Lesson 1 Speech Context and

Speech Style
By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to
⌂ differentiate types of speech contexts;
⌂ explain the importance of effective communication skills;
⌂ practice effective interpersonal skills and intrapersonal skills;
⌂ identify strategies in effective interpersonal skills and intrapersonal skills;
⌂ exhibit appropriate verbal and nonverbal behavior in a given speech context;
⌂ apply learning and thinking skills, life skills, and ICT literacy in understanding the types of
speech contexts; and
⌂ reflect on your learning on the types of speech contexts
Key Takeaways
Types of Speech Context
1. Intrapersonal – This refers to communication that centers on one person where the speaker acts both
as the sender and the receiver of message. “The message is made up of your thoughts and feelings.
The channel is your brain, which processes what you are thinking and feeling. There is feedback in the
sense that as you talk to yourself, you discard certain ideas and replace them with others.” (Hybels &
Weaver, 2012, p 16)

Examples:
• You spent the night thinking and analyzing why a student from the other class talked to you on the way home
and you decided it probably meant nothing.
• You felt happy while thinking about how your teacher appreciated you for submitting your project before
the due date and you reflected on why this was so.

2. Interpersonal – This refers to communication between and among people and establishes personal
relationship between and among them. Solomon and Theiss (2013) state that “the inter part of the word
highlights how interpersonal communication connects people… when you engage in interpersonal
communication, you and another person become linked together… The personal part means that your
unique qualities as a person matter during interpersonal communication…”
Types of Interpersonal Context

Dyad Communication – communication that occurs between two people

Example:
• You offered feedback on the speech performance of your classmate.
• You provided comfort to a friend who was feeling down.

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 Small Group – This refers to communication that involves at
least three but not more than twelve people engaging in a face-
to-face interaction to achieve a desired goal. In this type of
communication, all participants can freely
share ideas in a loose and open discussion.
Example:
• You are participating in an organizational meeting which aims to address the concerns of your
fellow students.
• You are having a discussion with your group mates on how to finish the assigned tasks.
3. Public – This type refers to communication that requires you to deliver or send the message before or in
front of a group. The message can be driven by informational or persuasive purposes. “In public
communication, unlike in interpersonal and small group, the channels are more exaggerated. The voice is
louder and the gestures are more expansive because the audience is bigger. The speaker might use
additional visual channels such as slides or a Power Point presentation.” (Hybels & Weaver, 2012, p 19)
Example:
• You deliver a graduation speech to your batch.
• You participate in a declamation, oratorical, or debate contest watched by a number of people.
4. Mass Communication – This refers to communication that takes place
through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards,
internet, and other types of media.
Example:
You are a student journalist articulating your stand on current issues through the school’s newspaper.

Types of Speech Style

The context dictates and affects the way people communicate, which results in various speech styles.
According to Joos (1968), there are five speech styles. These are (1) intimate, (2) casual, (3)consultative, (4)
formal, and (5) frozen. Each style dictates what appropriate language or vocabulary should be used or
observed.
1. Intimate – This style is private, which occurs between or among close family members or individuals.
The language used in this style may not be shared in public.
2. Casual – This style is common among peers and friends. Jargon, slang, or the vernacular language
are used.
3. Consultative – This style is the standard one. Professional or mutually acceptable language is a must
in this style. Examples of situations are communication between teachers and students, employers
and employees, doctor and patient, judge and lawyer, or President and his/her constituents.
4. Formal – This style is used in formal settings. Unlike the consultative style, this is one-way. Examples
are sermons by priests and ministers, State of the Nation Address of the President, formal speeches,
or pronouncements by judges.
5. Frozen – This style is “frozen” in time and remains unchanged. It mostly occurs in ceremonies.
Common examples are the Preamble to the Constitution, Lord’s Prayer, and Allegiance to country or
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 flag.

Types of
Lesson 2
Communicative Strategy
By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to
⌂ distinguish various types of communicative strategies;
⌂ use acceptable, polite, and meaningful communicative strategies;
⌂ engage in a communicative situation;
⌂ explain the effects of a shift in communicative strategy;
⌂ demonstrate effective use of communicative strategy in a variety of speech situations;
⌂ practice learning and thinking skills, life skills, and ICT literacy; and
⌂ reflect on your learning on the types of communicative strategy.

Let’s Work and Learn

People communicate every day to establish and maintain relationships, know and understand
themselves, and find meaning in the daily grind. Moreover, since humans are social beings who survive
more effectively through sensible discourses, they are always driven to learn the skills of creating and
sustaining meaningful conversations. Successful communication requires understanding of the
relationship between words and sentences and the speech acts they represent. However, a conversation
may be complex at times; that is why some people get lost along the way and misunderstand each other.
It is only when we willingly cooperate and speak in socially- approved ways that we can make a
conversation meaningful.

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.
1. Nomination
A speaker carries out nomination to collaboratively and productively establish a topic. Basically, 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 off 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.
2. Restriction
Restriction in communication refers to any limitation you may have as a speaker. When communicating
in the classroom, in a meeting, or while hanging out with your friends, you are typically given specific
instructions that you must follow. 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 on digital natives. In these cases, you 0cannot decide to talk about something else.
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 On the other hand, conversing with your friends during ordinary days can be far more casual than
these examples. Just the same, remember to always be on point and avoid sideswiping from the
topic during the conversation to avoid communication breakdown.
3. Turn-taking
Sometimes people are given unequal opportunities to talk because others take much time during the
conversation. Turn-taking pertains to the process by which people decide who 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 own 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?”
4. 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 developed by 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,” “Go on”; asking tag questions to clarify
information briefly like “You are excited, aren’t you?”, “It was unexpected, wasn’t it?”; and even by
laughing!
5. 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 have to 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
More Tips for Effective Speech Delivery
Following are more techniques and tips to help you deliver your speech well:
1. Use a conversational style more often. This is the style that is more natural; it is the style that you
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 always use when you express yourself with your family and friends. Audience members do not like the
speaker to sound unnatural or exaggerated.
2. Look your audience members in the eye so they will feel that they are part of your speech. Eye contact
should be maintained to keep the attention of your audience and enhance your delivery.
3. Remember to adjust your volume to the size of the audience and the venue. When addressing a large
audience, modulate your voice in such a way that you speak loudly without sounding like shouting or
yelling.
4. Vary your rate or speed to keep your audience interested and to avoid a monotone pattern. The
audience might get bored if you speak very slowly and they might get confused if you speak very fast.
Hence, your rate should be at an appropriate speed.
5. Master your voice and find your pitch level (high or low). If you have a high pitch level, modulate or
slightly move it down. If you have a low pitch level, modulate or slightly move it up. Your performance will
definitely be affected if you do not modulate.
6. Use pauses when you emphasize the most important words, phrases, or sentences. Your pauses
should not last for three seconds. Otherwise, it will result in dead air or a moment of awkward silence.
7. Pronounce and enunciate words correctly. You will confuse the audience if you mispronounce words,
and it could distract them and affect your credibility.
8. Avoid fillers or expressions that substitute actual words in your speech because these words are distracting.
Examples of fillers are “like,” “um,” “ah,” “uh,” and “er.” To reduce the use of these fillers, detect the instances
when you use them: Do you generally use fillers after each sentence, between different ideas, or whenever you
make transitions? Then, instead of using them the next time you deliver a speech, simply stop and pause.
9. Start your speech by standing straight and balancing your weight. This will give a positive first
impression.
10. Use precise movements. Avoid distracting mannerisms like swaying back and forth, leaning on the
podium, licking or biting your lips, playing with your wristwatch or jewelry, scratching parts of your body,
frowning, and others. Observe your mannerisms and learn how to avoid them when speaking in public.
Avoid having a poker face or a highly animated face. These facial expressions appear distracting and may even
be annoying. Instead, follow the most highly suggested tip: smile. However, make sure that the meaning of
your speech reflects in your facial expressions; do not smile if you are talking about something sad.
11. Dress properly and appropriately. Wearing the proper attire will make you look more confident and
professional. Make sure not to overdress, as this may distract your audience.
12. Observe ethics by coming prepared, being honest with your words, being polite, avoiding offensive words
and back-biting or talking negative things about other people, or copying someone’s work without proper
documentation.
Breathe in and out to relax before your speech. Most importantly, have fun

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