Oral Communication · Oral Communication: Seminars, Speeches and Critical Listening

Analysing How Oral Texts Influence Listeners: Statistics, Expert Opinion, Tone and Shakespeare's Language

1.7About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can analyse how speakers frame statistics and use expert opinion to influence an audience.
I can explain how figurative language and voice create tone and mood.
I can compare the tones of two speeches for the same kind of occasion using precise tone words.
I can analyse techniques Shakespeare uses to capture listeners' emotions.

Words to know

framing
Presenting information in a way that shapes the audience's response, such as stating a number positively or negatively.

relative change
A change described as a proportion of the starting amount, such as "doubled".

absolute change
The actual amount of change, such as "from 1 to 2 in 10 000".

appeal to authority
Quoting an expert to borrow their credibility.

consensus
The view that most experts in a field agree on.

tone
A speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience.

mood
The feeling a text creates in the listener.

prose
Ordinary language without the regular rhythm of verse.

Remember from Grade 10

In Grade 10 you analysed oral texts with four steps (element, example, effect, purpose), named appeals to ethos, logos and pathos, and noticed how the order of sound bites in a news story shapes listeners' views. Grade 11 goes deeper into how the techniques work: how statistics and expert opinions are framed to influence an audience, how figurative language creates tone and mood, how to compare the tones of speeches given for the same kind of occasion, and how Shakespeare's language captures listeners' emotions.

Let's start with two sentences

Imagine a doctor presenting a new treatment:

"Ninety percent of patients recover fully."
"One in ten patients does not recover."

Both sentences describe exactly the same result. Yet most listeners feel hopeful after the first and worried after the second. Oral texts don't just contain information; they present it in ways that shape how we respond. Analysis means explaining how that happens.

The numbers are identical: 9 out of 10 recover. Choosing which part to say aloud (the 9 or the 1) is called framing, and it changes how listeners feel.

How speakers use statistics

When you hear a number in a speech, analyse how it is presented:

Positive or negative frame: 90% succeed vs. 10% fail.
Relative or absolute numbers: "The risk doubled!" sounds alarming; if the risk went from 1 in 10 000 to 2 in 10 000, the absolute change is tiny.
Comparisons: "That's enough water to fill 40 Olympic pools" turns an abstract number into an image.
Rounding and precision: "nearly half" vs. "47.2%". Precise numbers can sound more scientific; rounded ones are easier to remember.
Placement: a statistic at the climax of a speech, after a pause, gets more weight than one buried in the middle.

How speakers use expert opinion

An appeal to authority quotes an expert to borrow their credibility (ethos). Ask:

Is the expert's field relevant to the claim? (A famous hockey player is not an expert on vaccines.)
Does the expert represent a consensus (what most experts agree on) or a lone view?
Is the expert named and identifiable, or vague ("experts say")?

Figurative language, tone and mood

Tone is the speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience: bitter, hopeful, ironic, solemn, urgent, playful.
Mood is the feeling created in the listener: suspense, sadness, calm, dread.

Figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, imagery) is one of the main tools for both. In an audiobook, the narrator's voice adds a second layer: a metaphor of "the fog crept in on silent feet" (personification) read slowly in a low voice builds a mood of quiet dread.

To compare tones in two speeches for the same kind of occasion (two graduation addresses, two speeches by people taking up the same public office, two eulogies), use precise tone words. "Positive" is too vague; "warmly optimistic", "humble" or "defiant" say much more.

A speaker with a mocking tone may create an amused mood in some listeners and an uncomfortable mood in others.

Too vague	More precise tone words
positive	optimistic, warm, celebratory, grateful, confident, hopeful
negative	bitter, scornful, despairing, anxious, indignant, sombre
serious	solemn, earnest, urgent, formal, reverent
funny	playful, ironic, sarcastic, self-deprecating, wry

Build a precise tone vocabulary. It makes comparisons between speeches far more convincing.

Shakespeare's techniques for capturing emotion

Shakespeare wrote for listeners. Audiences at his plays heard the language before they read it. Techniques to listen for:

Verse and prose: most noble characters speak in verse (regular rhythm); a shift to prose can signal madness, comedy or a lower-status speaker.
Repetition to show obsession or grief.
Imagery, especially repeated images (blood, darkness, sleep in Macbeth).
Exclamations and questions that show a mind in turmoil.
Short, broken sentences that make the speaker sound fragmented.

Worked example

Let's analyse statistics and expert opinion in a speech

At a (fictional) town meeting, a resident argues against closing the local library branch:

"The council says only 300 people visit this branch each week. But that's 300 people every single week: more than 15 000 visits a year. Dr. Amara Singh, a literacy researcher at the university, told our group that children who have a library within walking distance read more over the summer. Closing this branch doesn't save money. It spends our children's future."

Analyse how the speaker uses statistics and expert opinion to influence the audience.

Element 1: reframing a statistic. The council's only 300 a week is reframed as more than 15 000 visits a year (300 × 52 = 15 600). The same data becomes large and impressive.
Effect: listeners who heard only 300 as small now hear it as substantial. The word only is removed and replaced with every single week, which stresses regularity.
Element 2: expert opinion. Dr. Singh is named, has a relevant field (literacy research) and an institution. This builds credibility (ethos).
Analytical question: her claim is about libraries within walking distance in general; does it apply to this branch? A critical listener would want the study itself.
Element 3: closing metaphor. "It spends our children's future" turns a budget issue into an emotional one (pathos), and echoes the council's money language (save, spends).
Purpose: to make the branch's use seem large and its closure seem costly, not thrifty.

The speaker reframes a small-sounding weekly number as a large yearly one, borrows credibility from a named, relevant expert, and ends with a metaphor that turns saving money into spending the future. Together these shift the audience from "small branch" to "costly loss."

Worked example

Let's analyse how Shakespeare captures emotion

In Act 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks while a doctor and a gentlewoman watch. She says (in prose):

"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" ... "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" ... "Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."

Analyse the techniques Shakespeare uses to capture the audience's emotions.

Prose instead of verse: earlier, Lady Macbeth speaks in confident verse. Now she speaks in prose, which helps signal that her controlled mind has broken down.
Exclamations and repetition: "Out, damned spot! out" repeats out, sounding desperate and obsessive.
A question with no answer: "will these hands ne'er be clean?" shows hopeless guilt.
Imagery of blood and smell: she still smells blood that isn't there; all the perfumes of Arabia (a huge, rich image) cannot cover this little hand. The contrast between huge and little shows that guilt is bigger than any remedy.
Effect on the audience: a mood of pity mixed with horror; the woman who once said "A little water clears us of this deed" now cannot wash her hands clean.

Shakespeare uses prose, exclamations, repetition, an unanswered question and blood-and-smell imagery to show a mind broken by guilt, creating a mood of pity and horror, made stronger by the contrast with her earlier confidence.

Always explain the effect

Naming a technique ("she uses a statistic") is only the start. Analysis explains how it influences the listener ("by reframing 300 a week as 15 000 a year, she makes the branch seem busy") and why the speaker wants that effect.

Hands-on activity

Reframe it

You need: paper, a pen, and a family member or friend as an audience.

Choose a true, simple fact from your own life with a number in it, for example "I practised piano 20 minutes a day this week."
Write it in two frames: one that makes it sound impressive ("over two hours of practice this week") and one that makes it sound small ("only 20 minutes a day").
Read both aloud to your audience with matching tone of voice, and ask which version sounds better and why.
Then find one statistic in a news report, ad or speech. Write how it is framed (positive/negative, relative/absolute, comparison) and how it could be reframed.
Write two sentences: what you learned about how numbers persuade.

Just for fun

A speaker announced that eating a certain snack "doubles your risk" of a rare condition.

The risk went from 1 in a million to 2 in a million. The snack is still a snack. Relative numbers can make a mouse sound like a moose.

Your turn

Reframe positively: "Four out of ten students failed the first test."

What is the difference between tone and mood?

A commercial says "Nine out of ten dentists recommend..." What should a critical listener ask?

Why is a famous actor's opinion on climate science a weak appeal to authority?

Replace the vague tone word positive with a precise one for a graduation speech that thanks parents and teachers.

Name two techniques Shakespeare uses in Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking speech.

Why does "the risk doubled" sometimes mislead listeners?

More practice: warm-up

What is framing?

Which appeal does quoting an expert mainly use: ethos, logos or pathos?

Give two precise tone words to replace serious.

In Macbeth, what repeated image runs through the play and the sleepwalking scene?

What is a consensus among experts?

More practice: on your own

Calculate and analyse: a speaker says a road project will cost "just 50 cents per resident per week." The town has 20 000 residents. What is the yearly cost, and why did the speaker choose the weekly-per-person frame?

Explain how an audiobook narrator's reading can strengthen or weaken the mood created by figurative language.

Two speeches welcome new students on the first day of school. One says "We're thrilled you're here; this place will become yours." The other says "Expectations here are high. Meet them." Compare the tones precisely.

A speaker quotes "experts" without naming them. How does this affect the persuasive power of the claim for a critical listener?

Explain why Shakespeare's shift from verse to prose matters more when heard than when read silently.

Challenge

Write two versions of a 2-sentence speech opening about the same fact: a town's recycling rate is 40%. Version A should create a hopeful tone; version B an urgent one. Then explain the techniques you used.

The curriculum suggests comparing the tones and ideas of speeches given by different people taking up the same public office (for example, a Governor General's installation speech). Describe a method for doing this with any two speeches of the same type.

Lady Macbeth earlier says "A little water clears us of this deed." Explain how hearing this line in Act 2 and the sleepwalking lines in Act 5 creates dramatic irony and affects the audience.

Check your understanding

Quiz

"90% of patients recover" and "1 in 10 patients does not recover":

Tone is:

Which appeal to authority is strongest?

A speaker says a fee is "just a dollar a week per student" rather than giving the yearly total. This mainly:

In Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene, her shift from verse to prose helps show:

Which is the most precise tone word for a speech that mocks its subject?

"The risk doubled" can mislead listeners because:

For parents and teachers

Big idea: ENG3U expectation 1.7 asks students to analyse how oral texts communicate information, ideas, issues and themes and influence the listener's response. Curriculum examples include how a speaker uses statistics and expert opinions, how figurative language establishes tone and mood in an audiobook, comparing the tones of speeches for the same occasion, and Shakespeare's techniques for capturing emotion.

How to help at home:

When an ad or news report uses a number, ask: "How else could that number be said? Would it sound different?"
Listen to a chapter of an audiobook together and talk about how the narrator's voice creates mood.
Do the math together when a statistic is reframed (per week to per year, per person to total).

Common difficulties:

Naming techniques without explaining effects. Ask "So how does that change what the listener thinks or feels?"
Mixing up tone and mood. Tone belongs to the speaker; mood belongs to the listener.
Vague tone words like "positive" or "negative."