TYPES OF SPEECH CONTEXT LESSON OBJECTIVE At the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify the various types of speech context and distinguish them from one another. MOTIVE QUESTIONS • What do you think about or reflect on when you are alone? • How is “communicating” with yourself different from communicating with your friend or peers or an audience? INTRODUCTION OF THE LESSON • You, as a social being, will engage in various speaking activities throughout your life. You will have classes or meetings to attend, presentations to make, discussions and arguments to participate in, and groups to work with. In each of these activities, you will need to equip yourself with a set of skills that will help you communicate with others in different contexts. Speech context refers to the situation or environment and the circumstances in which communication occurs. Types of Speech Context Situation: St. John High School will be hosting a youth conference. They invited Ms. Mae Reyes, the president of Youth West Organization, to give a brief talk about their organization and her meaningful experiences in her involvement in the organization. What should Mae do to deliver an excellent talk? Intrapersonal Speech Context • This type of speech context involves one participant only; that is, the individual is both the sender and the receiver of the message in the communication process. Intrapersonal communication is simply communicating within oneself. It takes place when the “self” is engaging in inner talk or internal discourse such as mumbling, thinking aloud, reflecting, remembering, analyzing, and evaluating. Doodling, reading aloud, brainstorming, and daydreaming also indicate intrapersonal communication • Intrapersonal communication is essential to understanding yourself and others. You need to keep in touch with yourself to be able to make appropriate responses and sound decisions. Moreover, how you see yourself affects how you communicate with others. For example, if you have low self-esteem, you may stutter or find it difficult to express yourself when speaking to other people. • The situation requires Mae to engage in intrapersonal communication. She has to think about what to include in her talk and reflect on her experiences as the president of the organization. Without self-dialogue, she cannot deliver an excellent talk. Interpersonal Speech Context • Unlike in an intrapersonal communication that involves one participant only, an interpersonal communication is an interaction between two or more participants. In this type of speech context, there is an interdependent relationship between or among the participants, meaning the action of one participant more often than not directly affects the response or reaction of the other participant(s). Interpersonal communication can be direct (face-toface encounter) or indirect (done through the use of a tool or technology like talking to someone over the telephone or Internet, communicating by e-mail, and teleconferencing in distancelearning class) • There are two kinds of interpersonal communication: dyadic and small group. A dyad is composed of two participants who take turns as the sender (or speaker) and the receiver (or listener) in the interaction. A dyadic communication, also referred to as “one-to-one communication,” varies from formal situations (purposive interviews) to informal situations (dialogues or casual conversations). Examples of one-to-one encounters are discussing a project with a partner, interviewing an applicant, and talking about your day with your mom or dad. • On the other hand, small group communication is composed of three or more participants, or a group of participants, who engage in a discussion to achieve a common goal (e.g., solve a problem, perform an action or task, decide on something). The participants in the group contribute information and opinion, or exchange thoughts about a topic. Examples of small group interactions are roundtable discussions, panel discussions, group brainstorming sessions, and study groups. • In the given situation, Mae can discuss her speech with a comember. She can also call a meeting with the members of the Youth West Organization for input or feedback about her speech. Both options involve interpersonal communication. Public Speech Context • This type of speech context involves a single speaker and a sizable number of persons or an audience. The speaker is tasked to deliver a message or a speech of general interest to the audience. • Public communication requires more planning and preparation on the part of the speaker since it lacks the intimacy that are typical of one-to-one and small group interactions. There are limited or no opportunities for feedback because the speaker has a definite or prescribed time limit, and both the speaker and the audience maintain their roles throughout the speech event (the audience may, however, convey nonverbal messages). Thus, the speaker needs to use and sustain appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues to convey his or her message to the audience • Some examples of situations that involve public communication are a professor giving a lecture at a conference, a president delivering an inaugural address, a candidate delivering a campaign speech, and a student delivering a valedictory speech. • Going back to the given situation, Mae will engage in public communication as she delivers her speech during the youth conference. As the speaker, she needs to have a clear purpose of her speech, speak in a way that is both confident and natural, and use appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues. MASS COMMUNICATION • is any .of the human verbal interactions carried out with the aid of mass media technology. Mass media used to mean only radio and television, which reached more people with the use of their techincal systems. With the advent of the Internet and the worldwide web, Mass Communication now inlcudes social media, which allow for the use of technology by everyone, not just journalists, broadcasters and technical crew. Social media cover videos that go viral on the internet as well as webcasts/podcasts which reach millions, more than radio and TV ever could. In fact, radio and TV have joined Social media by putting up their own websites to communicate to a larger audience. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION • refers to the interaction of members along the links in an organizational structure. There are two variations of Organizational Communication. Formal Organizational Communication uses proper channels graphically illustrated by an organizational chart. Informal Organizational bypasses the links, skips forward or even goes sideways just to achieve the same goal.
