Lesson 16: Types of Speech

SPEECH ACCORDING TO MANNER OF PURPOSE

Explanatory or Informative

This speech needs ==data to impart.==

Its purpose is ==to provide information, history, theories, practical applications== that can and will help the Listeners understand something that is unknown to them or already known to them but not yet clearly understood.

It is meant to help the listeners ==understand a topic in a more in-depth manner== by providing the following in an organized way: new data, data that are not readily available to everyone, or data already known by the audience but looked at in a different way.

Persuasive

This speech ==aims to change the Listener’s opinion, attitude, or belief regarding a certain topic== (usually controversial) by providing materials that can or will help convince the Listener.

A speech that is persuasive is meant to ==convince the Listeners why the Speaker’s side== of the equation is more beneficial. The Speaker’s assertion must be supported by historical data in the form of statistical results and expert’s testimonies as well as comparisons and contrasts between the Speaker’s side and Listener’s side of the equation.

Entertainment

It is ==not a comedy sketch==—the purpose is not to tell a series of jokes. Neither is it the purpose of the Speaker to have the audience laughing throughout the speech. To ==make the Listeners smile or feel lighthearted== after the speech is enough.

It must ==lead the audience into looking at something familiar in a totally different and completely humorous light== by providing comparisons and contrasts, especially with the strange or unusual; highlighting the quirks of important personages such as officials, celebrities, actors, athletes and applying them to regular people like, say, the Listeners. It can also be highly entertaining to engage in word play like puns, and giving funny meanings to acronyms or anagrams.

Guidelines for Informative, Persuasive, and Entertainment

  1. It must have a Message prepared at the level of knowledge of the Speaker.
  2. It must be tailored to fit the level of knowledge of the Audience
  3. It has to take into account the age, gender, social status, religion, and cultural affiliation of the Listeners.

SPEECH ACCORDING TO MANNER OF DELIVERY

Read Speech

This is usually ==used in formal speech context==. The speech is fully written out, usually typed, and not folded but placed in a folder for neatness. This manner of delivery allows for greater control of the wording of the speech when precise wording is paramount. This is also useful when you have embellished your thoughts and you want to deliver your sentences exactly as you wrote them.

  • The State of the Nation Address by the President of the Republic of the Philippines
  • Presentations for Scientific Papers in conferences
Drawbacks of Read Speech

  1. The Speaker tends to read without emotion, lacking spontaneity, and may even sound boring. The reading will contain no highlights, show little or no variation of intonations, and no obvious emphases.

  2. The Speaker, most of the time, never looks up from the manuscript being read. All anyone sees is the top of the Speaker’s head. This position contributes to the Speaker’s voice being muffled and unintelligible, even with a microphone.

  3. The Speaker can lose his/her place in the Speech even while reading it or turn to the wrong page of the manuscript.

  4. The manuscript may be blown by the wind/fan/air conditioning unit or fall from the lectern and the order of the sheets of paper disarranged while being put back together.

  5. The formality of the language of the Speech/Manuscript often means the use of complex words, jargon, or technical language which are more often than not polysyllabic. Most of the time, the Listeners are lost in such language, unless they are experts in the same field.

Memorized Speech

This is also a speech that is fully written out like the Speech that is read. This time, however, the written speech is ==fully memorized—every word, every phrase, every comma, and every period==. Oratorical contests require that contestants memorize their speech thoroughly.

Drawbacks of Memorized Speech

  1. The most common problem is forgetting the lines when one is already delivering the Speech. This is usually noticeable to the Audience, and in case of a contest, to the judges. Very seldom does one meet a Speaker who can bridge that memory gap without letting the Audience notice it.

  2. The second problem is the lack of eye contact with the Audience. Many Speakers tend to took upward, to the side, or worse, on the floor, to help themselves remember the Speech. They say that looking at the Audience seems to lessen their nervousness or at least does not exacerbate it.

  3. Similar to a Read Speech, there could be a tendency to deliver the Speech without any inflection, unless, of course, the contestant has had a good coach and had practiced to sound spontaneous.

Impromptu

This is a Speech ==delivered in short notice with little or no preparation.== That’s why it is sometimes called “thinking on your feet”. The speech is not really made on the spot because one usually speaks or is asked to speak about something one already knows. One’s preparation comes from everything one has learned or experienced as they are all the source of ideas for the Speech. Before speaking, a Speaker may ask for a few minutes to collect one’s thoughts or be given time to jot down a few notes that can be used as basis for the Speech. But remember, it must also have the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

Advantages of Impromptu Speech

  1. The speech is delivered in a spontaneous manner and in a more conversational tone.

  2. The Speaker can adjust the speech (make it longer or shorter) and add or skip an idea without any problem, obvious gaps, or long pauses due to memory loss as in the memorized speech.

Drawbacks of Impromptu Speech

  1. The Speaker can just go on and on, and sometimes, with no point to make at all.

  2. The Speaker may be so rattled and disorganized that the speech ends up with not much sense.

Extemporaneous

This is a speech wherein what the Speaker ==prepares is only an outline== which organizes the Speaker’s thoughts and ideas (including data, testimonies).

This ==outline preparation is what differentiates Extemporaneous speech from Impromptu Speech== or any other types of Speech according to manner of delivery.

The delivery of the speech is ==less formal than a Read Speech==, more conversational than a Memorized Speech, and prevents the Speaker from losing eye contact with the audience.

A Speaker may bring one or two note cards so as not to forget some important data.

Advantages

  1. The outline helps the Speaker remember the particular order of points he/she want to make. There is no need to memorized paragraph upon paragraph that make up the Speech.

  2. At the same time, the outline allows the Speaker to jump from one point to another or even rearrange the order of the Speech’s points should circumstances demand it without the Audience knowing or noticing the change.