Course code: Eng.

111

Course Title: Speech and theatre arts

Units: 3

Speech: its nature and importance

CREDO

By E. Christian Buckner

I believe that of all humans’ functions the gift of speech is the most miraculous.

I believe that if speech were to stop, all civilized living would suddenly vanish.

I believe that the ability to be articulate is essential to inner harmony, to emotional

maturity, and to mental balance. If all people could be complete articulate at all times, human
relations might improve to the point where there would be no more wars and no more jails,
more stable homes and more happy people.

I believe that speech is essential to the growth of the human personality and that it
provides a way for self-expression without brush or pen.

I believe that the act of speech is a total process, that when it reaches optimum
effectiveness, the whole man communicates. What one is, is always part of what one says.

I believe that there is no substitute for content in the speaking process. Material or
intellectual worth provides the essence of eloquence. Speech skills have their importance, but
they no more make the speech than clothes make the man. The center of gravity in all speech
communications thought and idea.

I believe that every student should develop a concern for truthful and responsible
speech, exhibiting sense- not non sense, sincerity- not cleverness, forthrightness- not
superficiality, and should never be a party to plagiarized or dishonest work.

I believe that speech has no absolutes, that a completely perfect speech has yet been
made. I believe that speech offers a lifetime challenge in which there is never a final summit of
achievement beyond which one cannot climb.

I believe that the individuality of the speaker is valuable asset in the speaking process,
and that any person with normal inteligence , normal emotional balance, and normal speech
mechanism has at his command the resources enabling him to make certain speeches that can
be equalled by no other person. Every student has the potential to speak superbly at some
time.

Activities;

1. Do you agree with paragraph 1? Explain your stand.

2. Do you agree with paragraph 2? Explain.
3. Which paragraph encourages you to improve your speech ability?
4. Which paragraph do you find the most meaningful?
5. Read the credo in a convincing manner.
 CAN YOU IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT COMMUNICATION?

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

Communication is a process of exchanging thouhts, ideas, feelings and information between

and among others whether verbal or non-verbal to achieve particular goal or purpose.

COMMMUNICATION IS AN ACT OR PROCESS OF TRANSMITTING RECEIVING AND

UNDERSTANDING THE MESSAGE.

COMMUNICATING AND TALKING

TALKING: SPEAKING TO PASS THE MESSAGE SOMETIMES UNDERSTOOD SOMETIMES NOT

THREE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION:

SPEAKER- SOURCE OF COMMUNICATION(encoder)

MESSAGE; THE CODE OR SYMBOLS TO CONVEY IDEA(code)

LISTENER: THE RECEIVER OF THE MESSAGE(decoder)

CHANNEL= organ of speech used in conveying the message

Medium= The kind of language being used in communicating

Feedback= the reaction of the audience

Types of words

Jargon= language of a particular group of people

obsolete words that are no longer in used

Archaic words Old words that can only be found in some old literary pieces(thee, thy, thou)

Euphemism the use of inoffensive word for an offensive one

Vernacular language= native language

WHOLE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

- SPEAKER – ENCODING---MESSAGE----CHANNEL
 - RECEIVER – DECODING- (FEEDBACK)
- BARRIERS= INTERRUPTS THE PROCESS(NOISE) FACTORS THAT EFFECT THE FLOW OF
COMMUNICATION
- TYPES OF BARRIER- INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BARRIER
- TYPES OF COMMUNICATION VERBAL AND NON VERBAL
- 7 C’S OF COMMUNICATION
- 1. CLEAR-
- 2.CONCISE-
- 3. CONCRETE
- 4. CORRECT
- 5. COHERENT
- 6. COMPLETE
- 7. COURTEOUS

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

; BASIS OF ALL RELATIONSHIPS

; Basic ingredient to progress

SPEECH:The expression of the ability to express thoughts sounds. Refers to the use of the oral
medium of passing information, whether formally, by a speaker to an audience.

Overcoming nervousness:

1. Understand the way fear operates

2. Practice as often as you can
3. Welcome every chance to talk before an audience
4. Make sure you have something worth saying
5. Prepare thoroughly
(a) Substance
(b) Your presentation
(c) Your mastery talk
(d) Your manner of delivery
6. Permit only positive thoughts. Repeat to yourself some positive statements such as;
(a) I am effective, enthusiastic, enjoyable
(b) I am posed, prepared, persuasive, positive
(c) I am Composed, confident, convincing, commanding
7. While waiting for your turn to speak, sit with your lower back pressed against your chair.
8. Silently recite to yourself the first 4-5 sentences of your talk
9. Act confident. This will help you put at ease
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMMUNICATION (speech)

As defined, communication is a process by which information is exchanged between

individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. There are three types of
communication: informative, persuasive, and argumentative.

Informative Communication

Informative communication is focused on talking about people, events, processes, places,

or things. Its main objective is to update or provide the audience new knowledge on certain
issue or topic. The speaker simply states facts and information to cover the topic. He/she
maintains an objective, neutral tone through the talk.

For instance, a new means of recycling materials is discovered and there is a need to
share this to consumers so they could be aware of it. Another example, a new set of
department secretaries are selected to head the national agencies so the people need to know
who these new appointees would be. Even an announcement of new ordinances/laws is an
example of an informative communication.

Types of Informative Communication

A definition speech explains the meaning, theory, or philosophy of specific topic that the
audience likely does not know much about. The topics may be general, such as a sport, or
highly specific, like a particular person. The main goal of this speech is to educate the audience
so that they understand the main points regarding this subject.

A demonstration speech explains how a certain task is done. When a teacher discusses
how to do a literary review or a literary analysis, it is an example of a demonstration speech.
Like most informative speeches, a how-to-speech will likely use visual examples to show the
audience retain what each steps looks like, increasing the likelihood that they will retain the
overall information of the speech.

An explanatory speech provides a description of the condition of a given topic. Speeches

delivered in conferences are examples of this type of speech. The objective of these speeches is
for the speaker to inform the audience on a particular subject matter. Commonly, these
speeches usually use visual presentation of the particular data or statistics contained in speech.

A descriptive speech creates a vivid picture in a person’s mind regarding an object, person,
animal, or place. A pharmacist can share his/her new discovered drug through a descriptive
speech.
Preparing for Information Speaking

1. Analyze the audience. Knowing your audience beforehand is a big advantage for the
speaker so he/ she will know how to address his/her audience. The speaker can plan the
approach he/she will use to his/her audience. Likewise, the speaker can adapt his/her
speech on the maturity level of the audience.
2. Use appropriate language. The audience and the occasion are factors to consider when
delivering an informative talk. Imagine if you would be talking to a group of mothers as
an economist, will these mothers understand economic jargon? The speaker should
always make the necessary adjustments whenever he/she speaks to different types of
audience. Listeners might not be able to grasp the message if they are not familiar with
the terminologies used by the speaker. If the speaker could simplify his technical terms,
his/her listeners would appreciate him more.
3. Explain the importance of the topic. In any speech presentation, there is always a need
to establish the relevance of such talk. Speaker must establish a connection between
his/her topic and the interest of the audience.
4. Express interest in the subject matter. The speaker can always hold the interest of the
audience if he/she shows interest in his/her own talk. The speaker should show
conviction in what he/she is discussing. A speaker who confesses his/her own interest in
the topic will encourage the audience to share a similar interest.
5. Show more, explain less. Most people learn through doing or seeing. A discussion on a
certain recipe will be more effective if there is actual demonstration that can be viewed
by the audience. Informative speeches often benefit from a demonstration or visual
aids. The use of modern technology can help deliver the message easily to the audience
and minimize much explanation.
6. Be specific. Informative speakers thrive on details and dive on generalities. If the talk
revolves on newly created electric-driven automobiles, drivers would enjoy listening to
the benefits they could get from such invention. Listeners are often impressed by
details, but be careful to become so detail-oriented that big picture of the speech might
get lost.
7.

Persuasive Communication

A persuasive communication explains a specific topic and attempts to convince the

audience to accept the speaker’s perspective. It is about creating an attitude change to
influence social behavior. The main objective is to win the support of the audience and change
the beliefs or actions of the listeners.
Persuasive communication is one of the most widely used types of communication,
through people are not conscious of it. When a teenage daughter seeks permission from her
parents to allow her to attend a party, she tries to win her parents’ consent with persuasive
explanation. When a teacher talks to his/her students about a particular school campaign, the
teacher discusses convincingly the benefits of the drive. When parents share their thoughts on
what particular courses suit their children, they enumerate the potentials of their preferred
degrees for their children. These are examples of persuasive communication.
Persuasive communication is similar to marketing and advertising. The speaker
considers all the communication factors to be able to persuade people to be open, receive, and
act on the message or request. Television commercials are classic examples of such
communication. They are created to win the nods of the viewers and patronize their products
or services.
Persuasive communication involves people who are important to each other-parents
influence children, children influence parents, and friends influence each other. Their closeness
or intimacy is often used to the advantage of the person who tries to win approval. This also
explains why business firms tap popular figures as their product endorsers because this ensures
a throng of consumers for the products as well.

Guidelines to More Persuasive Communication.

1. Move past any negative stereotypes about ‘sales’ is often associated to manipulating
people into decisions they are not comfortable with. The concern should not
immediately be the profit as the end result in a business. In persuasive communication,
the speaker should first and foremost understand the audience’s needs and help them
solve the problems or accelerate opportunities. Once the audience feels that the
proposition is a collaborative, problem-solving effort, it would expand their perspective
and open new opportunities to further advance the relationship.
2. Focus on how you can be helpful. Have this ‘service mentality’. When your goal is to
convince or persuade someone, do not focus on how you can get them to do something.
Instead, focus on how you can be of service to them. Think about what the other
person’s goals and objectives are and how you can help get achieve that.
3. Provide context. Though the urge to help is the first step, the speaker also needs to give
some context to show that his/her ideas can work. For a business proposal for instance,
the speaker should be able to provide the advantages of such venture, competitive
research, and other insights he/she can leverage.
4. Expect resistance. In delivering a message, be it good or bad, there awaits an opposition.
The speaker should always be ready to counter such. Understanding concerns,
objections and barriers is critical to making forward progress. View resistance as an
opportunity to learn and advance your cause.
 5. Address intelligent and open-ended questions. Aside from resistance, there will always
be probing questions to be asked from the speaker. Show up prepared with intelligent
questions. Being prepared for tough conversation gives the speaker an advantage and
adds more credibility.

ARGUMENTATIVE

An argumentative communication is advocating the speaker’s position on controversial

issues and supporting it with reason and logic. Under this type of communication, speakers do
their best they can to justify their standpoints in a certain context.

An argumentative communication tends to be biased and subjective but the speaker

needs to be aware of the opposing views on the subject. While an information communication
relies on information to explain the topic, an argumentation communication needs statistics,
facts, and speaker’s personal ideas to emphasize his/her points.

A good example of this type of communication is the recent campaign on federalism

form of government. Plenary sessions are conducted in various regions and provinces so
Filipinos can understand the proposed type of governance and eventually appreciate such
proposition. It is not just simply convincing the Filipinos to accept the shift to federalism but to
allow them to appreciate the benefits the new form of governance will bring into the country.

Forms of Speech Delivery

1. Manuscript Reading
Manuscript reading is the simplest form of delivering speech. This particular form of
speech delivery is used when the speech is usually long and is prepared for a purpose.
This commonly utilized by politicians, ministers, priest, diplomats, school presidents,
and other corporate directors.

In the old days, the speech was printed in conspicuously big letters on paper and
placed by the speaker on top of the lectern. But these days, the speech is printed on
electronic board and visible on the speaker on the platform.

With the ready manuscript, there is no room for the speaker to commit mistakes
because he/she can read a prepared speech directly to the audience.

However, there are disadvantages on having this form of speech delivery.

a. Manuscript reading minimizes eye-to-eye contact with the audience.
b. The speaker becomes more focused on what he/she is reading.
 c. It also inhibits the natural gestures and body movement.
d. There is the tendency for the speaker to become monotonous.

2. Memorized Speech
A memorized speech is delivered from memory. Other people might find this easy
to do because the speaker simply memorizes the speech he/she needs to deliver. Actually, this
is the most difficult because if the speaker misses one detail, he/she may be distracted and may
soon forget the rest of the details. This type is usually used in oratorical, declamation and story-
telling contests. The only advantage of a memorized speech is that it trains the speaker to
memorize exact words and sentences as they are presented in the original.
Its disadvantages include the following:
a. Originality is inhibited.
b. There is the tendency to forget the lines and may result to a blank stare or silence.
c. Audience pays attention to oral delivery and movements rather that the content.

3. Impromptu Speaking
Impromptu speaking is delivering the speech without any preparation at all.
Usually this happens when a person is called at random to speak before an audience. For
instance, the original speaker happens to be indisposed or late, then another person called
upon to take over and deliver a speech on behalf of the original speaker. Another instance is
when somebody is asked to deliver a eulogy or something about a colleague who is celebrating
a birthday, or retiring from a company. In school, impromptu speaking contests are usually
conducted to train students develop ideas spontaneously and candidly. This will also allow
students to gain confidence and knowledge regarding issues around them.
The disadvantage of impromptu speaking is the inability of the speaker to come
up with a well-thought of speech, unless the speaker is a seasoned one. This could lead to
embarrassment and loss of credibility.

Here are suggestions for impromptu speaking:

a. Focus on the topic
b. Keep it simple and brief.
c. Keep your composure.

4. Extemporaneous Speaking
Extemporaneous speaking is a speech that is either persuasive or informative in
nature. The speaker is given a short period of preparation for about three to five minutes to
organize his/her thoughts before delivering the speech to the audience.
A good extemporaneous speech has a catchy introduction to hold the listeners’
attention, introduces the theme of the speech, develop the content in short but clear
paragraphs, before summing it up to a memorable closing.
But like other forms of speech delivery, extemporaneous speaking has its pitfalls:
 a. With limited time, the speaker may not be able to focus much on the topic.
b. The arrangement of details may not be systematic.
c. There is a tendency to commit grammatical errors during the delivery.

Assignment :

Prepare an original manuscript reading speech of your chosen topic and read it to the class.

2.Brief Background on the development of the Theater.

Not too many schools and communities have auditoriums with elaborate stages and
sophisticated equipment. But this should not discourage any group that is interested in a
dramatic presentation. The only requirement of a playhouse (also called as theatre) is a place
for actors to perform and for the audience to see and hear play.1. a place for actors to enact
their story, which we call stage. 2. A place for the spectators to stand or sit while watching, now
called auditorium. 3. The mechanism- some kind of device to make the actors more visible like
props.

But above all play could happen anywhere.

Kinds of Theater:

* Athenian Theater-

* Medieval Theater

* Elizabethan Theater

* The theatre of modern Realism

* Panoramic Playhouse

3. types of drama:

1. Allegory—a work which abstract qualities and values are presented as characters and
definite item of thought is dramatized.
 2. Burlesque—a satiric treatment of some well-known play or style of play, in which themes
and conventions are ridiculed.

3. comedy—a light-hearted play that ends happily. It depicts mainly the brighter side of life.

4. Fantasy—treats the unreal, fantastic or the supernatural.

5. Farce—a ludicrous exaggeration of comic actions and highly improbable situations. It is

closely related to the parody.

6. melodrama—a play characterized by an excess of pathetic situation and thinness of

characterization.

7. Mime—a “dumb show” the story is acted out without words.

8. naturalistic play—presents the dark side of life

9. problem play—a thesis play, a propaganda play, a social drama

10. realistic play—presents an image of what we ordinarily see and hear.

11. tragedy—a serious play about a great individual who is at war with himself, with his
society or with the world around him. He dies at the end of the story

4. Definition of terms related to the Theater

5. Producing the Play

6. For the Class production:

7. Suggestion for effective organization

8. Understanding the Character

* the actor

* the actor’s voice

* Voice Variety

* Utterance

* Projection

9. The stage and its equipment

 * The stage: is an area in which the play’s action occurs. It is constructed and placed so as to
be visible to the audience.

10. Types of stage according to its structure:

1. The proscenium stage. This the most familiar type: it is a raised platform at one end of the
building called auditorium, which is longer than its wide. The audience sits in rows facing stage,
which can be concealed by a curtain. The opening or arch across which the curtain may be
raised or lowered is called proscenium.

2. The platform stage. It is also a raised platform, but without a proscenium arch or a
curtain.

3. The theatre in the round. This type has the audience seated all around the stage, which is
not very high. It may also be flat floor with the spectators’ seats raised in tiers. The arena is
variation of this type.

Parts of a stage

Proscenium- An arch or opening in which the curtain may be raised

Forestage- the footlights are found in this area

( stage used to be raked or slanting upwards from the audience , today stage is flat)

The wings- are the sides of the stage. Covered by a curtain to keep them out of view. The actors
stay in the wings.

Provisions for lighting and sound are standard equipment for a stage. In addition, some
stages have these equipment:

1. Hydraulic lifts to raised heavy scenery or even group of actors.

2. Fly lofts built above the stage with pulleys
3. Full box set with 5 doors and 2 large closets. This may be used only on a proscenium stage.

Stage Geography

Stage directions for left and right are given from the actor’s point of view as he faces the
front of the stage. Up means towards the back of the stage and Down towards the audience.
Theatre stages used to be sloped upwards