Public Speaking Course:
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a word that is defined as the placing, side by side, of two
ideas or items to show their contrast or comparison.
In your public speaking course you will learn that you can use juxtaposition
to add a more detailed description for your audience.
I staged an event at Washington National Airport where I had a really
big 450-pound man and a really tiny man (three feet eleven inches)
both dressed
as chauffeurs. They were waiting at the gate for a man arriving from Japan
for his first visit to the United States. To take this funny juxtaposition a little farther, the small man was
holding a big sign with the Japanese man's name on it and the big man was holding a similar sign, except it was about the size of
a business card. Believe me, we had the attention of everyone in the
gate area. What a visual juxtaposition!
There are two specialized types of juxtaposition: oxymoron
and pleonasm.
Oxymoron:
According to Dr. Blumenfeld, "An oxymoron is two concepts {usually
two words} that do not go together, but are used together. It is a bringing
together of contradictory expressions."
Warren S. Blumenfeld, Ph.D., in his book Pretty Ugly states, "I
{passively tried} to warn you oxymorons had {almost absolutely} no socially
redeeming quality except that they make people {smile out loud} and
are addictive." His first book on the subject was called Jumbo
Shrimp.
Terms like "old news", "extensive briefing", "direct
circumvention", and "random order" are oxymorons. Also
concepts like "an advanced state of decline" and "expecting
a surprise" are oxymorons.
Pleonasm:
A pleonasm is basically two or more words that mean the same thing. For
example, combinations like 'frozen ice,' 'sharp point,' 'killed dead,' 'sandy
beach,' 'young child,' 'positive praise,' and 'angry rage' are pleonasms.
Here are some ways you can use comical juxtaposition that you will
learn in my public speaking course in a presentation:
Use a large copy of your company logo or company name on a slide or
overhead, or in a drawing on your flipchart. Next to it, place extremely
small logos or company names of your competitors. Use this as a greeting
slide to a meeting or let it pop up as a slide or overhead at a strategic
point in your presentation.
You could draw an outline of a large duck around your company logo
and little duckling outlines around the competition. You could say:
'Our company was born to lead and the others were meant to follow.'
An oxymoron used in conjunction with a simile can drive home the point
that something is a little out of wack. You could say, 'Acme Co. claims
that its market share is increasing, yet their sales are down while
everyone else's are up. It's just like a Jumbo Shrimp. It just doesn't
make sense.'
Invite a tall person and a short person on stage when you call for
audience participation. If you are considerably shorter than the tall
person you could say, 'I don't want you to talk down to me.' If you are considerably
taller than the short person say, 'I don't want you to feel like I'm
talking down to you.' (be careful that the person you get on stage is
not overly sensitive about their height.) Audience participation, and
juxtaposition, are used to heighten
interest.
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