How Public Speaking is Different from Casual Conversation

If you can speak you can influence,

And if you can influence, you can change lives.

I had heard of this but it was in eighth grade that I understood the truism of this quote.

Mine was a typical school that had school assemblies where we gathered and prayed in the morning.

Post our shlokas (Chants in the Hindu Faith), we had a segment where we would have students come up and give speeches on various topics.  

Those assemblies often used to be arid and colorless and honestly there are very few of them that I remember now that I am out of school.

There however is this one assembly that I remember distinctly. I was in eighth grade then and a junior of mine was to speak that day.

He got on stage, took a deep breath and began. He spoke for not more than five minutes but even now, eight years later, I remember his words.

That’s what good speakers do. They influence the way you think and perceive the world around you. This is what happened that day. He spoke about how as a community today we speak the colonizer’s language over our mother tongues.

Since then, every time I see a young child struggling to speak in their mother tongue or even when I struggle to find words in mine, I am reminded of his speech. This is the power of speaking.

While he was always a pleasure to talk to, that day when I saw him onstage, I realized that he spoke differently. He sounded more mature, a little less giggly, and it seemed he was there to make his point.

He spoke with conviction and with a certain charisma that ensured he encapsulated his audience.

That was the first time I realized that there is a difference between public speaking and casual conversation. Before I get down to exploring the difference between the two let’s begin with discussing what each of them mean.

Public Speaking can be defined as the act of speaking to a group of people with the main aim of either persuading, informing or entertaining them.

Casual Conversation, on the other hand can be described as a simple conversation where the people involved either exchange pleasantries or are catching up with what’s happening in each other’s lives.

In other words, a conversation that is completely informal and that doesn’t quite involve the need to prepare and speak. It’s those daily conversations that we have, with friends that we run into, the debates with our landlords when we return late after partying, and those talks with our professors when they catch us lurking on the campus during class.

There are a few factors based on which Public Speaking and Casual Conversation differ. They are

1. Language
2. Structure
3. Delivery

Language

The use of language is perhaps the most striking difference between Public Speaking and Casual Conversation. In the case of a speech, there are a lot of factors that one needs to keep in mind while writing.

The tone of the speech (whether it is serious, funny etc.), the target group of audience (whether it is a college classroom, a boardroom, the parliament etc.) and the objective behind delivering the speech (whether to inform or to persuade etc.).

There will be a different set of language tools used for each of these. The language used here is usually formal and devoid of stock phrases like ah, um etc. and slang.

Related Article – Techniques to stop saying filler/stock words.

Language Depends on the Audience

One of the major determinants of what kind of language the speaker will follow will depend on the audience he/she is speaking to.

For e.g. If you are delivering a presentation in an engineering college, you will be required to speak with a certain engineering jargon.

If the same speech is being done in a setting where you will be speaking to school students who are aspiring engineers, the level of your jargon will be diluted.

If you are speaking to a group of non-engineering graduates your language will be completely simple.

Related Article – The importance of knowing your audience when delivering a speech

Speeches, considering that they aren’t completely impromptu often lead the speaker to use better language. A good speech is the one that will have the correct palate of mood words and poetic devices that will enhance the effect of the speech.

Usually speeches that are descriptive in nature will have a lot of adjectives that will invoke the faculty of visualization in the audience thus making it a memorable experience for them.

This is how language plays a very important role in a speech.

For e.g. I once heard a speech where the speaker spoke about how an all-boys classroom would often turn into a battle zone.

He used references from famous wars and a lot of military jargon to make it more palatable. As an audience member, it seemed that that his descriptions had the power to teleport me on a battlefield.

That’s what I call the usage of the right words at the right places at the right time almost always yield the right effect.

Colloquialism in Casual Conversation

A casual conversation on the other hand is very different. Here, there is no preset writeup or points that the speaker must keep in mind.

These are often unforeseen and spontaneous conversations that sometimes require on the foot thinking.

The language in a casual conversation is what is called colloquialism.

Colloquialism refers to that style of language which is characterized by interjections, informal language and an ever-dynamic lexicon.

Here, you will often find slang and simile used in the same measures. If it is a group of bilingual friends talking, there is a greater probability of them switching between languages too. However, casual conversation also has certain rules.

A slight off duty conversation with your senior or your boss is also a casual one but, you won’t be using any kind of slang here. In fact, you will also try to stick to one language and not change languages.

If it’s a conversation with an old neighbor or friend, you are most likely to speak in your mother tongue.

If it is a conversation about the kind of words you spoke when you were a child, you are most likely to use distorted forms of words and gibberish pronunciations.

For e.g. My family can’t get over the fact that as a child I couldn’t speak “daddy” and always said “daggy”. This is how casual conversations sound.

They have no structured use of language, most often languages are mixed and mashed together. There are figures of speech that are used but then they aren’t advanced. It usually consists of what springs naturally from the corpus of the speaker.

Structure

In public speaking, like I mentioned above, there is a purpose associated with each speech. A speech is done either to persuade, inform or to entertain.

As varied as the language and the delivery of all of these are, there is one similarity and that is of structure.

Any level of public speaking, whether it’s in school or at an organization like Toastmasters or at any class dedicated to teaching this art, lesson no.1 is understanding the speech structure.

A good speech has a tantalizing title, a buoyant beginning, a strong body and a conclusive conclusion.

Related Articles – 15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines and How to Create your Own

                            How to NOT Start a Speech (And What You Can Do Instead)

                             5 Ways to End your Speech with Maximum Impact

The Power of Three in a Speech

All public speaking masters will tell you that it is very essential to hold the attention of the audience for the first seven and the last seven seconds.

They will tell you to exploit the power of storytelling. Using three narratives and weaving them in a way that you leave your audience enthralled.

These happen to be nuances that make a good speech better and if done exceptionally well, memorable as well.

Related Article – The Ultimate Guide to Structuring a Speech

Subversion of Structure in Casual Conversation

These, on the other hand work in no way in a casual conversation. In a casual conversation there is often no structure. It starts of on some point and eventually ends up somewhere completely different. Haven’t we all had these moments?

A simple “what’s up” to a friend can end an hour later with the two of you reliving some old school memories. Most of my family gatherings begin with discussions on current affairs and end up with my granny recounting funny anecdotes from everyone’s childhood.

That’s what casual conversations do. They work at touching your heart as opposed to most speeches which are aimed at educating you or influencing you.

Delivery

What Constitutes a Well Delivered Speech?

A well written speech isn’t always necessarily a memorable one if it is not delivered well. A well delivered speech is often the one where there is in a measured amount – intonation and modulation, expressions, hand gestures, stage movements and body language.

Related Article- Body Language Guide to Public Speaking (The Dos and Don’ts)

It is rehearsed beforehand, and the stage movements literally choreographed and practiced. For most parliamentarians and other important speakers they have speech coaches who work on every aspect of their verbal as well as nonverbal stylistics.

Related Article- Surprisingly Simple but Effective Ways to Practice for a Speech

They are thoroughly trained in the art of effective delivery. We often see them speak with a certain conviction and passion. They can even from behind the podium effectively use their hands and voice to drive a point.

A casual conversation is completely different. Here, there is no boundary on the vocal variety. People often tend to, depending on the person they are speaking to, oscillate between being overly dramatic, dramatic and demure.

This is something I too am guilty of doing often. If you ever spot a crazy curly haired girl sitting on a table and acting out her day to her roommates or shyly smizing and softly speaking her day out to her professors just know that both are me.

As a dancer, expressions and animations come naturally to me and it kinda bums me when I am asked to dilute them while speaking onstage.

But, on a serious note, we all have dramatic friends who channel their vocal variety and gestures and paint stories for us in a casual conversation. Here there is no stage and no speech coach checking your verbal and nonverbal stylistics. It often is all fun and games and over exaggeration and leg pulling.

The Dilemma of Delivering a Conversational Speech

Ever been in a situation where you have been asked to rehearse for your speech but still ensure that it sounds conversational (like how you would have a casual conversation)? Flummoxed?

Believe me, I am down a year and a half of Toastmastering and yet with every speech and every role I take up this is the only feedback I get. Like I discussed above, public speaking and casual conversations are very different but then each has its place.

Related Article – To Memorise or to NOT: A Public Speaker’s Dilemma

I am by no means a professional speaker but, in my time of watching some amazing ones, I have learnt one important thing.

The secret to mastering the art of effective communication lies in striking a very fine balance between public speaking and casual conversation.

This is a very delicate line and most often even experienced speakers tend to struggle finding it.

My mentor once broke this down for me. Let’s go step by step. There are three parameters that separate the two.

Language

Let us begin with language. A good speech is the one that has good language. Agreed. However, one must understand that if you are someone whose language is exceptionally good than you might want to tone down.

Always remember the primary aim of communication is to drive your message into the minds of the listeners.

You must know your target audience and their level of language. If you use language that is above or below the median standard of the audience, you will run the risk of losing them.

This is what my junior in school did well. He spoke in Gujarati that day, but his language was so colloquial that it didn’t seem out of place to our ears and he kept us encapsulated all throughout.

Had he spoken in ornamented Gujarati he would have surely lost us since most of us wouldn’t have been able to understand it.

Remember to tap into the tools of language. It is very essential. If it is a descriptive speech, descriptive language is needed but understand that the words shouldn’t be too unheard off and big.

E.g. If you are to describe a monster you can use hideous in place of ugly but using gnarled might put off your audience especially if it’s a group of young school students.

Structure

As far as structure goes, understand that this is also very important. A good structure will ensure that the audience has seamless transitions from the introduction to the body to the conclusion.

Related Article – Effective Speech Transitions: How to Make your Speech Flow

However, if you are delivering a humorous speech understand the you can digress and use that as a device to generate a chuckle.

It is extremely important to understand the type of speech you are delivering and the audience.

If it is a group of children or young students, probably a digression can serve as an attention grabber should they have zoned out.

If it is a serious speech, like a President speaking about a national emergency, there should be no digressions. It should have clear concise language and a good structure to ensure that the audience doesn’t lose him/her.

Delivery

Delivery is also just like the other two aspects. If one wants to create an impression they need to understand the type of speech and the audience they are speaking to.

If it is an informative speech like the one where the President is addressing the nation, there will be minimal stylistics used here. This is done to ensure that the attention of the audience doesn’t shift from the message.

If it is a speech that has stories and ups and downs, there will be a lot of delivery stylistics used here to ensure that the audience stays with the speaker.

It can get confusing sometimes but always remember the easiest way to battle it out is to understand the type of speech and the audience you are speaking to.

It is tricky to strike the right balance but then the only way forward is to keep doing it.

So, keep grabbing as many stage opportunities as you can get, whether big or small and try to strike a balance between formal and informal communication.

You will fall a lot more than you thought but then, there is no other way you will learn and master.