Contrast = Better Speeches
Giving a speech? Want your message remembered? Your key points readily recalled? Then invite contrast to be one of your closest speech-crafting companions.
Why? Contrasts are mental speed bumps – they are little wake-ups. They grab audiences’ ears and minds; they sharpen their attention; and they re-connect with minds that may be wandering.
You are probably familiar with the phrase: Change is the only constant. It’s an example of contrast. The words change and constant are opposites yet, when combined, they make an ear-catching, thought-provoking statement.
The power of contrasts is in the opposite words and phrases which force your ideas to not only stick out, but also stick in your audience’s minds.
Contrast has been used to persuade, entertain, and teach ever since the birth of the written word. Here are seven contrasts, including four “doubles,” that are still as fresh and relevant today as two millennia ago:
A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet attended in anxiety Aesop (c580 BC)
Women: can’t live with them or without them … Aristophanes, Lysistrata (411 BC)
Your silence gives consent … Plato (c. 400 BC)
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one … Chinese Proverb
Evil arrives faster than it departs … Roman Proverb
A room without books is like a body without a soul … Cicero (c.70 BC)
Be quick to forgive and slow to condemn … Bible
Yes, contrast has been around a long time. The Ancient Greeks called it antithesis. Aristotle believed it makes your audience better understand the point you are making. Yet, today, this great tool is still under-sharpened by many speakers.
Contrasts are like spices which, used sparingly, titillate and differentiate. But note, as the following illustrates, they can also be used in concentrated doses for dramatic effect:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—
The above comprise the first 14 of 20 clauses of the first sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens’ top-selling novel of the 15 he wrote. Wikipedia tells us this 1859 work is the world’s best-selling novel of all time. Perhaps this opening set of contrasts put readers into the right frame of mind.
Most of our speech contrasts, however, will likely be short, but with the same goal: catch our audiences’ attention with specially-crafted, easy-to-remember contrasting words.
The bottom line on contrast’s power was best captured by speech coach, Diane Windingland, who mused: If Hamlet had asked: I wonder if I should kill myself? would we have remembered the line? [No way!] So Shakespeare had Hamlet ponder: To be or not to be, that is the question — which is what we’ve been pondering ever since. That, dear reader, is the power of contrast. May we all craft contrasts that linger long in our listeners’ minds.
To help ferment your contrast creativity, here's a wide cross-section to consider. As you read, discover how and why contrasts “work,” then adapt those that resonate to help you build your own collection for even more memorable speeches. Enjoy the journey and the result.
From Toastmasters World Champions of Public Speaking (WCPS)
I know what I’m saying — I just don’t know what you’re hearing ... Michael Aun, WCPS 1978
By “retirement” I mean the sudden stoppage of work: going from the dynamic career to the doldrums, from vigor to vegetation … [then later] … Don’t look back or look down. Life isn’t a vicious circle. It’s a rising spiral, a cornucopia of opportunities ... Roy Fenstermaker, WCPS 1983
The great French impressionist Henri Matisse watched as a nurse placed a paintbrush between the pain-ridden, rheumatic fingers of the aging artist and asked: Why do you continue to paint? Renoir replied: My dear friend—The pain passes, but the beauty remains ... ~ Harold Patterson, WCPS 1987 (titled The Pain Passes)
Ours is a time in which the famous are becoming infamous ... ~ David Brooks, WCPS 1990
I went in a specialist — I came out a sergeant ... Otis Williams Jr, WCPS 1993
He didn’t answer me — or did he? ... Craig Valentine, WCPS 1999
I don't want to brag but in six short months I took a $60,000 debt and I doubled that debt. That’s right! I turned my Subway sandwich shop into a non-profit organization! ... Darren LaCroix, WCPS 2001
Real men love for a lifetime, not for a moment ... Randy Harvey, WCPS 2004
I had changed everything in my life, but nothing had changed ... Lance Miller, WCPS 2005
In my hands was a letter that was going to change my life. I stared at the return address — Massachusetts Institute of Technology — the graduate school of my dreams. Would it begin with “Congratulations!” or “You’ve got to be kidding!!!” ... ~Vikas Jhingran, WCPS 2007
In an ordinary kitchen—I learned an extra-ordinary lesson ... Mark Hunter WCPS 2009
Miss Mamo was hopeful. She went from waiting to die to dying to live ... David Henderson, WCPS 2010
That was Leviathan, the great blue whale, whose yesterdays are a hundred million years, yet of his tomorrows, there are none ... Jock Elliott, WCPS 2011
After a long line of loud “No’s,” one silent “Yes” kept me going ... Pres Vasilev, WCPS 2013
Pull Less, Bend More ... Manoj Vasudevan, WCPS 2017 (also title of speech)
Instead of looking into a mirror of defeat, it became a window of possibilities ... Ramona Smith, WCPS 2018
From Toastmasters at all Levels of Competition
Forget the thing that hurt you, but never forget what it taught you ... Charlie Anderson
Grandma, now there’s a word filled with memories: most of them good — the rest of them good for you ... Robert Killen
I grew up in Pakistan; Linda grew up in Texas. I was mocha; she was latte. I was a PC; she was a Macintosh. What a lovefest! ... Safaraz Nazir
I know the global financial crisis was bad — but this was a real budget motel! ... Linus Chang
I’d rather be disliked for what I am — than liked for what I am not ... Sister Mary Joseph
Is yours a life of chance or a life of choice? ... Kathryn McKenzie
Mom had so much to say — but I'd given her so little time. I was listening [points to ears] — but I wasn't listening [points to his heart.] ... Kwong Yue Yang
One evening I hear this huge crash and then — something worse — silence! ...Katina Hunter
Our future is today ... Eric Feinendegen
These special people, now in life’s twilight, still desire recognition. Indeed, they would rather be recognized now than eulogized later ... Brian Woolf
Was he high on drugs—or low on intelligence? ... Joe Grondin
From Politics and History
A lie told often enough becomes the truth ... Lenin
A society that has nothing to die for has nothing to live for; it’s no longer a stream, it’s a stagnant pool ... Mark Steyn [Multi-contrast]
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country ... John F Kennedy
Churchill wasn’t their first choice, but he became their last hope ... Anon
Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder ... Arnold Toynbee, Historian
If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish ... Jonas Salk
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few ... Churchill (Aug 20, 1940)
Sixty years ago, I knew everything; now I know nothing. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance ... Will Durant, Historian
The best way to honor veterans is to create fewer of us ... Daniel Sjursen (US Vet, 2006-12)
Those who vote, decide nothing. Those who count the vote, decide everything ... Stalin
War does not determine who is right — only who is left ... Bertrand Russell
We agree that something needs to be done. We also know that nothing will be done ... George Friedman
We have perpetual war for perpetual peace ... Gore Vidal
Whether you're a hawk or a dove, you're just a bird living in the same environment, in the same world ... Jesse Jackson, DNC 1988
You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism ... Ronald Reagan [Multi-contrast]
From Life
Abandonment is a critical component of change ... Roger Stangeland, CEO, Vons
Clem Pinckney always had the biggest presence in the room; he also had the smallest ego ... (eulogized by) Ross Turner, SC State Senator
Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do ... Steve Jobs
Even though we live in the same neighborhood, we live in different parts of the galaxy ... Anon
He’s not against freedom in principle, only in practice ... James Grant
If you can’t change your mind, you don’t have a mind to change ... Anon
It is better to fail doing something than excel doing nothing ... Anon
It is easier to preach ten sermons than live one ... Anon
It's not what you've lost but what you have left that counts ... Harold Russell [Lost both hands in WWII]
Make a plan for your life—and if you don’t make a plan, you’ve made a plan ... Amy Coney Barrett
Not to decide is to decide ... Harvey Cox
The days take forever, but the weeks fly by ... Mike Gallagher
The fastest way to succeed is to replace bad habits with good habits ... Zig Ziglar
The fullness of life is in its hazards, not its safety ... Anon
The more I learn, the less I know ... Anon
Today’s peacock is tomorrow’s feather duster ... Anon
We listen too much to phones, too little to silence ... Anon
Why fit in when you were born to stand out? ... Dr Seuss
You are what you do, not what you say you'll do ... Carl Jung
From Observations of the World Around Us
A discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument is an exchange of ignorance ... Robert Quellin
A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason ... J.P. Morgan
America is a constipated nation — if you pass small stools, you have to have large hospitals ... Dr Denis Burkitt, Author of Don’t Forget Fiber in Your Diet
Americans are well-fed and poorly nourished ... Nido Qubein
In our brief lives we learn so little about so much ... Anon
In some decades, nothing happens; in some weeks, decades happen ... Lenin
It’s not what we receive that enriches our lives, it’s what we give ... George Albert Smith
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer ... Michael Corleone [Al Pacino] The Godfather II
Modern slaves are not in chains, they’re in debt ... Anon
Other Contrasts that Created Mental Speed Bumps
As my muscles weakened, my writing became stronger. As I slowly lost my speech, I gained my voice. As I diminished, I grew. As I lost so much, I found myself ... Neil Selinger, reflecting on his battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. [Multi-contrast]
At high school, I read “1984” as an interesting fantasy; today I read it as a fearful reality ... Anon
Be who you are and say what you mean—because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind ... Dr. Seuss
He dispels the myth that there's no unicorn; he is one ... Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney, describing a unique player.
I bear a message of challenge, not self-congratulation; I want your attention, not your applause ... Mary Fisher
Whether we have a little or a lot to say, let’s say it well ... Anon
More articles and and speeches can be found at www.brianwoolf.com
Brian, where can I find more information on crafting better speeches? Thnkx.
Retired
4 年I enjoyed this article, Brian. It gives me a lot to feed on - a welcome thought for a woman on a perpetual diet! Thank you for sharing and continuing to help us become more proficient speakers and writers.