TYPES OF SPEECH CONTEXT
LESSON OBJECTIVE
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify the
various types of speech context and distinguish them from
one another.
MOTIVE QUESTIONS
• What do you think about or reflect on when you are
alone?
• How is “communicating” with yourself different from
communicating with your friend or peers or an audience?
INTRODUCTION OF THE LESSON
• You, as a social being, will engage in various speaking
activities throughout your life. You will have classes or
meetings to attend, presentations to make, discussions
and arguments to participate in, and groups to work with.
In each of these activities, you will need to equip yourself
with a set of skills that will help you communicate with
others in different contexts. Speech context refers to the
situation or environment and the circumstances in which
communication occurs.
Types of Speech Context
Situation:
St. John High School will be hosting a youth conference.
They invited Ms. Mae Reyes, the president of Youth West
Organization, to give a brief talk about their organization
and her meaningful experiences in her involvement in the
organization. What should Mae do to deliver an excellent
talk?
Intrapersonal Speech Context
• This type of speech context involves one participant only;
that is, the individual is both the sender and the receiver
of the message in the communication process.
Intrapersonal communication is simply communicating
within oneself. It takes place when the “self” is engaging
in inner talk or internal discourse such as mumbling,
thinking aloud, reflecting, remembering, analyzing, and
evaluating. Doodling, reading aloud, brainstorming, and
daydreaming also indicate intrapersonal communication
• Intrapersonal communication is essential to understanding
yourself and others. You need to keep in touch with yourself to
be able to make appropriate responses and sound decisions.
Moreover, how you see yourself affects how you communicate
with others. For example, if you have low self-esteem, you may
stutter or find it difficult to express yourself when speaking to
other people.
• The situation requires Mae to engage in intrapersonal
communication. She has to think about what to include in her
talk and reflect on her experiences as the president of the
organization. Without self-dialogue, she cannot deliver an
excellent talk.
Interpersonal Speech Context
• Unlike in an intrapersonal communication that involves one
participant only, an interpersonal communication is an interaction
between two or more participants. In this type of speech context,
there is an interdependent relationship between or among the
participants, meaning the action of one participant more often
than not directly affects the response or reaction of the other
participant(s). Interpersonal communication can be direct (face-toface encounter) or indirect (done through the use of a tool or
technology like talking to someone over the telephone or Internet,
communicating by e-mail, and teleconferencing in distancelearning class)
• There are two kinds of interpersonal communication: dyadic
and small group. A dyad is composed of two participants who
take turns as the sender (or speaker) and the receiver (or
listener) in the interaction. A dyadic communication, also
referred to as “one-to-one communication,” varies from formal
situations (purposive interviews) to informal situations
(dialogues or casual conversations). Examples of one-to-one
encounters are discussing a project with a partner, interviewing
an applicant, and talking about your day with your mom or dad.
• On the other hand, small group communication is composed of
three or more participants, or a group of participants, who
engage in a discussion to achieve a common goal (e.g., solve
a problem, perform an action or task, decide on something).
The participants in the group contribute information and
opinion, or exchange thoughts about a topic. Examples of
small group interactions are roundtable discussions, panel
discussions, group brainstorming sessions, and study groups.
• In the given situation, Mae can discuss her speech with a
comember. She can also call a meeting with the members of
the Youth West Organization for input or feedback about her
speech. Both options involve interpersonal communication.
Public Speech Context
• This type of speech context involves a single speaker and a sizable
number of persons or an audience. The speaker is tasked to deliver
a message or a speech of general interest to the audience.
• Public communication requires more planning and preparation on
the part of the speaker since it lacks the intimacy that are typical of
one-to-one and small group interactions. There are limited or no
opportunities for feedback because the speaker has a definite or
prescribed time limit, and both the speaker and the audience
maintain their roles throughout the speech event (the audience may,
however, convey nonverbal messages). Thus, the speaker needs to
use and sustain appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues to convey his
or her message to the audience
• Some examples of situations that involve public communication
are a professor giving a lecture at a conference, a president
delivering an inaugural address, a candidate delivering a
campaign speech, and a student delivering a valedictory
speech.
• Going back to the given situation, Mae will engage in public
communication as she delivers her speech during the youth
conference. As the speaker, she needs to have a clear purpose
of her speech, speak in a way that is both confident and
natural, and use appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues.
MASS COMMUNICATION
• is any .of the human verbal interactions carried out with the aid of
mass media technology. Mass media used to mean only radio and
television, which reached more people with the use of their
techincal systems. With the advent of the Internet and the
worldwide web, Mass Communication now inlcudes social media,
which allow for the use of technology by everyone, not just
journalists, broadcasters and technical crew. Social media cover
videos that go viral on the internet as well as webcasts/podcasts
which reach millions, more than radio and TV ever could. In fact,
radio and TV have joined Social media by putting up their own
websites to communicate to a larger audience.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
• refers to the interaction of members along the links
in an organizational structure. There are two
variations of Organizational Communication.
Formal Organizational Communication uses proper
channels graphically illustrated by an organizational
chart. Informal Organizational bypasses the links,
skips forward or even goes sideways just to
achieve the same goal.