pertains to the process by which people decide who
Reviewer for OCC
1st Semester, Second Quarter Examination
- Types of Communicative Strategy
Since engaging in conversation is also bound by
implicit rules, Cohen (1990) states that strategies
must be used to start and maintain a conversation.
Knowing and applying grammar appropriately is
one of the most basic strategies to maintain a
conversation. The following are some strategies
that people use when communicating.
Nomination - A speaker carries out nominations to
establish a topic collaboratively and productively.
When you employ this strategy, you try to open a
topic with the people you are talking to.
- When beginning a topic in a conversation,
especially if it does not arise from a
previous topic, you may start with news
inquiries and news announcements as they
promise extended talk. Most importantly,
keep the conversational environment open
for opinions until the prior topic shuts down
easily and initiates a smooth end. This could
efficiently signal the beginning of a new
topic in the conversation.
Restriction - Restriction in communication refers to
any limitation you may have as a speaker. It is a
strategy used when responses need to be within
the set categories or instructions. These
instructions confine you as a speaker and limit what
you can say.
- For example, in your class, you might be
asked by your teacher to brainstorm on
peer pressure or deliver a speech ondigital
natives. In these cases, you cannot decide
to talk about something else.
- Remember to always be on point and avoid
sideswiping from the topic during the
conversation to avoid communication
breakdown.
Turn – Taking - Sometimes people are given
unequal opportunities to talk because others take
too much time during the conversation. Turn-taking
takes the conversational floor. There is a code of
behavior behind establishing and sustaining a
productive conversation, but the primary idea is to
give all communicators a chance to speak.
- Remember to keep your words relevant and
reasonably short enough to express your
views or feelings. Try to be polite even if you
are trying to take the floor from another
speaker. Do not hog the conversation and
talk incessantly without letting the other
party air out their ideas. To acknowledge
others, you may employ visual signals like a
nod, a look, or a step back, and you could
accompany these signals with spoken cues
such as “What do you think?” or “You
wanted to say something?”
Topic Control - Topic control covers how
procedural formality or informality affects the
development of topic in conversations. For
example, in meetings, you may only have a turn to
speak after the chairperson directs you to do so.
Contrast this with a casual conversation with
friends over lunch or coffee where you may take
the conversational floor anytime.
- Remember that regardless of the
formality of the context, topic control is
achieved cooperatively. This only means
that when a topic is initiated, it should be
collectively developedby avoiding
unnecessary interruptions and topic shifts.
You can make yourself actively involved in
the conversation without overly dominating
it by using minimal responses like “Yes,”
“Okay,”and “Go on”; and asking tag
questions to clarify information briefly like
“You are excited, aren’t you?”, “It was
unexpected, wasn’t it?”; and even by
laughing!
Topic Shifting - Topic shifting, as the name
suggests, involves moving from one topic to
another. In other words, it is where one part of a
conversation ends and where another begins.
- When shifting from one topic to
another, you must be very intuitive. Make
sure that the previous topic was nurtured
enough to generate adequate views. You
may also use effective conversational
transitions to indicate a shift like “By the
 way", "In addition to what you said, ”Which
reminds me of,“ and the like.
Repair - Repair refers to how speakers address
the problems in speaking, listening, and
comprehending that they may encounter in a
conversation. For example, if everybody in the
conversation seems to talk at the same time,
give way and appreciate other’s initiative to set
the conversation back to its topic.
- Repair is the self-righting mechanism in any
social interaction (Schegloff et al, 1977). If
there is a problem in understanding the
conversation, speakers will always try to
address and correct it. Although this is the
case, always seek to initiate the repair.
Termination - Termination refers to the
conversation participants’ close-initiating
expressions that end a topic in a conversation.
Most of the time, the topic initiator takes
responsibility to signal the end of the discussion as
well.
- Although not all topics may have clear ends,
try to signal the end of the topic through
concluding cues. You can do this by sharing
what you learned from the conversation.
Aside from this, soliciting agreement from
the other participants usually completes the
discussion of the topic meaningfully.
- Understanding Speech Context,
Speech Style, Speech Act, and
Communicative Strategy.
Factors affected by a shift in Speech Context,
Speech Style, Speech Act, and Communicative
Strategy.
Language Form - This refers to the formality or
informality of the language used, and it involves the
choice of words and how sentences or utterances
are structured.
- Formal language is used when talking with
professionals or persons in authority in a
formal, official, or ceremonial occasion,
situation, gathering, or event. Talking with a
lawyer, a doctor, or even with your teacher
often creates a formal ambiance in
communication.
- Informal language, on the other hand, is
used without much consideration for rules of
convention or etiquette. It is casual and
mostly not well-thought-of or prepared
because it is used to communicate with
people with whom you have close
associations like parents, siblings, and
friends.
Duration of Interaction - This refers to the amount
of time a conversation takes between and among
communicators.
Relation of The Speaker - This refers to the
speech style used by the speaker suited to his/her
relationship to the person with whom he/she is
communicating. Styles can be classified as
intimate, frozen, consultative, casual, or formal.
Role and Responsibilities of The Speaker - This
refers to the role and responsibility of the speaker
which will depend on the purpose and context of
communication.
- The speaker may be a person who gives
information and additional knowledge to
another person or an audience, someone
who convinces others for a cause or an
individual who provokes laughter for
diversion and fun. Hence, his responsibility
depends on his purpose for communication
which may be to inform, to persuade, or to
entertain.
Message - This involves the content of the
message. The message may be facts, opinions,
feelings, order, suggestions, and questions.
Opinions.
Delivery - This refers to the manner of delivery
involving verbal and nonverbal cues made by the
speaker. Delivery can be classified as:
- Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Memorized,
and Manuscript.
- Communicative Competence
Speech Context - This accounts for the
background and purpose of a discourse. Speech
context assumes a direct relationship between
situational, societal, political, or cultural
“environment” in which the communication
transaction occurs. The type of audience,
circumstances, and setting are taken into
consideration. Speech context may be
intrapersonal, interpersonal, and public.
Speech Style - Another factor that affects the
attainment of communicative competence is
speech style. A person may choose what style or
form of language to use in communicating with
others; however, personal preferences may not
always work. There are controlled instances when
one may just go with the flow of the communicative
process because that is what is required in the
situation. Speech style has the following types:
intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and frozen.
Speech Act - Speech act refers not only to the
utterance (Locutionary Act) but also to the intention
(Illocutionary Act) and response (Perlocutionary
Act) to a specific situation for an intended discourse
impact. The choice of words to use must be
considered to suit the needs of the occasion or the
kind of audience to be addressed. This is also done
to help express the intention of the speaker and to
elicit a response from the listener.
- Principles of Effective Speech Writing
and Delivery
A good speech requires days or even weeks of
preparation depending on the topic and the
availability of materials needed. While many are
expert enough to compose their speech the night
before they deliver it, seldom that it become very
successful for a beginner writer. For this reason,
careful planning is important to come up with a
well-written speech.
When planning for writing your speech, you should
consider the following principles:
Audience Profile - Knowing your audience
specifically their general age, gender, educational
level, religion, language, culture, and group
membership is one of the most important aspects in
developing your speech. Basically, this is done so
that you can tailor-fit your speech content and
delivery to your audience.
Analyzing your audience will help you discover the
information you can use to build a connection
between you and members of your audience.
✓ Who is the audience?
✓ How many?
✓ What does the audience know about the subject?
✓ Why should they be interested?
Logical Organization - The logical organization or
arrangement of thoughts when it comes to speech
writing can be defined as all aspects of your writing
that help the reader move smoothly from one
sentence to the next, and from one paragraph to
another. Thus, carefully planning the content of
your speech is also necessary.
- The written speech has three parts: the
introduction, body, and conclusion. The role
of introduction and conclusion is mostly
similar in many speeches, that is, the
introduction presents the main idea of your
speech, while the conclusion reiterates the
main idea. The body offers definitions,
examples, or any information that can help
you convey your intent and clarify the main
concept of your speech.
Three Parts Of Speech
Introduction - The introduction is the most crucial
part of the speech. It is generally only 10 to 15
percent of the time the speaker spends speaking.
According to Wrench (2012), a good introduction
serves five functions: (1) you should be able to gain
audience’s attention and interest, (2) it states the
purpose of your speech, (3) it establishes your
credibility, (4) it should provide reasons for your
audience to listen and (5) your introduction should
preview the main idea of your speech.
Body - The body of the speech is the core part of
the speech that addresses the main ideas and
principles of the speech. It consists of the main
points. This is presented using methods of
organization (Flores, 2016).
Methods Of Organizing the Body Of Your
Speech
Problem – Solution Order - It explains the
problem and suggests a possible solution.
Example: Cleaning up Laguna de Bay
Categorical/ Topical Order - It divides the topic
into subtopics based on the importance or interest
value or simply because the topic requires it.
Example: Importance of promoting the Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle program
Chronological Order - A historical or time
approach which is from the past to the present. It
presents ideas in time order.
Example: The significant development of the
province of Laguna from the Spanish period to the
present.
Comparison and Contrast - It presents a
comparison and contrast of two or three points.
Example: Comparison between living in the city and
life in the province.
Spatial/ Geographical Order - Going from one
place to another, from one direction to another.
Example: Traveling around the wonders of Batanes
islands.
Casual Order - It involves a discussion of both the
cause and effect of an issue.
Example: The Fish Kill in Laguna de Bay.
Different Transition Words
Conclusion - After writing the body of your speech
following the methods of organization, the last thing
that you need to work on is how to end it.
The conclusion functions as the summarizer of the
entire speech. The conclusion has to be written
using different strategies (Tandoc, 2016).
• Thought-provoking questions
• Humor
• Quotation
• A call for action
• A connection to a larger context
• Present a summary
• Repeat the key ideas presented
• Repeat the central idea for emphasis
• Go back to the strategy used in the
introduction
• Signal the end of your speech
• End with an impact
Duration - No matter how long the speech is,
always divide it into five parts: an introduction, the
body (paragraph 2, paragraph 3, and paragraph 4)
and a conclusion. This format is adaptable to a
speech of almost any length. By doing this, you can
actually monitor the time and length of your speech
or the so-called Duration. Most experts say that the
ideal length of speech is up to 20 minutes. (Gray-
Grant, 2017).
• Introduction: 2 minutes (250 words)
• Body: Point 1: 5 minutes (625 words)
• Point 2: 5 minutes (625 words)
• Point 3: 5 minutes (625 words)
• Conclusion: 3 minutes (375 words)
• Total word count: 2,500 words (20 minutes)
Word Choice - There are a lot of vocabularies
available to describe one's idea. However, the
speaker should carefully use the correct word in
writing the speech. The use of conversational
language helps put the audience feel at ease and
creates a special bond between the speaker and
the audience. However, there are things that you
should consider in choosing your words.
The following words should be avoided in a written
speech (Tandoc, 2016).
a. Jargons or technical terms specific only
for a group of people
b. Redundancy or excessive repetition of
words
c. Language inappropriate for the audience
d. Language inappropriate for the occasion
- Jargon are specific words or phrases used by a
certain individual or group that are difficult for
others to understand.
- For example, the words idiopathic (which means
unknown cause) and hyperventilate (rapid
breathing) are jargon because they are technical
terms in medical fields. The words affidavit (sworn)
and circumstantial (specific details) are heard
commonly in legal aspects or terms in in the field of
Law. These words can be confusing if you are
speaking in front of a general crowd or audience.
Grammatical Correctness - Using correct
grammar when you give a speech is important to
prevent misunderstanding and misinterpretation
between you and the audience. A good command
of the language helps listeners understand you
quickly. Grammar inconsistencies slow down the
communication process and generate negative
impressions for the audience, as your ideas and
thoughts are not clear and coherently conveyed.

--- Goodluck:>>>