Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1092IR // #c1092Synthesis

"'But,' said Mr. Dana, 'if you see a man bite a dog, hurry back to the office and write the story.'" "'New stars and suns' are hardly as emphatic as the word 'larger.' Why? Because we expect an astronomer to discover heavenly bodies rather than cooking recipes."

— In our words · Source: The Art of Public Speaking (J. Berg Esenwein & Dale Carnegie)

[Use when]

You're marking up a script and stressing the obvious nouns.

[Why it matters]

Words the audience already expects don't need stress. Save emphasis for the new or surprising word, the part that is news. The authors treat the average sentence as "just one big word, with the important word as the accented syllable," the way nobody stresses every syllable of "Massachusetts."

Filed under situations:When you need a yes and they’re not there yet

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