Exchange of Realities

In-story speeches are practically a literary trope in their own right. In most stories—the more epic, the more likely—you’re going to see someone deliver a massive monologue; even off-the-cuff in games, you occasionally see someone dip into oratory. (Some even stand on a chair or pound on the table in the process. This is both natural and awesome.) We have villains smirking and explaining just why they’re superior, and protagonists countering with why their Power of Friendship is going to beat everything. In fact, one might reasonably conclude that just about any fictional character with any sense of drama, particularly one with aspirations of leadership, is likely to launch into a massive monologue at a moment’s notice.

But while rhetoric is an important tool, there is a time and place for all of it, and seeing it in a time and place in which it just plain doesn’t work can be rather jarring. So when can a person—and when shouldn’t a person—deliver a speech?

Photo by lusi

The most important factor here is what a speech is for. The objective of a speech is to get a point across. While this often takes the form of either inspiring people or bringing them down, many speeches are meant to bring them around to a certain idea. If you’re not trying to do one of those, you’re probably better off just talking naturally and leaving gaps for other people to respond in.

Another vital thing to consider is the context in which you’re trying to make the speech. For spontaneous monologues, you’re better off somewhere high-energy and high-emotion, where people jumping on soapboxes and yelling is expected. It’s one thing to grab the high ground and start in on a mass of fiery oration at a protest, or in a military encampment for the benefit of your fellow soldiers—but wouldn’t that sort of behavior look a little out of place at a tea ceremony or an evening dinner? I certainly think so. Note that not all high-energy, high-emotion situations are good for monologuing; sure, fights are both high-energy and high-emotion, but even if you’ve got the breath left to speak on in the middle of a fight, you’ll still need some way to make sure that nobody guts you while you’re orating. (Some genres do make exceptions for this, but even in situations with these exceptions, it’s best to have some sort of insurance.)

Then consider your audience—after all, there’s no point in making a speech if they just leave. If they don’t have a very good reason to listen to you, they’ll leave before you’re finished at best. At worst, you might have to deal with interruptions, either verbal or physical, and that’s not even getting into the post-oratorical repercussions. So you need one of three things: for them to want to hear you even before you start, for some part of the speech to draw them in before they get tired of it, or for there to be some reason why they have to pay attention whether they want to or not. Talking about something they could potentially have an interest in helps, particularly if you can work from a point of mutual agreement.

Another thing to take into account is the relative rank of the people to whom the speech is going to be delivered. After all, a speech does assume that the audience is, for a decent period of time, going to stay there, listen, and not interrupt, and it generally assumes that the speaker knows more about his subject than his listeners do. Now, when you’re orating at people you outrank, that’s technically safe; some of them might not want to listen, but they’re pretty much obligated to. It’s a more delicate situation when you’re dealing with your equals, though; at this point, it should technically be their choice whether to hang around and listen to you or not. And when dealing with superiors, spontaneous monologuing is just asking for trouble, as it basically shunts them all out of the conversation and orders them not to interrupt. Remember those post-oratorical repercussions I mentioned? This is where they come in; nobody likes the presumptuous.

The best time to make a speech is, of course, when the occasion calls for one. Awards ceremonies of various sorts? Fair game. Assemblies in which you’re scheduled to speak, or anything else that comes with an invitation? Go for it. Debates in which long answers are part of the format? Have fun! Audiences that consider you their hero and want you to share in your amazing inspiration, and you just got a really sweet idea for how to rally them for their next task? You’d be doing them a disservice if you didn’t fire up a monologue for the occasion.

Speak up! What do you think?