speech

Texts

2022

We explain what a discourse is, its types and disciplines that study it. Plus, features, functions, and examples.

A speech can be oral or written.

What is a speech?

A speech is a form of communication in which a sender constructs a message and transmits it to a receiver using a code (which is usually thelanguage) through a channel, which can be oral or written.

A more specific concept of discourse refers to the action carried out by a person when you speak to an audience and deliver a pre-prepared message. This type of discourse seeks to guide regarding a topic and is developed in such a way that it captures the interest of the public.

Speeches are often made at political, economic or academic events, and many rely on computer resources such as slide shows, videos, or images.

The word discourse is also usually related to the word story, in reference to the cultural and ideological content that professes aperson or group. For example: when speaking of a liberal discourse,Marxist or modern.

See also:Interpersonal communication

Direct and indirect speech

The term discourse also refers to the postulates that communicate information thrown by an individual or group. Depending on its characteristics, the speech can be:

  • Direct speech. Prayer that expresses and reproduces in a textual way the words of an individual. It is usually expressed in quotation marks, preceded by hyphens or a colon. For example: "I want to play by the river" or Mateo: I want to play by the river.
  • Indirect speech. Sentence that indirectly reproduces the words of an individual by adapting verb tenses, personal pronouns and temporal references. It is usually introduced with the verb say, express, ensure, among others, followed by the conjunction that. For example: He says he wants to play by the river (present tense if played simultaneously with Matthew's speech) or He said he wanted to play by the river (past tense if reproduced after the original speech).

Speech characteristics

  • Precise. You must expose a topic and its arguments so that it can be understood by the audience.
  • Verifiable. It must be based on verifiable facts that justify and give validity to the speech, except in some cases such as religious or artistic speech.
  • Specialized. It must focus on an area and be directed to the ideal audience that can interpret it and be useful.
  • Original. You must use your own resources and have creative, unique and innovative points of view
  • Structured. You must organize the information in a clear and orderly way to be interpreted by the listeners or readers.
  • Attractive. It must grab the attention of the audience, keep it active and, in many cases, motivate them to action.
  • Multi content. It can have various types of information and be supplemented with audiovisual resources.
  • Multi platform. It can be conveyed to the audience orally or in writing.

Parts of the speech

The parts of the classical discourse were established in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, a treatise that brings together the main guidelines of the oratory and the speech written in 90 a. C. (approximately) by unknown author.

  • Exordium. The speaker seeks to capture the attention of the audience.
  • Narratio. The speaker introduces the topic to be discussed in the speech.
  • Divisio. The speaker develops his point of view and defends his theory or argument on the issue at hand.
  • I confirmed. The speaker presents his arguments and the evidence on which they are based.
  • Refutatio. He presents evidence which is rejected by the other arguments against his.
  • Conclusion. He raised the conclusions of the above and the steps to follow.

In addition, there is a widely used classification that divides speech into:

  • Introduction. The topic to be discussed is presented.
  • Developing. Existing arguments on the question are postulated.
  • Outcome. The most relevant ideas are synthesized and the contribution of the analysis of the argumentation exposed.

The disciplines that study discourse

Being a very broad concept, severaldisciplines or science study and analyze speech. First of all, thelinguistics study speech as a form ofwritten language or oral, that is, the text or conversation. Regarding communication, they are in charge ofanthropology and theethnography.

For thephilosophy, the discourse responds to a social system of ideas orthoughts and within thepsychologyIn the area of ​​psychoanalysis, the discourse is based on a logical question.

The types of speeches

The types of speech can be differentiated according to certain criteria:

According to structure:

  • Narrative speech. Refers to facts that are expressed in a context fromweather Yspace and that can be real or imaginary.
  • Descriptive speech. Try to show the characteristics of what is expressed without issuing a personal assessment.
  • Expository speech. Report something objective, clear and orderly.
  • Argumentative speech. Try to convince or persuade about something.

According to the area:

  • Political speech. It communicates the bases and political proposals of a space and seeks to convince the audience.
  • Religious speech. It communicates the foundations of a creed through the dogmas of faith that govern a religion To generate fidelity and attract followers.
  • Publicity speech. It communicates the particularities of a good or service and it aims to convince the audience to buy it on the market.
  • Business speech. Communicate the decisions, plans or projects of a organization or business and seeks to motivate employees, customers and suppliers.
  • Academic speech. It communicates news or proposals within the scope of a school or university, its function is to communicate and generate community among the members of the organization.
  • Artistic speech. It communicates emotions and feelings of a subjective nature, its function is to transmit and entertain.

The functions of speech

Various functions of language can be combined in speech.

Depending on the position taken by the speaker, the language within the discourse takes different forms and functions:

  • Expressive function. When the message appeals to express a feeling.
  • Appellate function. When the message seeks to attract the attention of the listener and provoke a response.
  • Poetic function. When the speech prioritizes the form of the message.
  • Informative or referential function. When the message provides objective information.
  • Convincing function. When the message seeks to sell a good or service.
  • Entertainment function. When the message seeks to amuse or relax.

Examples of speeches

Political speech:

“(…) That is why we have to start by recognizing that, no matter how many laws exist on paper, no matter how many wonderful declarations that appear in constitutions, no matter how beautiful words have been pronounced in recent decades at international summits or in the corridors of the United Nations, the old structures of can and privilege, injustice and exploitation never completely disappeared ”.

Barack Obama

Johannesburg, July 17, 2018

Religious speech:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: Merry Christmas!

In the womb of the mother Church, tonight the Son of God made man has been born again. His name is Jesus, which means God saves. The Father, eternal and infinite Love, sent him into the world not to condemn him, but to save him (cf. Jn 3,17). The Father gave it, with immense mercy. He handed it out for everyone. He gave it forever. And He was born, as a small flame lit in the dark and in the cold of the night. That Child, born of the Virgin Mary, is the Word of God made flesh. The Word that guided the heart and steps of Abraham towards the promised land, and continues to attract those who trust in the promises of God.

Pope Francisco
Rome, December 25, 2019.

Business speech:

“(…) Apple has always had the discipline to make the bold decision to drop things. We put the floppy disk aside when it was still popular with many users. Instead of doing things in a more traditional way and diversifying and minimizing risks, we produced the optical drive, which some people loved. We changed our connector even though a lot of people loved the 30-pin connector. Some of these things weren't popular for quite some time. But one has to be willing to lose sight of the coast and get out. We still do ”.

Interview with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

Academic speech:

“(…) These ramblings, very general, also make perfect sense in the university communities. The Spanish university has been profoundly transformed in the last quarter of the 20th century, creating a strong social dynamism in university groups, a consequence of some very significant factors of change. In the first place, the practical universalization of teaching university. In a very few years, we have gone from 28 universities and 300-odd thousand students in 1975 to 77 universities today and close to 1,400,000 students, with a maximum of more than one and a half million students in the year 2000 ”.

Javier Uceda, Rector of the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Madrid, September 2010.

Artistic speech.

If I hated you, my hate would give you
in words, resounding and sure;
But I love you and my love does not trust
to this talk of men so dark!

You would like it to become a scream,
and it comes from so deep that it has undone
its burning stream, fainted,
before the throat, before the chest.

I am the same as a full pond
and I seem to you an inert fountain.
All for my troubled silence
which is more heinous than entering death!

"The love that is silent", Gabriela Mistral

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