how to make a declamation speech

Discover, Learn, Contribute, Connect

How to Say a Declamation Speech: Tips, Examples, and Regional Variations

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on how to deliver a powerful declamation speech! Whether you are preparing for a competition, a school assignment, or simply want to improve your public speaking skills, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we will explore both the formal and informal ways of delivering a declamation speech, focusing primarily on universal tips and examples. So, let’s dive in and discover how you can captivate your audience through the art of declamation!

Table of Contents

1. Understanding Declamation Speech

Before we delve into the techniques of delivery, it’s important to understand the essence of a declamation speech. A declamation speech is a passionate rendering of a famous or significant piece of literature, art, or oratory. It involves embodying the emotions, intentions, and dramatic elements of the original work, and effectively conveying them to your audience.

2. Formal Ways of Delivering a Declamation Speech

When it comes to formal declamation speeches, here are some crucial tips to elevate your performance:

A. Maintain Proper Posture:

Stand upright, with your shoulders relaxed, and keep your head high. This conveys confidence and establishes a commanding presence on stage.

B. Project Your Voice:

Speak clearly and audibly, ensuring your voice reaches every corner of the room. Articulate your words precisely, emphasizing important phrases to evoke the desired impact.

C. Utilize Facial Expressions:

Your face is a powerful tool to convey emotions. Use appropriate facial expressions to amplify the sentiment of your speech, be it anger, sadness, or joy.

D. Master Body Language:

Your gestures should complement your spoken words. Use your hands purposefully, and employ controlled movements or deliberate stillness to enhance the drama and meaning of your message.

3. Informal Ways of Delivering a Declamation Speech

Informal declamation speeches, which are often used in casual settings or as part of creative expression, provide more flexibility and room for personal interpretation. Here are some tips for an engaging informal delivery:

A. Connect with Your Audience:

Engagement is key in informal declamation speeches. Establish a conversational tone, maintain eye contact, and try to build a connection with your audience to make your performance more relatable and impactful.

B. Emphasize Your Personality:

Showcase your own style and personality while delivering the speech. Add small anecdotes or personal insights that align with the original work to create a unique performance that reflects who you are.

C. Use Appropriate Language:

While informality allows more freedom in language, ensure that it is still appropriate for the audience and context. Tailor your delivery to match the expectations and sensibilities of your listeners.

D. Incorporate Humor or Wit:

If the original piece allows, consider injecting humor or wit into your performance. Well-placed comedic elements can engage the audience and add depth to your delivery.

4. Regional Variations

Although declamation speeches are not typically associated with specific regional variations, it’s worth exploring cultural nuances if you are delivering a speech in a particular locale. Localizing your delivery can help you connect more deeply with your audience and showcase your understanding of their customs and traditions.

A. Pronunciation:

If delivering a declamation speech in a specific region, familiarize yourself with any unique pronunciations prevalent in that area. Accurate pronunciation will demonstrate your attention to detail and respect for the local audience.

B. Gesture Interpretation:

Body language and gestures can vary across cultures. If you are presenting in a region with distinct cultural norms, be mindful of any gestures that may be offensive or misunderstood, and adjust your performance accordingly.

5. Examples of Declamation Speeches

To further illustrate the art of declamation, here are a few examples of renowned speeches that you can study and use as inspiration:

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln
“The Ballot or The Bullet” by Malcolm X
“Inaugural Address” by John F. Kennedy

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

These examples cover a range of emotions, historical contexts, and delivery styles, enabling you to understand the diverse possibilities of declamation speeches.

A declamation speech is a powerful tool to express the emotions and messages embedded in significant literary works. By mastering the art of declamation, both formally and informally, you can captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression. Remember to embrace the specific techniques discussed, adapt them to your style, and always maintain a warm and engaging tone. So, go forth, practice diligently, and let your declamation speech take center stage!

Related Guides:

How to Say a Birthday Speech: Tips, Examples, and Regional Variations
How to Say a Debate Speech: Tips, Examples, and Regional Variations
How to Deliver a Speech in School: Tips, Examples, and Regional Variations
How to Say a Speech in School: Tips, Examples, and Variations
How to Say Introduction in Speech: Tips, Examples, and Variations
Tips for Delivering a Successful Speech
How to Say a Good Speech: Formal and Informal Ways, Tips, and Examples
Tips and Examples for Delivering Your Speech

About The Author

Games, topic printables & more
The 4 main speech types
Example speeches
Commemorative
Declamation
Demonstration
Informative
Introduction
Student Council
Speech topics
Poems to read aloud
How to write a speech
Using props/visual aids
Acute anxiety help
Breathing exercises
Letting go - free e-course
Using self-hypnosis
Delivery overview
4 modes of delivery
How to make cue cards
How to read a speech
9 vocal aspects
Vocal variety
Diction/articulation
Pronunciation
Speaking rate
How to use pauses
Eye contact
Body language
Voice image
Voice health
Public speaking activities and games
Blogging Aloud
About me/contact

Declamation speech resources

How to choose, understand & deliver a declamation speech well.

By: Susan Dugdale

A declamation speech is the term used to describe the re-giving of an important or famous speech.

It could be a political, graduation or commencement speech, a eulogy, a sermon: any type of speech at all as long as it's one that had significant impact on those who heard it.

But what's their purpose? How do you choose a good piece? Where do you look for one? And how do you work with it?

The answers to those questions are here.

What's on this page:

the purpose of a declamation speech, and its origins
how to choose a piece - guidelines to follow
where to look for a piece, links to collections of notable speeches
how to work with a piece: step by step guidelines covering interpretation, delivery and rehearsal
links to additional declamation resources
a definition of declamation as it's used in the phrase 'declamation speech'

The purpose of a declamation speech

The speaker's task is to re-interpret the original, reproducing its power afresh.

Often this exercise will be set as part of studying public speaking skills. The purpose is to have the student directly experience the power of masterfully crafted language. Through their interpretation the techniques and skills of the original orator are learned.

In Toastmasters , the skills learned in giving a declamation speech are covered in the advanced Interpretive Reading manual: project 5 - The Oratorical Speech.

Declamation speech origins

This method of teaching was used in ancient Greece where public speaking was considered a necessary art for anybody embarking on a career in public service.

Image: Demosthenes declaiming by the seashore by Eugene Delacroix, 1859

A declamation was a practice piece set by a teacher for exactly the same reason they are set now: to have a student learn the skills of combining eloquent language with equally eloquent delivery in order to argue or persuade.

The great 4th century Greek orator Demosthenes is said to have honed his craft through studying the speeches of the great orators who preceded him.

Return to Top

Choosing a declamation speech

The speech you choose is critical.

Firstly, you must like it. There's no good to be gained from choosing something because you think it will please or impress your teacher and likewise, judges. You're going to work on this piece to make it your own. Therefore it needs to genuinely reflect you in theme and message.

And secondly it needs a combination of the qualities listed in the following areas:-

Style of language : Elevated, inspirational, elegant, poetic, masterful - the speech should be an example of 'beautiful' language and construction.
Structure : Look for unity of purpose. The piece needs to be structurally coherent - have a beginning, development and close. It is not a loose ramble or collection of impressions without form.
Theme : The message or theme running through it should be worthy of its oratorical treatment, i.e., the style of language specified above. It must be important and applicable beyond the time it was first delivered. For example, Martin Luther King's 'I had a dream' speech has carried its theme down the years without any loss of potency or relevance. (But be warned - choose carefully. A famous speech such as King's 'I had a dream' will have been heard and heard again. You need something of similar impact but with considerably less profile.)
Impact : The speech must have reached and grabbed the hearts and minds of its listeners. It will have persuasively challenged and changed the way people thought and acted, uniting and inspiring them toward a common goal or course of action.

If you're choosing for a competition before you make your choice be sure to review the guidelines and do take note of the allocated time. Be prepared to cut your selection to fit.

Search for a declamation piece

Looking for just the right extract takes time. The links below are a good starting point.

Other avenues worth exploring are archives of previous declamation competition winners, asking for help from your teachers, or librarians, experimenting with search words: eulogies, motivational or persuasive speeches, civil rights speeches ...

Keep going until you find something you know you'll feel wholehearted about.

Famous speeches from African Americans

African American History: Major Speeches
Say It Plain - American Radio Works -A century of great African American speeches
Notable Speeches and Letters by African Americans from Benjamin Banneker to Barack Obama

Famous American speeches

American Rhetoric - a 5000+ database of speeches, including the top 100 speeches

Famous speeches - world wide

A cross-cultural collection of famous speeches, both historical and contemporary

Famous speeches by women

Photo-montage - 6 inspiring women speakers

25 Powerful Commencement Speeches by Famous Women
History’s Most Powerful Speeches Given By Women

Listen and watch: famous speeches

Learn Out Loud - podcasts of 10 famous speeches
25 of the most shared TED talks of all time

Understanding your declamation piece

Image: young man talking in front of background saying blah, blah, blah. Text: How to work with your chosen declamation piece.

- Make getting to know your piece your top priority If you learn or memorize the text of the speech without understanding it your delivery will become an ultimate blah-blah-blah talking head presentation.

Find out about the original context of the speech

What was the occasion the speech was written for? What period of time was it? What was happening in society generally?

Who was the audience? Why had they come along to hear the speaker? What did they need or expect from the speech?

Find out about the person who originally gave the speech

Who was he or, she? What passions drove them? Did they write the speech themselves? What did they want from the speech? (Was there a specific purpose or goal?)

What delivery characteristics did they use? Any particular habits?

What does this speech mean to you?

Can you put what is being said into your own words? The more you dig into the meaning of the piece, emotionally and intellectually, the more able you'll be to convey it convincingly.

Print the speech in a clear font and double spaced

You will use the gaps to write yourself notes and mark it up for delivery. For example, putting in the pauses, or breath points, the places to soften your voice, increase the volume or, for movement.

Make several copies. You are going to need them. ☺

Listen to the original speaker

If you can, listen to original speech while reading your copy. Note how the speaker is using their voice. What qualities are you hearing? Do they change for different portions of the speech? Why? Can you hear a beat or rhythm? What effect does that have?

Listen until you can clearly identify changes in tone, pitch, and pace, and know why it's being done.

The goal of delivering a declamation speech well

The goal is not to impersonate, or mimic, the original speech maker.

For example, if you are working with one of Winston Churchill's war time speeches* you don't have to 'become ' him, in the same way an actor would if he was playing him in a play or a film

However you do have to find and sincerely draw out the qualities of the speech making it memorable. That, is your goal.

*To see the full text of the speech the quote is drawn from, and much, much more about Winston Churchill, visit: The Few, 1940 .

Rehearsing your speech

Along with choosing an appropriate piece, and understanding it, thorough and regular practice is what will distinguish what you do from everyone else.

If you're serious about performing well, check these links.

Begin with these full guidelines on how to rehearse . You'll find an easily followed step by step process, with detours into other areas should you need them:

vocal variety to bring color and interest into your voice
help to use pause and pace effectively, as well as,
diction exercises to clear up any sloppy pronunciation issues

Extra Resources

Declamation Competitions This is a Wikipedia page with ongoing links to the National Catholic Forensic League and the Theodore Gibson Oratorical Project . And here's a link to a set of excellent resources from forensicscommunity.com . There is a wealth of information here: guides, a forum and links to videos. It's a must-look site if you're serious about performing to the best of your ability.

Declamation definition

The action or art of declaiming; the repeating or uttering of a speech, etc. with studied intonation and gesture.

A public speech or address of rhetorical character; a set speech in rhetorical elocution.
Declaiming or speaking in an impassioned oratorical manner; fervid denunciation with appeals to the audience.
A speech of a rhetorical kind expressing strong feeling and addressed to the passions of the hearers; a declamatory speech, a harangue.
Renunciation, repudiation, disclaimer.

For more see the multiple definitions gathered together on one page by thefreedictionary.com/declamation