Speech

The Fallacy Detective

Francis Bacon recommended practice in acting (public recitation or oral interpretation) because it "strengthens the memory, regulates the tone of the voice and the efficacy of pronunciation; gracefully composes the countenance and the gesture; procures a becoming degree of assurance; and lastly, accustoms youth to the eye of men." (Advancement of Learning, VI, iv)

Speech is an activity emphasizing the development of communication skills. Students in speech compete in a variety of speaking events. These speaking events are generally divided into two main categories with several types under each category:

1. I. Oral Interpretation (interpretive reading) is the reading aloud of something someone else wrote, paying special attention to quality of voice, articulation, volume, and inflection.
   1. Prose (stories, essays, narratives, etc.)
   2. Poetry
   3. Drama (excerpts from plays)
   4. Duo (two person dialogs or excerpts from plays)
   5. Non-original oratory is a speech written by someone else.
   6. Storytelling
2. II. Original Speech is one written by the speaker. Each type of speech has a time limit.
   1. Extemporaneous speaking is when the contestant is given a speech topic during the competition and has only about an hour to prepare the speech.
   2. Impromptu speaking allows the speech contestant only a few minutes to prepare the speech.
   3. Oration is a fully prepared and memorized speech. There are 5 types of oration.
      1. Persuasive -- You want to convince your listeners to believe as you wish.
      2. Informative
      3. Humorous/Entertaining
      4. The speech to actuate will elicit from the audience some specific behavior.
      5. The speech to stimulate or inspire -- You want to arouse enthusiasm or to deepen respect or feeling.