This page is about the lingual speech; for the rapper see Speech (rapper).

Speech can be described as an act of producing voice through the use of the vocal cords and vocal apparatus or other means, such as sign language, to create linguistic acts in the form of language that communicate information from an initiator to a recipient.

In more colloquial terms, speech can be described in several different ways:

1. A linguistic act designed to convey information.
2. Various types of linguistic acts where the audience consists of more than one individual, including public speaking, oration, and quotation.
3. The physical act of speaking, primarily through the use of vocal cords to produce voice. See phonology and linguistics for more detailed information on the physical act of speaking.

However, speech can also take place inside one's head, known as intrapersonal communication, for example, when one thinks or utters sounds of approval or disapproval. At a deeper level, one could even consider subconscious processes, including dreams where aspects of oneself communicate with each other (see Sigmund Freud), as part of intrapersonal communication, even though most human beings do not seem to have direct access to such communication.

Problems

---

There are several factors that can affect the quality of speech as such. Among these are:

1. Diseases and disorders of the lungs or the vocal cords, including paralysis, respiratory infections, and cancers of the lungs and throat.
   
2. Diseases and disorders of the brain, including alogia, aphasias and speech processing disorders, where impaired perception of the message (as opposed to the actual sound) leads to poor speech production.
   
3. Articulatory problems, such as stuttering, lisping, cleft palate, ataxia, or nerve damage leading to problems in articulation. Tourette syndrome and tics can also affect speech.
   
4. Problems in the perception of sound and auditory information can affect speech. In addition to aphasias, anomia and certain types of dyslexia can impede the quality of auditory perception, and therefore, expression. Hearing impairments and deafness can be considered to fall into this category.

Thus, it is clear that speech has both expressive and receptive elements. The purpose of speech can be to convey meaning or to increase social bonds between individuals and/or groups (it is often both). For the latter, shallowness is not a problem. The success of a speech act depends on numerous factors, including the presence or absence of a variety of speech disorders, the ability of the speaker to express the intended message, and the ability and willingness of the audience to play the role of recipient.

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking.

Speech as a Form of Expression

---

There is a number of definitions of a speech as a form of expression. Take a closer look at the following variations in meaning:

• The faculty or act of speaking (The faculty or act of expressing or describing thoughts, feelings, or perceptions by articulation of words)
• A talk or public address: “The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance” (Ruth Gordon). (A printed copy of such an address).
• One's habitual manner or style of speaking.
• The language or dialect of a nation or region: American speech.
• The study of oral communication, speech sounds, and vocal physiology.
• Archaic. Rumor.

A speech is a tool to convert thoughts into utterances carrying out specific meaning that when combined influences the general overview of the problem discussed. First masters of speech were born in first democratic states like Ancient Greece and Rome. The word “forum” we see online dozens of times a day originates from Greek “forum” (a place for public meetings and discussions). This is the place where ancient Greeks used to express their attitudes and opinions in the public. Free speech as we know is the first characteristic feature of democracy.

Speech is a form of art and the last has a history of over a thousand years. The first world known speaker that actually defined the genre was Socrates, an Athenian citizen managing a school of philosophers called sophists. Being a man of extreme wisdom he influenced the minds of Greeks for a decade until was executed for "corrupting the youth of Athens". His famous follower Plato took up the works and developed it into a literature genre with major peculiarities known to us.

Speech is a composite of sciences (phonetics, anatomy, philosophy, psychology etc.) and therefore it is extremely hard to master the skill. Professional speakers undergo continuous training until they become skilled leaders in the society. But returning to the quote of Ruth Gordon “The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance” one has to admit the importance of writing skills. Nowadays it is easy to create and perform a speech; a lot of assistance is offered. Famous politicians, speakers, and other public mind revealers use a team of assistants to work on a single solid piece of text. Editors and writers are professionally maintaining the process of speech writing and only after the speech is fully tailored to the aim and the style of the speaker, it is presented in public.

Animal Speech

---

A few animals are capable of imitating human speech. The most notable and obvious of these are parrots, although apparently there are some dogs and cats who are able to as well, albeit indistinctly. [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/77460/talking_cats/

See also

---

• Debate
• Eloquence
• Esophageal speech
• Individual events (Speech competition)
• List of speeches
• Speech synthesizer
• Speech delay
• Spoken language
• Vocalization

External links

---

• Speech compression resources

Pragmatics | Oral communication

Реч | Sprechen | Discurso | Parolado | דיבור | Spraak | Tale | Mowa | Fala | Речь | Puhe | Tal (språk) | พูด | 話