Unit 1: Vocabulary (Professional Communications)

Intrapersonal Communication

Communicating with yourself through your thoughts

Audience Analysis

Learning about the diverse characteristics of the people who make up the audience

Speech-planning process

System you use to prepare a speech

Impersonal Communication

Communication between people about general information, such as saying “hi“ to someone in the hallway

Speech-making process

Process of giving a speech to the audience

Speaking expressively

Using various vocal techniques so you sound a bit more dramatic than you would in a casual conversation

Rhetorical devices

Language techniques that create and hold audience attention and help audience members remember what you said in your speech

Empower

To make more confident and assertive

Interpersonal Communication

Communication between two people who have a relationship with each other

Plagiarism

Stealing and passing off the ideas, words, or created works of someone else as your own

Ethics

A set of moral principles that a society, group or individual holds that distinguish right from wrong and good behavior from bad behavior

Nonverbal Communication

The way you stand when giving a speech and the way you use your eyes, face, and hands

Public Speaking

A formal presentation made by a speaker to an audience

Listening

Receiving spoken communication from another person and making an effort to hear and understand what the person is saying

Attention span

Length of time you can concentrate and listen effectively

Monotone

An unchanging tone without rise or fall in the speaker’s voice

Critical listening

Evaluate what the speaker is saying and decide on the value of the message

Understanding

Remebering

Being able to recall and retain the information you heard

Active listening

Includes identifying how ideas are organized, asking questions, silently paraphrasing, watching nonverbal clues and taking notes

Paraphrase

Restating the speakers meaning in your own words

Research

Investigating a subject to learn the facts about it

Credentials

Your experience or education that qualify you to speak with authority on a specific subject

Primary source

First-hand accounts that you conduct or those written by people who were part of the original event or research

Follow-up question

A question you ask during an interview that results from the answers to your primary que

Open question

Broad based questions that ask the interviewer to provide perspective, ideas, information, values, goals, or opinions

Closed question

Narrowly focused questions that require only brief answers such as yes or no

Neutral question

Questions asked in way that does not direct a person’s answer

Leading question

Questions asked in a way that suggest you have a preferred answer

Critical analysis

The process of evaluating what you have heard to determine a speech’s completeness

Credibility

A speaker’s ability to inspire trust and belief

Critique

A formal assessment of a speech that requires you to analyze and evaluate a speech’s effectiveness according to how well the speaker meets specific key criteria

Constructive critique

An analysis of a speech that evaluates how well a speaker meets a specific speaking goal while following the rules for good speaking and recommends how the speech might be improved

Speech plan

A strategy for achieving your speech goals

Speech goal

A statement of what you want your audience to know, believe, or do

Audience adaptation

Process of writing your speech to meet the needs and interests of the listeners

Demographics

Characteristics of a group of people

Outline

A plan of main points and supporting detail that you want to cover in your speech

Chronological order

A method of arranging things in relation to when they happen in time

Topical order

A method of arranging information by subjects, facts, or points

Visual aid

An object, picture, photo, chart, or other i

Eye contact

A form of nonverbal communication that occurs when two people look at one another for a few seconds

Animated delivery

A lively, energetic, enthusiastic, and dynamic delivery

Speak clearly

Speaking so the audience can make out what you are saying

Pitch

How high or low the sound of your voice is

Quality of voice

The tone that distinguishes your voice from everyone else’s

Accent

The speech habits of people from a specific country, region of a country or even a state or city

Articulation

The way you use your mouth and lips to form words

Vocal expressiveness

The variety you create in your voice through changing pitch, volume and rate; the expressing of certain words; and using pauses

Stress

To emphasize certain words by speaking them more loudly than the rest of the sentence

Pause

A moment of silence that enhances the meaning of an idea

Gestures

How you move your hands, arms, and fingers

Movement

Chaning the position of you entire body