Speech Writing and Communication by Saudat Abdulbaqi

Speech Writing and Communication by Saudat Abdulbaqi

Speech refers to the ability to speak as well as the spoken words. It is the expression of thoughts and ideas via the articulators. It also refers to a written document that is designed to be presented orally. As it is often said, man’s ability to speak, through creative generative computation of words, is one of the major features that stand him out from other mammals. Although the debate on whether the act of speaking is innate to man or learned is ongoing, it is essential for students of communication to learn the concept of speech as a fundamental component of impacting positively on society. In this wise, this chapter focuses on both recursive and combinatorial modes of operation (Pareza, 2017) in building communication skills.

Brief description of communication

Communication originates from the Latin word; ‘communicare’ which means ‘to share’. It implies a two-way exchange of information between and among individuals through human or mechanical means. It is talking with, but not talking to. “It goes beyond the mere transmission of a message from a source to be receiver” (Baran, 2002, p. xx). The goal of communication is to persuade. It is to cause the receiver of a message to act in some ways as defined by the source.  To achieve this, the source and the receiver must possess the right communication skills in line with mutually agreed meanings (Atolagbe & Daramola, 2017).

 Communication skills

There are four basic skills that are required for effective communication of ideas and thoughts. These are listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. The first two skills are considered to be passive because the audience do not exert visible energy in carrying out the activities involved. However, the last two skills are regarded as active because the actors can be seen when speaking or writing.  Listening and reading skills require some external measures to assess the efficiency of the listener or reader in them. For example, an audience’s response to a question based on what s/he has been told will indicate whether s/he got the message appropriately or not. However, all four skills are essential to effective speech writing and delivery.

 Listening

Listening is adjudged to be the most important in the family, social setting, and on-the-job communication. It is equally the most engaged of the four communication skills (Adler & Rodman, 1997). Despite its importance in human relationships, effective listening is often a mirage. This goes to show that there is a world of difference between listening and hearing. Hearing occurs involuntarily in the absence of illnesses, injuries or earplugs, while listening requires the brain to process what is heard to make it meaningful. According to Adler and Rodman (1997, p. 112):

“hearing is the process in which sound waves strike the ear drum and cause vibrations that are transferred to the brain. Listening occurs when the brain reconstructs these electrochemical impulses into a representation of the original sound and then give them meanings.”

Because there is no instant parameter to measure listening effectiveness, message receivers may pretend to be listening while their minds wander off to something else. Nonetheless, effective listening can be deciphered through the following process:

Attending: paying attention to what is being said. This may be difficult to assess because individuals’ situational dispositions determine what they pay attention to at a particular time despite being within the same speaking environment. For example, a hungry man would be more interested in information about food rather than the colour of a neighbour’s car even if he heard the talks about it.

Understanding: this is the process of making sense of a message. Proper understanding of a message is influenced by language competencies of both the speaker and the listener. In a succinct expression of the interdependent role of the sender and the receiver of a message in a communication transaction, a French Proverb says: ‘the spoken word belongs half to the one who speaks and half to the one who hears” (Author(s), year, page). In other words, meanings are in people, not words. This explains why different people will interpret the same piece of information differently. In his explanation of these differences, Nichols (1948) advance verbal abilities, intelligence and motivation as some of the factors that account for successful understanding.  As stated earlier, understanding is too vague to be measured on its accord except through another parameter.

Responding: This entails giving observable feedback to the speaker. Through the feedback, receivers are able to clarify their understanding of the message and confirm their interest in what the speaker is saying.  Incidentally, this is when effective listening becomes measurable; a major difference between effective and ineffective listening is the kind of feedback given by the receiver.

Remembering: Nichols (1948) reports that, people recall only half of what they hear immediately after hearing it. But in reality, the residual message is a mere fragment of what is heard; not even up to 50%. Apart from a decrease in the quantity of what is heard, the content is most likely to be distorted leading to a dent in the quality.  You can put this to the test by playing a listening test game. Form a group of 10 audience members labeled Aud₁ to Aud₁₀. Whisper a piece of information into the ears of Aud_1. Ask each of them to keep whispering the information into the ears of the next person, until it gets to the ears of Aud₁₀ wait for about 20 minutes, then ask Aud₁₀  to say what s/he heard. Share your findings with your class. Your finding will confirm to you that, poor listening is sometimes inevitable, no matter how hard you try.

Reasons for poor listening include:

1. Complex nature of effective listening. It requires rapt attention. The consequence of an attempt at careful listening is noticeable in the kind of physical changes that occur to the listener. These changes can be in the forms of palpitation, sweating, an increase in body temperature, etc.
2. Message overload: there is a tidal wave of information all around us; from family members, teachers, friends, coworkers, passers-by, radio, television, etc., all competing for our limited attention. You must bear this in mind to keep your speech simple and interesting if you must win and sustain your listeners’ attention and interest.
3. Intruding rapid thoughts: it is difficult to keep the mind focused on a particular thought without it wandering off, daydreaming or planning what to do after the event; no matter how hard we try. The speaker can minimize this distraction by making their presentations interesting and engaging or participatory.
4. External noise: a factor outside the receiver that makes it difficult to hear or see or receive the message effectively.
5. Physiological noise: physical structures within the environment that constitute impediments to effective communication.
6. psychological noise: this refers to biological factors in the receiver or sender. We sometimes listen politely to others while we are in states of emotional unease. This can hinder effective communication between the receiver and the sender of a message.
7. Hearing problem: speaking with a person with hearing impairment can be frustrating to both parties. It hampers effective listening and leads to ineffective communication.
8. Faulty assumptions: having incorrect assumptions about a speaker as being predictable, about the subject as being too simple, unimportant or complex often affect the listening quality. The speaker should be able to maintain audience control for all it is worth.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that the place of listening in speech delivery cannot be overemphasized. As it is said: “What good is free speech if no one listens?” (Author, year. Page) It is a major prerequisite to effective speaking because a good speaker must be a good and competent listener.  Here are some tips to help you improve your listening habit:

1. Take listening seriously
2.  Be an active listener
3. Resist distraction
4. Suspend judgement
5. Develop note-taking skills while the speech is on. It helps you to stay focused.

Reading: to be a good speech writer, you must love and be good in reading. Reading avails you the opportunity to take a glimpse into the heart of other writers. It helps you to shape your worldview by knowing where the other authors stand and where you agree or differ from them. You need to read widely before you decide on a topic for your speech. You also gather ideas and supporting ideas from literature.

Speaking and writing are literacy skills. They are expressive language skills that constitute the essence of this chapter. It is, therefore, obvious that the four skills are basic to speech writing and delivery because you must be a good listener to be a good speaker. In the same vein, being a good reader is a prerequisite for being a good writer.

Types of Speech 

Speech can be classified by the purpose it is set to achieve. This may include:

Informative speech

The purpose of this type of speech is for the audience to gather information, internalize it and apply it to achieve designed goals. Hence, informative skill is very important in every communication endeavor as we often engage in public speaking to convey knowledge and understanding of events, concepts, processes and objects (Lucas, 2007). To achieve this, the informative speech must be communicated accurately, clearly, meaningfully and interestingly. Informative speech can be identified through its format, content and purpose:

 By format: Classifying informative speech by format delves on the depth of what is to be presented. A speech that requires the speaker to condense a large amount of information is known as a briefing while the one that requires a comprehensive account of all that transpires is known as a report. For example, the Head of Department can brief the students about post COVID-19 resumption protocols but he might need to submit a report on measures that have been put in place to ensure by  all members of the department and the university at large.

By content: This refers to what the speech is about. An informative speech about an object describes anything tangible thing that can be seen, touched or stable in form. Examples of speeches in this category are write-ups about Unilorin Zoo, a description of Owu fall in Kwara State to attract tourists, etc. A speech about the process is another form of informative speech by content. It involves an elucidation of actions that lead to a specific result such as a speech. The specific purpose of a speech about process would be to inform the audience about safety protocols against COVID-19 infection; or how to save a child from being hit by a fast-moving car. Also, in the category of classifying informative speech by content are speeches about events. These are speeches about notable things that happen in a specific area. An example may be an eye-witness’ account of the visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to students living at Tanke, Okeodo. The specific purpose in this example is to recount the history of an event, so the speaker will have to organize the speech in order. Lastly, speeches about concepts, that can neither be seen nor touched. This includes speeches about idea, belief system, theories, etc. specifically, speeches about inheritance, marriage, welfarism, communalism, etc. fall under this category of informative speech.

By purpose: An informative speech is classified by purpose based on the intention of the writer or speaker, which could be to describe (using word pictures to illustrate a new product), explain (to clarify an idea that is known to the audience but not properly understood) or instruct (to give directives on how things should be done or how to achieve better results. E.g., things to do to maximize the gains of COVID-19 lockdown period).

Persuasive speech

A persuasive speech is aimed at changing the perspectives, believes, attitudes or worldview of an audience through convincing communication. The goal of a persuasive speech is to win the audience to your side; hence, you act as an advocate of the new idea, refute an existing opinion, or inspire your audience to act in a predetermined way. A persuasive speech must be laden with truth and every claim must be balance and verifiable, otherwise, it will amount to deceit; an unethical practice in persuasive speaking.  An effective persuasive speech requires special skills to deliver. These skills include credibility building skills, evidence-based account, sound reasoning, generating emotional appeals, selecting supporting materials creatively, being patient to listen to and respond to contrary submissions from your audience. It is important that a persuasive speaker carries out a background check on the target audience to connect the message to their needs to make it irresistible. Use language with precision and power to win the acceptance of your audience for keep.

Speeches for special occasions

Other forms of speeches are those that are meant for special occasions such as speeches of introduction, toasts, commemorative speeches, inaugural addresses, keynote speeches, award speeches, etc. All these deserve varying degrees of tone and depth.

The speech of introduction is one of the preliminary presentations at public events. The purpose is to set the tone for the occasion and to create in the audience, a positive mindset to receive the speaker. Speeches of introduction should not be flat; rather, they should be fun and witty to hear and to give. Carnegie, (1957) gives a T.I.S outline for presenting facts that are gathered about the speaker.

T- Topic: start your presentation with the title of the speaker’s talk.

I – Importance: create relevance for the speech by connecting the topic to the particular interest of the group.

S – Speaker: enumerate the speaker’s outstanding qualities that make him/her the most suitable for the topic and the event. Then present the speaker’s name clearly, distinctively and gracefully.

Toasts are mini speeches that are offered at ceremonies such as weddings, birthdays, retirement parties, for the celebration of an accomplishment, etc. A toast is made to a person and not to inanimate things. In presenting a toast, speakers refer to the occasion, reflect the theme of the occasion, refer to the achievement of the recipient that make him/her worthy of being celebrated, express goodwill and propose the toast formally. A toast should be brief and presented in flowery language.  It sounds well to end the toast with a popular song that can be joyfully chorused by the gathering, such as: ‘for s/he is a jolly good fellow…’

Keynote speeches

Keynote speeches are delivered by distinguished personalities at public events. It involves the rapid delivery of ideas and information that revolve around the theme of the occasion. A keynote speech should be brief, humorous and illustrative with lots of interesting stories. It should be presented in a language and manner that will be easy for the audience to relate with in the course of its presentation and recall afterwards.

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A Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Saudat Salah AbdulBaqi is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Ilorin and an Adjunct Lecturer at Kwara State University and Summit University. A Chairperson of NIPR Kwara State Chapter, she attended Bayero University Kano (BUK), University of Lagos and Universiti Utara Malaysia for her qualifications.