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In competitive debate, there's a technique that some people use
that drives me nuts. They try to make as many arguments as they
can in the time allotted, piling up one reason after another.
Their hope is that all this information will overwhelm their
opponent, so that the rebuttal won't be able to answer all the
claims that were made.
They're right -- Taking this approach in a speech WILL overwhelm
an opponent. Unfortunately, it will also overwhelm your audience.
Because of this, I believe that having too many arguments or
points will actually weaken your speech.
Instead of using this "shotgun" approach (where you shoot in a
wide spread, hoping to hit SOMETHING), you should try a more
targeted approach, where you carefully choose your best
arguments, based on your audience. Then, because you have fewer
points to make, you can spend more time elaborating on those
points, making them perfectly clear to your listeners.
As an example, let's say that you are doing a speech explaining
the benefits of a nutritional product. You could talk about ALL
the ways that your product is superior, from the fact that it
costs less, to the fact that the tablets are a prettier color
than the competition. Yawn. A better way to approach the speech
would be to choose the top 3 or 4 advantages, and then take the
time to prove that your product is truly superior.
The point here is simple: Don't try to do too much in your speech
-- if you try to talk about everything, then all you end up with
is a garbled speech and a confused audience. By focusing your
efforts, on the other hand, you will be able to make a clear,
persuasive presentation.