The reason a cliché becomes a cliché is because it has been overused and has lost its originality and impact. For this very reason, presenters are cautioned to stay away from using clichés in their speeches.
Sentences like “if it’s going to be depends on me“; “your attitude determines your altitude“; and “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.“, were powerful when originally uttered. But they have been used so often by so many speakers that the words are now flat and fail to motivate audiences. Looking at the examples I just used, you can see why you want to steer clear of using hackneyed clichés in his speeches.
But before you throw the baby out with the bathwater (sorry, I couldn’t resist), let’s look at a couple of reasons why you should use clichés.
The first reason for using a cliché was demonstrated in my last sentence. The public understands what it means to throw out the baby with the bath water. I realize there may be some cultural exceptions, but the phrase does conjure up an image and get your point across. Since you want your message to be easily understood, there are times when a tired old cliché will do quite well.
Another reason to use a cliché is to challenge your audience to think differently. In addition to being overused, most clichés are generally accepted as true. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know“and”knowledge is power“There are only two that come to mind.
If you wanted your audience to think, you could say something like:
“We’ve always been told ‘knowledge is power’. But is that really true? Does knowing information really make you more powerful?Well, let’s examine that for a minute…
We know we should exercise, eat a balanced diet, and get enough rest, but that doesn’t mean we do.
We know we should think before we speak in anger, but do we consistently show it in our actions?
We have a lot of knowledge about many things that could enrich our lives and make them more fulfilling, but often we don’t. And if we do, it’s often not consistently.
Knowledge puts us in a position of power, but power really comes when we take what we know and apply it to our lives consistently.”
Give it a try (ahem). Take a tired old cliché and come up with a new way to use it in your next speech. It’ll be like… like… a breath of fresh air for your audience… SORRY!