Oral Communication

• Speech is the expression of or the ability to express thoughts and feelings by articulate sounds.
• The speech writing process involves conducting an audience analysis, determining the purpose of the speech, selecting a topic, narrowing down a topic, data gathering, selecting speech patterns, writing patterns, preparing an outline, creating the body of speech, preparing the introduction, preparing the conclusion, and editing/revising.
• Conducting an audience analysis involves looking into the profile of your target audience to tailor-fit your speech content and delivery.
• The profile of your target audience includes demography, situation, psychology, and determining the purpose of the speech.
• The purpose of the speech can be classified into three – to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.
• Informative speech provides the audience with a clear understanding of the concept or idea presented by the speaker.
• Entertainment speech provides the audience with amusement.
• Persuasive speech provides the audience with well-argued ideas that can influence their own beliefs and decisions.
• Selecting a topic involves determining your focal point of your speech, which can be determined once you have decided on a topic, choose one that really interests you.
• Narrowing down a topic means making our main idea more specific and focused.
• Data gathering is the stage where you collect ideas, information, sources and references relevant or related to your specific topic.
• Selecting speech patterns are structures that will help you organize the ideas related to your topic.
• Writing patterns include biographical, categorical/topical, causal, chronological, comparison/contrast, problem-solution, and spatial.
• Preparing an outline is a hierarchical list that shows the relationship of our ideas.
• Creating the body of speech provides explanations, examples, or any details that can help you deliver your purpose and explain the main idea of your speech.
• Preparing the introduction is the foundation of your speech, where your primary goal is to get the attention of your audience and present the subject or main idea of your speech.
• Preparing the conclusion restates the main idea of your speech and provides a summary, emphasizes the message, and calls for action.
• Editing/revising involves correcting errors in mechanics, such as grammar, punctuation, capitalization, unity, coherence, and others.
• The six power principles are: focus, clarity, organization, word economy, and delivery.
• Edit for focus ensures that everything you have written, from introduction to conclusion, is related to your central message.
• Edit for clarity makes all ideas in your speech clear by arranging them in logical order.