Blog 4

Language strategies are patterns or ways of communicating with the public to achieve a goal or purpose. The language strategy that interested me the most was identification. Identifying with the audience may be the most important strategy when giving a speech. According to Stewart, Smith, and Denton, identification is relating to other groups, transforming into something understandable from their viewpoint. When we hear someone talking about a subject that we can easily relate to, we rapidly and subconsciously listen to what they have to say, merely because we understand what they are talking about. Because there are many identifying groups such as sex, age, race, ethnic background, and sexual orientation, it can be extremely difficult to relate to them all, especially when most of them only listen to someone in their same group. To break these barriers, many speakers use tactics such as implying “we” instead of “I” or “you”, adapting a language, meaning speak in a way that the audience will understand you. If the audience is a boy band fan group, then make sure to include that band into your speech. Because of these tactics, the speaker does not technically have to be part of a group to identify with the audience.

New communication technologies may be the most popular language tactics in today’s era. Almost every person today has a Facebook account, Blog, Instagram, or Twitter, relieving the speaker from having to travel from town to town, repeating the same speech over and over again. By posting one video, article, and photo, millions of individuals are able to see it just by a click. Internet does not have to be the only form of communication; media and bulletin boards can be a very popular way of distributing multiple ideas.

A good example of an identifying song that uses new communication technologies is Same Love by Macklomore, but because someone already used it, I found “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson. Many women, and some men, will identify with this song because we all went through a heartbreak. Another song that really caught my eye was earth by Michael Jackson. We may not be living through deforestation like the individuals in Africa are, but I feel that there is a reason why so many of us are so interested in global warming and the earth, because we are all part of it.