craft. Does inequality fire you up to prove your adversaries wrong? For more on how AOC handles public speaking challenges, click here.