By Olga Smith
4 February 2020

In the third part of my educational blog in the series Elocution lessons with Boris Johnson, I would like to talk about verbs, and their use to make your speech interesting and powerful. I will demonstrate my points by quoting Boris, whose speeches are a rare example of enormous vocabulary, brilliant humour and effective use of sophisticated rhetorical devices. There is almost always a history lesson in his speech and references to Classics.

A person with a limited vocabulary tend to use basic verbs, and as a result, may sound a bit common and boring. In contrast, people, like Boris Johnson, who benefited from elocution lessons, tend to have a wide vocabulary; they use vivid, rare and specific verbs. Here, I have classified verbs into the four main categories: verbs conveying action, contrasting verbs, verb pairs, and active versus passive verbs.

1. Verbs conveying action would make your speech alive. I have noticed, Boris loves using very specific verbs, which are descriptive, funny and energetic. In the quotes below you will see how powerful short, vivid action verbs used by Boris are:

"inveigle himself into the power" (deceitfully get the power)
"lurch into decline" ( sway into decline)
" let's not bodge it" (mess up)
".. new technologies race towards us"
"...will robots cull the human race?"
"Germany trebuchets goods to Greece..."

2. Contrasting verbs are particularly memorable and persuasive, they help to make a point more obvious:

"I don't wish to exaggerate our influence, nor would I minimise the eagerness of our friends around the world to hear our independent voice."
"One might argue, that we gain more than we lose by leaving the EU..."
"One day they idealize it, the next they vehemently criticise it..."
"...exhort the poor and the needy by bashing wealth creators"

3. Verbs pairs: verbs synonyms or with complementing meaning to reinforce a point and to make it more specific and precise. They create a memorable rhythm. Verb pairs make your speech fuller and richer.

"respected and admired"
"hated and loathed"
"inveigle or osmotically infiltrate"
"grow up and get a grip"
"betrayed and forgotten"

3. Verbs in the active voice

As a general rule, passive voice (when something is done to the subject) makes speeches convoluted and boring. Active voice (the subject does something) uses fewer words, is easier to follow and sounds more lively and interesting. However, in political speeches, Boris often uses the passive voice to sound diplomatic and to avoid pointing fingers directly at rivals. In the examples below, I put Boris's sentences in quotes. Read the comparisons of passive versus active voice. Note how the voice can alter the mood and strength of the message:

Passive voice Active voice

The programs were reviewed by us. We reviewed the programs.

Your voice was heard I heard you

It can be done We can do it

"The voice of the UK was muffled.." EU protectionists muffled the UK voice.

In the end, I would like to point out that a significant part of elocution is not the content, or what you say, but the delivery, or how you say it. I would recommend that you listen to one of Boris Johnson speeches paying attention not only to words and verbs but also to how he says them. Note how he makes consonants punchy in words with short vowels. Note how he makes consonants softer in words with long vowels and diphthongs putting his energy and voice power in long vowels and diphthongs. Pay extra attention to the main message in each sentence. Which word/words does he stress? Think about why he stresses this particular word. You can learn how to do it from our book Get Rid of your Accent Part Two, Advanced Level, or the app Fluent English Speech.

Accent reduction blog