The Importance of Simplicity

[dropcap background=”” color=”” circle=”0″]S[/dropcap]implicity is an important part of any great speech. Without it, your audience will inevitably become confused and disengaged. No matter what type of audience you’re speaking to it should be your number one goal to create something that will be easily understood by each and every one of them.

Don’t Confuse the Audience

Creating confusion among your audience is one of the worst things you can do because it is very difficult to get back to a place where you can re-engage them from that confused state. Many speakers feel the need to pack a ton of information into their speech simply for the purpose of providing credibility, not realizing that the confusion that it creates detracts from the attention of the audience. When it comes to speeches, less is sometimes more.

One example of a confusing speech comes from a TED talk by James Randi. In the speech, Randi goes on somewhat of a rant about psychics being frauds. While the subject matter is a bit odd in the first place, there is still an opportunity to create an understanding about the argument that he is making. Randi’s attempt to back his argument, however, creates an incredibly confusing dialogue that drives the audience away.

Will This Make Sense to an Eighth Grader?

This is a question that you should be asking yourself as you’re constructing your speech. While you will want to cater your speech towards the direct interests of your audience, making sure that your entire audience will understand it is imperative. Far too many speakers attempt to construct their speech by making statements or giving statistics that may seem important but that fail to reach the intellectual understanding of their entire audience.

Conciseness Is Key

When you’re constructing your speech, be sure that a direct correlation can be shown between the argument that you’re making and the credibility that you’re providing for it. Remember that you aren’t trying to showcase your intellectual capabilities but rather trying to show your audience why your argument is a strong one. Conciseness is key for any strong argument and speakers should always aim to provide the simplest explanation possible for the statements they make.