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