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Conference News

Learning from Dr. Randy Harvey

How to S.C.R.E.A.M.

As the 2004 World Champion of Public Speaking, Dr. Randy Harvey, DTM, shared with the District 7 attend-
ees the impact of S.C.R.E.A.M. for creating a speech. S.C.R.E.A.M. is a method that helps to create a story with
a point, that when used effectively can create a legacy phrase that will be memorable long after your speech
is over.

A random scream is unrelated to the S.C.R.E.A.M. method.

The elements of S.C.R.E.A.M. include:

S = Simile - A phrase that uses like or as for a comparison. Examples: “She was like a flower. He was like a
stone.”

C = Contrast - Using opposite phrases such as tall, short, fat, thin, etc.

R = Rhyme - Can occur either externally at the end of the sentence like in the poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
or internally within a sentence where you might have two words that end with ing.

E = Echo - Repeating a word or a phrase, such as in John F. Kennedy’s quote, “Ask not what your country can
do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Which has the word ask repeated.

A = Alliteration - The use of repeated sounds in consonants or vowels that are near each other, such as, Peter
Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

M = Metaphor - Giving attributes to something that is not human to something that is human. Such as in the
JFK quote “Ask not what your country can do for you”, because a country is a place and not a person, it can’t
physically do anything.

Meta S.C.R.E.A.M - Is using three or more of these S.C.R.E.A.M. techniques within a phrase that makes that
phrase more memorable. For example, the JFK quote uses four of the S.C.R.E.A.M. elements, including: con-
trast, rhyme, echo, and metaphor.

30 Voices!