What is Speech Communication? Characteristics of a Good Speech

What is Speech Communication? Characteristics of a Good Speech, Speech communication definition, Meaning of Speech, Business Speech. Speech is an important medium of oral communication by which message is sent to the audience orally from the speaker. A speech is a public speaking delivered by a speaker on some occasions. It is a formal talking before a large number of people but is can be informal also.

Industrialists and businessmen are to speak in different conference or seminars or in some public gatherings. With the increasing awareness of the value of public relation in business, most of the companies encourage their executives to attend public functions and to appear before the public and to accept invitations to be the chief guest or speaker at meetings. A salesman also has to make hundreds of mini speech is inevitable in business.

What is Speech Communication

According to Oxford Dictionary, “A speech is a formal talk that a person gives to an audience.”

So, we can define speech as a formal or informal talking or speaking delivered by a person in front of a gathering. Some speech is unstructured and flexible and some are highly structured and strict or rigid. It is a public speaking. Business Communication

Characteristics or Qualities of a Good Speech

Speech is one of the major medium of oral communication. We find different speeches in different situations but good speeches are not always found. A good speech is really enjoyable and informative. But it is very tough to deliver a speech that can enthrall the audience. A good speech has following characteristics or qualities-

• Dynamic: Dynamism is an important quality of a good speech. There must e variation in style, tone, voice, approach depending on the situation and timing otherwise audience will lose their attention and will suffer form monotonous presentation.
• Informal Talk: Speech should be like an informal talk. A good speech is closer to a personal and informal chat between two intimate friends. When you speak there should be a perfect rapport between you and your audience.
• Clear: Clarity is the first major characteristic of a good speech. A speech must be successful in conveying the (message) ideas or emotions, facts or arguments to the audience that the speaker wants to express. If the audience does not instantly grasp your point, you have failed as a speaker.
• Vivid and Concrete: A good speech is vivid and concrete in nature. Include facts in a concrete and comprehensive way. No irrelevant or in comprehensive mater should be included in a speech. For example, the population of India is growing at an accelerating rate of 2.3% is a vivid statement.
• Brevity: Brevity is an important characteristic of a god speech. Speech should be shorter and concrete but comprehensive. The concentration of average audience does not last more than fifteen to twenty minutes. So, it is better to wrap up your speech within five to twenty minutes.
• Interesting: A good speech is always interesting. Quotations, anecdotes and humors make a speech vivid and interesting. An interesting speech always wins the attention of the audience.
• Audience Oriented: A good speech is always audience oriented. The speaker must deliver the speech in such a way as desired by the audience. The speaker should consider the age, education, social and economic condition, number etc. of audience to prepare his speech accordingly.
• Free From Error: A good speech is always free from error. Error in speech can make the audience confused and loose the personality of the speaker.
• Authentic: The facts and figure presented in a speech must be authentic and true. False statement or information misleads the audience and hamper the acceptability of speech.
• Well Organized: A good speech is always well organized and well arranged. The pats or points of a speech should be organized in logical sequence to attract and retain h attention of the audience.

Beside the above-mentioned criteria, a good speech also has some other criteria like visual presentation, timely presentation and result oriented and so on. A speaker should consider these qualities of a speech before presenting something on the dais. There are more information about What is Business Memo in Communication? Functions of Memorandum.