第十章 公务员事务局法定语文事务部.docVIP

公務員事務局法定語文事務部OFFICIAL LANGUAGES DIVISION, CIVIL SERVICE BUREAU 文訊WORD POWER 第期二零零年月Issue No.15 March 2004 Carefully Conceived, Deftly DeliveredMrs Anson Chan on Speech Writing When Mrs Anson Chan retired in April 2001, she took home as ‘souvenir’ copies of all the speeches she had made as Chief Secretary for Administration — a total of 14 volumes. Since retirement, she has been invited from time to time to address different gatherings. It was really a great honour to have Mrs Chan share with members of the Official Languages Officer grade her valuable experience and expertise in speech writing on 17?February 2004. The talk was most interesting and inspiring, captivating the audience until the very end. Speaking with admirable grace and eloquence, Mrs Chan took us through the art of speech writing and delivery. The following summary of her talk clearly reflects her mastery of the skill. Carefully conceived Speech writing, like a lot of things, improves with practice. Speeches, meant for oral delivery, have three cardinal objectives: to instruct, to inspire and stimulate, and to advocate. To instruct, or to get the message across, one must believe in what one is saying. Most importantly, one should speak from the heart. When writing a substantive speech, one must address the subject squarely in a convincing manner. The content should be substantial in addressing the main concerns of the audience. Substance and style of a speech are equally important as the speaker cannot hope to get the message across fully and vividly or make a deep impression on the people without using the right language and style. To inspire and stimulate the audience, the speaker should use language, such as sensory words and images, that will appeal to the audience. Two outstanding masters of the use of sensory language are General Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill. For the audience to understand and hopefully be convinced of what one advocates, simple language, short sentences,