I gave this lecture on April 1, 2023.
Be Crystal Clear!
INTRODUCTION
How many of you have heard the word “obfuscation”? How many of you know what it means? According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, it means “the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.” It came into English from the Latin word obfuscare, which means “to blacken” or “to make dark.” The ob- prefix is an intensifier, so it really implies “to make really dark.”
In a speech, the result of obfuscation is perplexity or bewilderment on the part of the audience. Instead of clarity, there is obscurity. Instead of shedding light on a subject, the speaker spreads darkness or at least fog and deep mist so that nothing distinctly stands out. The hearer leaves none the wiser after listening to a speaker who muddies the waters instead of clarifying them, whether this is done purposely or not—whether the speaker is trying to sow confusion or he is just incompetent.
SPS So the manual follows the Speak with Purpose speech with a logical successor—a speech that focuses on clarity, calling it “Be Crystal Clear.” Clarity is a fundamental and necessary skill of a good communicator. If a public speaker does not speak with organized precision, has he really communicated? He may have moved his lips and sound has come from his mouth, but did he get his point across? Has his audience learned anything? To pass this speech, one must have made a subject so understandable that most of your audience walks away enlightened.
The Crystal Clear speech is an ideal speech to explain a process—as in the manual, a “how-to” speech. It is a lower form of the Instruct Speech, in which the speaker usually teaches a spiritual truth or principle. But in a #3 speech, a speaker attempts to teach his audience how to perform a task in a step-by-step manner. He gives one instruction that follows logically from the last and leads to explaining a complete process like how to prepare a bed for planting flowers, how to clean a carburetor, how to make an award-winning rub for your summertime grilling, how to turn your baseball card collection into an investment vehicle, etc.
This is also a speech that works well with props, diagrams, or gestures that mime actions in the process. These additions to the verbal explanation give visual cues or model actions that one must take to perform the task properly. Remember, the purpose of this speech is to explain something plainly, and using a model usually makes the explanation more understandable. Whenever you can add another sense to your presentation, do so because it aids in your audience’s comprehension. In the art/skill of writing—something I know a little about—it is a well-known mantra: Show, don’t tell.
The bottom line is that the speaker should use whatever it takes to explain something as precisely and understandably as possible—so that even a young child or an idiot comes away smarter and wiser. In a way, that is what you need to have in mind as you prepare the speech: How can you simplify the instructions so that even the most inexperienced or uneducated person in the room can take your directions and perform the activity or process without a hitch and get the desired results?
So, like the Speak With Purpose speech, you do not want too complex a subject for your Crystal Clear speech. Do not try to explain how to get a rocket to the moon or how to build a submersible in your garage. Give us something helpful but basic! Take us step by step in constructing a kite or baking your grandmother’s prize-winning coffee cake (or meatloaf). Tell us your streak-free method of cleaning the inside of your windshield or your surefire formula for keeping mosquitoes at bay during the summertime. Complexity often leads to confusion, simplicity to clarity!
This is also a good speech to work on pacing—not speaking too fast or too slow, but using a moderate pace so your directions are understandable. Also, this is a good speech to work on speaking with as few notes as possible. If you rely on your notes too much, you will distract your audience from what you are trying to show them. The spotlight needs to be on explaining the process. Hearing a read speech leads to boredom.
CONCLUSION So, the #3 speech, Be Crystal Clear, gives you an exercise to build your public speaking skills. So, imitating the apostle Peter in his second epistle, “To purposefulness, add clarity. And to clarity, color.” But we will get to that next time.