OVERVIEW OF SPEECH ARTS

1.1 CONCEPTS OF SPEECH AND COMMUNICATION

Speech
-is the term used to refer to the body of spoken expressions of information
and ideas. A speech may be delivered in any of the following modes: read
from a manuscript, memorized and delivered extemporaneous or
impromptu. The choice of mode of speech delivery is determined by factors
such as length of preparation, complexity of message, purpose and occasion.
COMMUNICATION

is understood as the process of meaning-making through a channel or a

medium. It comes from the Latin ‘communicare’, meaning to share or to
make ideas common. The connection that encompasses interaction among
partakers is at the center of your learning of communication.
 1.2 LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION
a. Intrapersonal - communication within oneself.
b. Interpersonal - communication between people as individuals—usually
between 2 people.
c. Small Group - communication that involves 3 or more people who actively
participate with each other.
d. Public - communication that occurs in a large context usually with one person
(or a small group) speaking to a larger audience.
e. Mass - communication, either electronic or print, that reaches many people in
many different places and often, at many different times.
1.3 MODES OF COMMUNICATION

• Mode, quite simply, is a means of communicating. According to the New

London Group, there are five modes of communication: visual, linguistic,
spatial, aural, and gestural.
• a. Visual - the visual mode refers to the images and characters that people see.
• b. Aural - the aural mode is focused on sound including, but not limited to, music,
sound effects, ambient noises, silence, tone of voice in spoken language, volume of
sound, emphasis, and accent.
• c. Gestural - the gestural mode refers to the way movement is interpreted. Facial
expressions, hand gestures, body language, and interaction between people are all
gestural modes.
• d. Linguistic (or Alphabetic) - the linguistic mode refers to written or spoken words.
The mode includes word choice, the delivery of written or spoken text, the
organization of words into sentences and paragraphs, and the development and
coherence of words and ideas.
• e. Spatial - the spatial mode, as the name implies, refers to the arrangement of
elements in space. It involves the organization of items and the physical closeness
between people and objects.
1.4 REVIEW ON THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
1.5 REVIEW ON SPEECH SOUNDS
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MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Plosives

“Sounds in whose articulation the airstream is stopped by a

brief closure of two speech organs and then released in a quick
burst” (Finch, 1999).
Examples of plosives in English are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.
Fricatives

“Sounds in whose articulation two speech organs narrow the airstream,

causing friction to occur as it passes through” (Finch, 1999). If you think of
the sound /f/ or /s/, you might be able to hear how the narrowing of the
airstream by the lips being closed towards the upper teeth in the case of
/f/, or by the tongue being raised against the alveolar ridge in the case of
/s/, creates a 'hissing' tone. This 'hissing' is caused by the 'friction' of the
air – hence 'frictives'.
Affricates

“Sounds in whose articulation the airstream is stopped as for a plosive and then
released slowly and partially with friction” (Finch, 1999). There are two affricate
phonemes in English: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. If you think of the word 'church', notice that you
begin the sound with the plosive /t/, but that this is immediately followed by a
fricative /sh/ sound. In the case of /dʒ/, think of the word 'judge'. Say the letter 'd'
and the letter 'j' alternatively one after the other. Do you notice that they both
begin with the same formation of the tongue? The difference is that the /dʒ/ sound
in the 'j' is extended with a fricative /sh/ sound again to make sound out the '-dge'
in the word 'judge'.
Nasals

“Sounds in whose articulation the airstream is diverted through the nasal cavity
as a consequence of the passage through the oral cavity being blocked by the
lowering of the soft palate, or velum” (Finch, 1999). Try saying the following out
loud to yourself: 'tell me a story'. Can you notice how dramatically the sound
changes when you come to the /m/ of 'me'? The airflow, which is passing through
the oral cavity for the rest of this phrase, is at this point diverted by the lowering
of the velum into the nasal cavity.
Approximants

“Sounds in whose articulation two speech organs approach each other and air
flows continuously between them without friction” (Finch, 1999). If you think of the
/l/ sound, for example, you can sense how the tongue tip touches the alveolar
ridge in order to allow the air to flow laterally around the tongue, but without the
'hissing' sound of fricatives (this is sometimes called a lateral or liquid
approximant). For consonants like /w/, the lips approach each other at the
beginning of the sound and then 'glide' away from each other towards the end
(these sounds are sometimes referred to as glides). All of this is, again, achieved
without the 'hissing' sound of a fricative.
1.6 FOCUS ON THE SUPRASEGMENTALS AS TOOLS
FOR SPEECH AND THEATER

• a. Juncture
• b. Pitch
• c. Volume
• d. Intonation
• e. Stress
1.7 PUBLIC SPEAKING

It is a process of speaking in a structured, deliberate manner to inform,

influence or entertain an audience.
Public speaking skills refer to the talent of effectively addressing an audience.
Whether it is in front of a group of people you already know or a crowd of
complete strangers, your ability to communicate to them with clarity and
confidence is known as your public speaking skills.