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SPRINKLE WITH CONVERSATION - Part 1

"Likewise."

Sounds something like Danny Kaye, but it doesn't prove anything except that some persons can do a lot of gabbing and not say anything. If you were trying to prove that persons can use a lot of words without saying anything, this brilliant bit of conversation would prove your point. Every member of your audience has had a part in such give-and-take conversation. For that reason, they would get your point. So let's agree that any dialogue you write will attempt to get you somewhere. The conversation with the drunk in the bar and grill leads to the gag line. The dialogue with the little redhead in Chap. 12 leads to her explanation of the gadget that sold roasters for her. If in my speech I report that I said "Good morning" to the doorman at the hotel and he said, "Good morning, Mr. Hegarty," I don't seem to be getting any­where. But if I tell you his retort was, "Your fadder's mustache," I am leading you into a struggle. When you write conversation, hit always at the point you want to make.

Such dialogue can be used to break up long stretches of description, exposition, or explanation. Let's say this speech of yours is presenting a plan. There are four features to your plan. Under each feature you have listed the reasons why the audience will benefit from that feature. If your first feature had three such reasons, you might write, "The first reason why you'll benefit from this feature is this and this. . . . The second reason is this and this. . . . The third reason is this and this. . . ." Most speakers would handle their reasons why in that manner. But not us. We now know that we could put a little dialogue into one or more of those reasons and make the speech more interesting. We'd write

The first reason you'll benefit from this feature is this. . . . How do I know? Well, Charlie Whosis says, "This reason is good. I've tried it and it works."

We could carry that conversation with Charlie as far as it served our purpose. We could ask, bars and grills to which he delivered his ice. Before long he got so that he knew which bars had roast beef on which days and he got to know all the men who ran the places. Well, on this particular day he went into the place selected, sat himself at the bar, and ordered his lunch. It was a little before noon and the place was empty except for a drunk who was sitting in one of the booths, working on a crossword puzzle in the morning newspaper.

The boy had just about started on his lunch when the drunk lifted his head and called to the bartender, "Hey, Joe, what's a three-letter word that means wamph?"

Without turning his head, the boy called, "Wamph!"

The drunk wrote that down and a few minutes later he again called, "Hey, Joe, ■what's a four-letter word that means "Smalf?"

Without turning, the boy called, "Smalf."

The drunk wrote that in and was silent for a few minutes, filling in other spaces; then again he called, "Hey, Joe, what's a five-letter word that means "Mulku?"

A third time without turning, the boy called "Mulku."

It was too much for the drunk. He lifted his head, he shook himself, and called, "Hey, kid, if you're so damn smart, why you peddlin' ice?"

Now there is a story with no point at all. I call this to the attention of the audience after I have told the story. I tell them, "I have held your interest all through the telling of the story. Why? Because gossipy conversation interests you; you want to hear what the drunk said, what the boy said, and what Joe said."

Related terms include speech writing tips and speech writing.