Speech Communication

1. Speech Communication The SCIENCE and Art ofPersuasion A Seminar Workshop Conducted by Lourdes Ramos Laguardia, Ph.D. June 2007

2. Four Major Areas • 1.Interpersonal communication includes the study of symbolic behavior in dyadic, two person relationships.

3. 2.Group communication concentrates on the small group of three to seven persons.

4. Organizational communication examines the effects that organizational structure and membership have on human communication. • Recent Issue: Cube versus Cave

5. Rhetoric and public address is the study of discourse and its role in shaping public perceptions and practices. • All areas emphasize effective oral and written communication.

6. Communication Theory Framework • Mechanistic: This view considers communication to be a perfect transaction of a message from the sender to the receiver.

7. Aristotle Classic Model of Communication • Linear Model

8. Psychological: This view considers communication as the act of sending a message to a receiver, and the feelings and thoughts of the receiver upon interpreting the message.

9. Interactive Model of Communication • Feedback Mechanism

10. Social Constructionist (Symbolic Interactionism): This view considers communication to be the product of sharing and creating meaning.

11. Herbert Blumer: people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings are derived from social interaction and modified through interpretation.

12. Non-Linear Model • Helical • continuous, unrepeatable, additive, and accumulative • Multi-dimensional Model • Intra- inter-group-system

13. Systemic: This view considers communication to be the new messages created via “through-put”, or what happens as the message is being interpreted and re-interpreted as it travels through people.

14. Cybernetic Model • The emphasis is on the functional relations that hold between the different parts of a system, rather than the parts themselves. • These relations include the transfer of information, and circular relations (feedback) that result in emergent phenomena such as self-organization and automation

15. The main innovation brought about by cybernetics is an understanding of goal-directedness or purpose as resulting from a negative feedback loop which minimizes the deviation between the perceived situation and the desired situation (goal).

16. Theory of Dissonance COGNITIVE DISSONANCE by Leon Festinger, 1957 The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions.

17. Major Concepts • 1.Communication is a science • It is a process of sharing facts and truth. • It is primarily a process of persuading.

18. Aristotle’s Principles of Persuasion • 1.Ethos (Ethical Persuasion) • The speaker’s character • Credibility /Authority • Confidence

19. 2.Logical Persuasion • Your speech must be of truths or facts. • Your speech must clearly distinguish facts from opinions.

20. Some Common Fallacies • Argument to Ignorance • Something must be true because it has never been proven false or something must be false because it has never been true. • Ex. Darwin’s theory of evolution • The existence of God

21. Large Numbers • Citing large numbers to impress • Sheer numbers cannot substitute for real logic • Example • Over 20,000 people will lose their jobs if Chiang Kai Shek Hall be renamed because it will cost the government 300,000 dollars.

22. Fallacy of Consensus (agreement of the people) • One argues the truth of a conclusion because most people believe it, either at the present time or universally. • Example • The sanctity of marriage had stood the test of centuries and in light of this, it is wrong to even propose that divorce be made legal.

23. Communication is a science (cont.) • Your speech must be relevant • Audience analysis should be useful. • Specific occasion • Age • Background • Without the benefit of audience analysis, present topics of universal appeal.

24. Role of Schools • Schools play a significant role in the development of organized knowledge and critical thinking. Human development is due to growth in logical thinking.

25. Why do we think differently? Because we wish to be exclusive with what we think. This specialization involves ways of experiencing, interpreting, and expressing our understanding of ourselves and the world. Sciences have their own discourse; fiction has its own.

26. The question: which modes of thought are privileged, command our respect, the right to state the bottom line? • For long, it’s the scientific discourse or mode of thinking. • However, faith in science has waned. It alone cannot make knowledge-claims.

27. Four frameworks by which we make sense of ourselves and the world: These are universal • 1.we share our intentions with others • 2.we emphasize actions than events • 3.we capture the network of norms and obligations that make up the social world. • 4.knowledge and understanding

28. 3. Emotional Persuasion • Pathos • Sincerity • Appropriateness of emotional highs and lows • Superlatives may sound hypocritical • Understatements sometimes prove more effective • Ex. There seems to be some immigration problems in the country.

29. Communication Barriers Selective Listening Semantic Noise Culture Positions Personalities Biases / Prejudices Medium Speech Environment

30. 2. Communication is an art • If it’s an art, it must be beautiful • Its beauty must be evident and then appreciated. • Its beauty is remembered and emulated or imitated • It becomes a model

31. Elements of Speech Communication • SPEAKER’S Art • Voice Quality • Organic defects • Due to reflections of personality • Due to reflections of poor speech preparation and discipline

32. How to achieve good voice quality • A. Correct breathing

33. Inhale deeply and / or more rapidly • A reasonable amount of air is needed to give strength to the voice

34. Maintain a steady pressure of air as you talk • Exhaling is more controlled • The control is not uniform; it varies according to the emphasis of words or thoughts

35. Maintain an adequate breath reserve

36. Exercises • Say these sentences applying correct breathing: • The man is gone • The man is in the village. • The man drove his car to the village. • The man drove his car to the village to get some sugar. • The man drove his car to the village to get some sugar and talk to the store owner for a while.

37. Speak with an open yet relaxed throat • Say these: • Good day! • Wait for us. • Have you tried it? • How’s going? • What’s up? • See you later.

38. B. Use resonators efficiently by enriching and reinforcing the voice produced by the vocal cords • To develop full resonance, open your throat and mouth during vocalization • Exercise: Say numbers 1-10 with varied intensity: 1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10

39. 3. Good articulation • Exercise: Say these • These boys • Autocratic • Here and abroad • Humanitarian • Psychologist • To…to…to… • Do…do…do…

40. Oral Recitation Exercises • Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary • Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore • While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping • As of someone gently rapping-rapping at my chamber door. • “Tis some visitor,”I muttered” tapping at my chamber door- • Only this and nothing more

41. The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want • He maketh me to lie down in green pastures • He leadeth me beside the still waters • He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

42. The Speech Sounds • Vowel Sounds • Sleep-sleepy-slip feel-fill • Ail-sail-sell lid-laid-led • Bait-bet-bat pain-pen-pan • Lack-lock-luck stack-stock • Caught-coat-cot flaw-flow • Ball-bowl-bull wrought-wrote • Wafer-refer soccer-recur • Bird-bard perk-park

43. Consonants • for security reason • shepherd a meaningful marriage • dean/dim sharing different views • worth /worthy waiting in a queue • mean / meant mishmash of construction • smooth confused and lost • chef thunder and lightning • moustache household chores • business finance battered wife

44. Tongue twisters • 1) Six sick slick slim sycamore saplings. • 2) A box of biscuits, a batch of mixed biscuits • 3) A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, the skunkthump the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

45. The Rhythm of Speech • Stress • notice Vatican supervise vegetable • cartoon unless giraffe original • volunteer manufacture elementary • process-process • conflict-conflict • desert-desert • twenty/twentieth • sixteen-sixteenth

46. Blending of words: Stressing and Unstressing • a book their land that store • Sing it read them have it • bread and butter slow but sure • in time for the guest at home • should listen were told • He’s tall They’re nice • You can’t go. I don’t know.

47. Intonation • You’re up early. • The children are not very hungry this morning. • What would you like for breakfast? • How many people shall we invite? • Did you sleep well? • Can you do it? • Will you stay with him while I go to the bathroom?

48. Tag Questions • It’s painful, isn’t it? (down) • It’s painful, isn’t it? (rising) • It isn’t painful, is it? (down) • It isn’t painful, is it? (rising)

49. Mood Intonation / Pitch Range • Repressed Mood-Narrow Range • Hush! My baby, or soon you will hear • The Sleepy-eye, Weeng-oosh, hovering near; out of the timber he will come. • A little round man as small as your thumb.

50. Vigorous mood – wide pitch range • Remember March, the ides of March remember: Did not great Julius bleed for justice’ sake? What villain touched his body, that did stab, And not for justice? What, shall one of us, that struck the foremost man of all this world but for supporting robbers, shall we now.