ENGLISH: FORM FIVE - SPEAKING SKILLS

SPEAKING SKILLS

Speaking

Speaking is an art of making vocal sounds. We can say that speaking means to converse, or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in a spoken language. To speak often implies conveying information. It may be from an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address.

Speaking is the reproductive skill in the oral mode. It is like other skills, is more complicated that it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.

Is simply the act of talking which maybe in either a formal or informal situation.

This kind of speech one would decide to undertake would depend on the relationship one has with audience, also the way you speak tells people more about you. Whenever one initiate communication its because he/she want to deliver something that means there must be intention of that communication, to wake your speaking more effectively and successful there many factor to be observe but the most important things will be determined by how you pronounce words, stressing them and the appropriate intonation.

Speaking Skills

- Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate effectively.

- These skills allow the speaker to convey his message in a passionate, thoughtful and convincing manner.

- Speaking skills also help to assure that one won’t be misunderstood by those who are listening.

PRONUNCIATION

Every language in this would has its sound system hence has it’s the way of pronouncing them. Linguists use special alphabet called phonetic symbols to represent sound or phonemes. This symbol are enclosed in slanted lines [//]. Some of this symbol are normal alphabet letters like /S/,/Z/,/t/,/d/,/k/,/g/,/f/,/v/ etc but others are different from normal alphabet letters we know

e.g. -/^/,/æ/,/ÊŠ/,/dÊ’/,/3:/,/Êƒ/,/ð/,/Å‹/,/tÊƒ/,/Ê’/,/θ/

It is in this point then we are going to learn how to pronounce words correct.

See how we can pronounce the following words

-cat /cut

/kæt/ k^t/

-shoot/shut

/∫ut/∫^t/

-See/sea

/si//si/

-heart/ hurt

/cha:t//h3:t/

As you have observed the example given, there are some word who have different spelling but pronounced the same and those which have slightly different in spelling as well as in pronunciation

Sounds are shown by using phonetic symbols that are enclosed between two slanted lines // e.g. caught /kÉ”:t/

There are two main types of British standard English phomes namely, vowel and consonants

I. VOWELS

There are three kinds of monophthong diphthongs and triphthongs

i. Monophthongs (pure vowels) there can be long or short

TASK

Transcribe the following words;

doctor
work
hurt
money
room
just
small
pull
put
read
chest
kill
feet
market

ii. Diphthongs

Two short vowel sounds that are combined and pronounced as one

TASK

Read the following pronunciations then write them in normal letters:-

/meIn/laIt/,/heIt/,leIt/,/streIt ;

/naâ„§n/tâ„§∂/we∂/meI,/eIbl/,/eIt/

Sometimes we combine three sounds which are then pronounced as one .These are diphthong plus schwa sound /∂/ for example:-

/eI∂/ in words like player /pleI∂/, layer/ leI∂/

/∂I2/ in the words like higher /haI∂/, tire/taI∂/

/∂I∂/ in the words like soya /s∂I∂/

/aâ„§∂/ in the words like hour/aâ„§∂/,flower/flaâ„§∂/

/∂â„§∂/ in the words like lower/l∂â„§∂/,

II. CONSONANTS

There are twenty four consonants sounds in British standard English . The following are the examples and sounds.

Test yourself.

Show phonetic transcription of the following sentences.

1. They are going to see them today.

2. She will help you.

3. That man is very clever.

4. We are going to meet her again.

5. The management will take it.

Presentation

STRESS AND INTONATION

Are all concerned with perception or relative prominence.

STRESS

A word is made up of individual sound, within those sounds are combined, they form a syllable e.g /d/ /e×–/ /t/= date/ deIt/ i.e a one syllable word.

So a word can be of one syllable or more than one syllable e.g.- “selection” /s×–lek∫n/ has three syllabi. In pronouncing a word which has more than one syllable you will find that one syllable receive more energy and it is heard than others.

Now the one which receive prominence than the other is what we call a stressed syllable and it is shown by the mark (')behind the stressed syllable.

Observe the following words, the capitalized syllable is the one which receive more effort in pronunciation.

Phonemic - Pho.NE.mic

Movement - MOVE.ment

Moment - MO.ment.

Supplementary- Suple.MEN.tary.

Tremendous - tre.MEN.dous

Examination - examination.

Meeting - ME.E.ting

Thus,

Stress: Is the degree of emphasis given to a sound or syllable in speech.

- Is the prominence with which one part of a words or of a longer utterance is distinguished from other parts.

NB
Every word has primary stress [']some longer words have another stress which is not strong as the primary one, this stress is called Secondary stress. It is marked by [Ù«]. Study the following words.

Understand /,Ù¨nd∂×™stænd/

Contribution /,kontriÙ¡bju∫n/

Controlled /,k∂nÙ¡tr∂â„§ld/

Graphology /,græÙ¡∫ol∂d3×–/

Machinery /,m∂Ù¡∫inkt/

Disconnect /,d×–sk∂Ù¡nekt/

In the examples given above the high vertical stroke['] before the syllable is for primary stress and the low vertical stress (,)before the syllable is for secondary stress [,].

Stress within a word

Native words and early French adoptions tend to have the main stress on the root syllable and to keep it there, regardless of the affixes that word formation may add.

E.g.:- 'Kingly, 'Kingliness, Un'kingliness

'Stand- 'Standing

Under'standing

'Passion-'Passionately
dis'passionate

With more recently adaptations and coinages especially those based on words from the classical languages, the place of the stress varies according to the affixation.

For example:

Word	Antepenultimate	Penultment
×™telegraph ×™photo ×™transport ×™argument	te×™legraphy ph×™otography trans×™portable argu×™mentative	tele×™ graphic photo×™ graphic transpor’tation argumen’tation

Similar penultimate with adjectival –ic

'Phoneme pho'nemic

E'conomy eco'nomic

E'mblem emble'matic

S'ympathy sympa'thetic

Antepenultimate with-ity (noun) or adjectivival-ian

E.g.: U'nanimous Una'nimity

'library lib'rarian

'grammar gram'marian

'curious curi'osity

U'tility utili'tarian

'Cromwell crom'welian

Stress and Meaning of words.

A fairly numerous set of words that can oparate without affixial change as a noun or adjective on the other hand and as a verb on the other have an accentual difference in the two function.

For example.

'conduct /kondÙ¨kt/ (n)

'contact / ×™kontrækt/ (n)
'attribute/×™ætribjut/ (n)

'present /×™preznt/ (adj)

'impact /×™×–mpækt/ (n)

'insert /×–ns3:t/ (n)

'absent /×™æbsent (adj)

'record /×™rekod/ (n)

Stress and Compound words.

Corresponding compound nouns are generally stressed on the first element but with a strong secondary stress on the second element.

When such compound, the primary and secondary stress is redistributed to give the same rhythm.

E.g.:'Light,house –'lighthouse,keeper.

'Bed,room -×™bedroom ,chamber

Compounds words which are not nouns are stressed on the second element.

E.g: ,Back 'fire (V)

,Hence 'forth (Adj)

,Knee 'deep (Adj)

,Flat 'footed (Adj)

NB: Some examples are variable

,field'Marshal Or

'Field ,Marshal

,Over 'seas Or

'Over ,seas

In any case, the stress often shifts from second component to first component when the compound is being used attributive in a noun phrase.

E.g.: The room is ,down 'stair.

A'down ,stairs 'room

His work is ,first 'class
His 'firstclass ,work

Function of stress

1. To provide a way of distinguish degree of emphasis or contrast in sentence or line.

2. To make word understandable.

3. It also serves to differentiate words that are similar e.g.: REcord (N) and reCOrd (V)

4. Helps us focus our listener’s attention on what is most important in our message.

Grammatically or communicative function i.e. distinguish between statement and question.

E.g. your name is Asha (statement)

Your name is Asha? (Question)

It’s raining (statement)

It’s raining? (Question)

Generally, pronunciation, Stress and intonation are very important component in communication.

As we have seen that, stress makes the word understandable, point of emphasis but also it differentiates words which are similar. Likewise intonation as it tells us how to say things (message) rather than what we say.

Pronunciation also play a very great role in communication as poor pronunciation of words may mislead the listeners, take an example of the following words.

Laugh /rÙ¨f/ instead of /lÙ¨f/

Read /lid/ instead of/rid/

Lead /rid/ instead of /lid/

TONE

Refer to the distinctive pitch of voice (high or low) during utterance.

It is a feature of intonation which affects the system meaning as well as grammatical categories of sentences or calves (utterances) in spoken language.

Types of tone

In spoken language, there are four major types of tone

1. Fall/ falling tone (\)

This occurs in intonation of a syllable or longer utterance in which the pitch changes from relatively high to relatively low.

This tone has the following uses

It is used to make statements that are complete and definite

E.g.:- they arrived today.

This boy is our neighbor.

It was done accidentally.

He came and left.

It is used in making the commands

E.g.: - take the chair

Leave me alone

Eat that food

Go out

It is used in making the question that are neither polite nor impolite

E.g.:- what are you doing?

Where do you live?

How did you do it?

It is used in making exclamations or exclamatory sentences.

E.g.: - wonderful

What a beautiful lady

Oh my god

It is used in tag question meant to force the listener agree with the speaker

E.g.:- we are tired, aren’t we?

She didn’t come here yesterday, did she?

2. Rise/ Rising tone (/)

This occurs when the pitch change from relatively low to relatively high (the pitch arises at the end of the Utterance)

This tone has the following uses

It is used for yes/ no question

E.g.:-Do you know what happened in South Africa recently?

Oh no, can you kindly tell me about that

Have you seen my father over there?

Yes, I have

It used for statements intending to be questions

E.g.: - your brother came yesterday

We were supposed to do the test yesterday

You did it

It is used when giving request

E.g.:- Given me a glass of water please

Wait for me for a minute

May you please lend me your pen

It is used for commands intending to be requests

E.g.:- open the door

Don’t disturb me

Go to the market and don’t be late

It is used in incomplete statements

E.g.:- If James comes here ……………………….. (Tell him I’ll solve the problem)

Unless he arrives earlier ………………….. (I will call him)

When he came here yesterday ………… (I was out)

3. Fall – rise tone
This tone occurs when the pitch fall and then rises again.This tone has the following uses

It is used for statements which show reservation or only particular agreement.

E.g.:- A – will you lend me your book

B – Yes, but

X – Was the film enjoyable?

Y – Yes, but

It is used in incomplete statement leading to another tone group.

Tone group – group of words that are pronounced with one tone

E.g.:- if Mwita leaves tomorrow, he will get to Kampala in time

Unless he leaves now he will be late.

When I entered the class, I found them making noise.

It is used for statement that show warning, disapproval or concern

Oh! Don’t behave like that

Be careful

You say you want many you might to it next

It is used for imperatives meant to be pleating requests (imperatives – sentence which is introduced with a verb)

E.g.:- Don’t disturb me

Come and see the children

Go there immediately

Is used for statement that show a kind of reservation

E.g.:- He won (but he didn’t preserve)

I can come tomorrow (but not today)

She is beautiful (but I don’t love her)

4. Rise / Rising – fall tone

This tone occurs when the pitch rises and then falls again.This tone has the following uses

For statements showing enthusiastic agreement, when you agree on something with excitement

E.g.: - Of course, that’s what I wanted

Yes, that u right

For exclamation showing sarcasm

E.g.:- How beautiful you are

Good afternoon

Intonation

Refer to the relative rising and falling of the pitch of voice in speech or utterance

I.e. it is the pitch variation

Intonation may affect:

The meaning of spoken utterance
The grammatical category of the sentence of clause
Stress of the syllable and speech rhythm
It also conveys the attitude of the speakers

NB: Intonation is the feature of spoken language which marks the Boundary and the mood in the same way punctuation does in the written language.

Functions of Intonation

Introduction as the feature of spoken language has several conversational or grammatical functions, there are four major functions conserved by intonation

1. Grammatical function

It is used to mark the boundaries between grammatical units or structures such as phrases, clauses and sentences

E.g. that book on the table has been there for a day

It is used to determine or identify the type of sentence in language such as whether the sentence is a statement question, command or request.

2. Accentual function

It is used to determine the category to which the word belongs such as whether the word is a noun, verb or adjective

E.g. Present – v
Present – N

Indicates emphasis on certain words in the utterance by so doing it affects the meaning of the utterance

E.g. those who sold quickly made profit

Those who sold quickly made profit

3. Attitudinal function

Intonation conveys the attitude of the speaker as it can be noted by the listener such as anger, happiness, surprise, approval or shock.

Usually this may be marked by the fall-rise or rise-fall tone

4. Discourse function

Intonation helps to indicate a connection and chances of participants in the discourse {spoken conversation i.e. Its helps the participants in the conversation to take turns in a regular order, hence helping them to speak in order.

Usually each participant in speech begins the conversation with high path or rise tone and ends with lower pitch or fall tone. That will alert the second participant to take the turn the conversation.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL LANGUAGE

In communication we use both informal and formal language at different times. In this point we need to learn when informal language is appropriate or inappropriate and where formal language is used.

Informal language
Is the language of everyday communication where we use it in casual social setting (e.g talking to close a friends, member of a family, or to other people who we are familiar with)

Study the utterance below,

1. What’s up my people

2. Hi guys

3. How are you John

The three utterances are Informal language and are appropriate or inappropriate depending on the relationship between the participants.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL LANGUAGE

I. Use of contractions E.g we’ve, I’ll, I’m.

II. Elipsis E.g- Cant go “I cannot go”

-Want leave “I want to leave”

-It be fine “It will be fine”

III. Short sentences. E.g -They danced well

-She plays well

-We ate all the bites.

IV. Use of simple words E.g - ‘starts’, instead of commence

- ‘Close’, instead of adjourn

- ‘Home’, instead of domicile.

V. Use of incomplete sentences E.g -She said…….Yes

- It is…………… No I don’t think so.

- I mean……….Well…

VI. Use of slangs or Colloquial words E.g –Take the kid to school.

- Hey guys hurry up.

- Lets story dude.

- Pal its fantastic.

Formal language
In other hand, is a language that is suitable for formal setting, serious discussion, writing or official context.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL LANGUAGE

- It observe the grammar of the language i.e word order, tenses, etc.

- It uses long sentences for clarity.

- Use more complex words depending on the province e.g ‘domicile’ instead of home.

‘commece’ instead of start

‘adjourn’ instead of close

‘adhere’ instead of follow.

- It doesn’t allow the use of slangs/colloquial.

- No incomplete sentences.

- Contractions are not allowed.

President John Magufuli addressing the people

PARTICIPATING IN SOCIAL INTERACTION

There are many different types of verbal communication that we make in our daily life. These include normal conversation, debate, telephone exchange discussion and so on. All these need appropriate approach/style so as to have the so called Effective communication.

In order to become a successful communicator one to have skills such as skills for initiating conversation, presenting ideas as well as concluding conversation.

a) Initiating conversation

There are different styles one can use to initiate conversation

One can initiate conversation by presenting an opinion

E.g – I think town life is more enjoyable than village life

- This time English terminal exam was simple

One can initiate conversation by giving a statement of fact.

E.g – In 2012 the form four National Examination was not encouraging

- 2000 citizens died in Egypt due to political unrest

Another style of initiating conversation is by asking questions

E.g- Is it possible to combat corruption?

- Do you think most students speak English?

b) Presenting ideas

Oral communication is a two way process, to make it successively one need to observe the following points.

- Use clear and lively tone. Do not speak too loud or too soft.

- Do not dominate the talk i.e leave a chance for others to speak.

- Use polite language, especially when speaking against other peoples view that you do not agree with.

- Listen carefully and attentively to what others have to say.

- Involve your listeners e.g by asking Questions, seeking their views or by using controversy statements.

- Respond to questions and comments from your listeners.

c) Concluding a conversation

Concluding a conversation suppose to be friendly and positively as failure to do so will lead to outbreak of new conversation or find it difficult to strike a future conversation.

The following statements may be used to conclude a conversation.

-Thank you everybody, I’ll see you next time.

-Thanks, have a nice day.

-I’ll see you again next time.

-Have a nice day. Thanks.

Participating in Debate

Debate is a one of the aspects of public speaking. Debate can be defined to as a formal discussion about a contraversal topic normally known as motion. Debate is a common discussion in scholar, colleges and other higher learning institution. A debate develops student’s public speaking persuasive and arguments power.

The escene of debate is to persuade listeners to change altitude or understanding through argumentation. Debate also intends prepare learners to become public speaker. A debate develops confidence, critical thinking and analytical skills.

DEBATE ORGANISATION

A debate is formed by a group of people who groups themselves into two major conflicting parts – proposers and opposes and the leadership

Debate leadership

Debate leadership is usually of the following;

i) Chair person

ii) Secretary

iii) Time keeper

iv) Judge

v) Patron/matron

PROPOSERS

These support or argue for the given motion, there duty i.e. persuade the opposes so that they agree with the proper’s or the motion through argumentation and multiple persuasive techniques.

Note
For easier administration of a debate of each of the groups is usually represented by few (about six)

Main/ key speakers

Common important phrases and expressions in a debate.
1. Greetings
2. Self introduction
E.g. my name is Consolata Mikui…..Im here to prepare (oppose) the motion which states that…..
E.g. good evening ladies and gentlemen
My name is…..and I stand before you to oppose
I propose the motion on the board
E.g.- chairperson, secretary and distinguished judges judge good evening, Im here to propose or oppose the motion for following reasons.

3. ladies and gentlemen/ oppose/ propose this motion on the following reason.
- Ladies and gentlemen, I strongly oppose/ propose this motion on the following grounds.
- Chairman/ chairperson/ would like to propose/ oppose this motion for the following points.

4. Chairman, I strongly disagree with the previous speaker as follows
- Ladies and gentlemen, I beg to differ with the former speaker on …….
- Chairperson as a point of interruption…..
- Chair I would like to ask the former speaker allow me to ask a former speaker a question.
- Another important point is that……..

5. To bring the point home, I would like to say / argue that
- In my final analysis, I would like to say / argue that
- To end up my arguments would like to say that I strongly agree/ disease

6. Thank you for listening
- Thank you for attention

Examples of debatable topic (motions)
1. Kiswahili should be used as a means of instruction at all levels of education in Tanzania.
2. The union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar should now break.
3. Tanzania is a democratic state/ country.
4. Tanzania should now form a coalition government.
5. Death sentence/ penalty should be abolished in Tanzania.
6.   Special seats in Tanzania parliament should abolish.
7.   Sex education should be introduced in primary (schools)
8.   Home sexuality should be legalized in Tanzania.

PREPARATORY SPEECH MAKING STRATEGIES

In the course of preparing for a speech, there are several strategies that deserve attention as follows:

1. Prepare your speech some time before you present it

I.e. think about the audience before which you are going make to your speech, consider the audience interests. This will help you to choose what to say and what not.

2. Think about the audience knowledge about the subject matter.

I.e. your suppose to know how much knowledge your audience has on the topic you want to talk about thus choose the manner of speaking and the language that suits the knowledge of your audience.

3. Consider the size of your audience

I.e. Consider the number of the people to whom your speech is presented, this will help you to decide whether you need some tools such as microphones or you just need to speak loudly e.g. if your speaking to a small number of people, there is no need of having microphones but if bigger.

4. Consider what your audience wants to know.

I.e. people are normally ready to listen to you if you address things of their interest that means talk about what they like or use the language style that they like.

5. Consider personal interest of the audience
I.e. when making the speech you should vary according to the interest of the audience as there are people who like human and those who do not so make those who like human laugh and then vary not to bore other.

6. Determine the purpose of your presentation
I.e. set the motive behind your speech i.e. determines whether you want to convince or persuade, entertain, inform or instruct e.g. in the debate, the speech is made to convince but if you were the MC, you speak in order to entertain thus use the language style depending on the purpose you want to achieve

7. Examine your knowledge

I.e. you need to speak about the topic that you know very well, thus you are expected to do an informed the books, magazines and other sources useful for the topic you want to talk about. This will give you confidence out the topic you want to talk about.

8. Show your feelings about the topic

You should prepare yourself so well that your audience will see the topic your presenting is part of you so you need to speak in a manner that will show your audience your mastery of the subject you are talking about.

9. Analyses the occasion

You pay attention to all circumstances surrounding the presentation to be made i.e. things such as the event itself, facilities available the size of the room and the time allocated are the ones that you analyze. For example if you have ten minutes for a speech, you can’t the content so as to limit your time.

10. Analyses the situation

You should look at the social and physical context surrounding your presentation, for example you need to know that there are times when listeners are very active and when there are sleep, thus make your speech according to the situation of the audience for example when people are sleep you may involve them in a variety of activities such as asking them to stand up and stretch answering some questions. What matters generally is for you to make sure that the attention of your audience is always.

11. Maintain ethical standards

Every community has standard of conduct and morals accepted by the community thus as you present your speech be watchful so that you so do not sound unfair or deceitful or scornful. Speak as if you are a civilized member of the community such as being very careful about the choice of words, avoid abusive language.

12. Avoid stereo – types

This is a simplistic or exaggerated perception which people have in their minds about other people. To avoid that people should be judged in objective or unbiased way that means labelling people according to their ethnic community race should be avoid.

ACTUAL PRESENTATION PROCESS STRATEGIES

During the actual speech making of presentation, the following are the strategies to be considered.

1. Show your confidence

I.e. you should not show any sign of nervousness, this will make the audience trust you that means you tell yourself that you must win the audience. You need to give yourself few seconds of settle down mentally, this makes you gather energy before you speak.

2. Establish and maintain eye contact

Your advice to look at all parts of the audience as you speak or do not stare at the wall or one side of the audience.

3. Use gestures and movements

Good speakers use gestures to accompany their words i.e. Use gestures that match with what you say. For example figures can be used when speaking about numbers, movements are also allowed in speech presentation, this makes your speech likely, and the speaker needs to move purposefully and confidently.

4. Use your notes as a guide

I.e. you are advised to glance at your notes occasionally just to pick up the next point, you should not read or stare at them.

5. Use a clear and audible voice

You are advised to pronounce words clear and audibly so that your audience can hear. If the room is very big, use a mike or loud speaker.

6. Be enthusiastic

A good public speaker is advised to show his or her audience that he or she is interested in what is been presented. If you show interest, you may make your listeners to show interest also.

7. Use an effective poise and posture

Graceful ways of standing or moving i.e. you are advised to stand upright and avoid leaning on the table or lecterm. Standing upright makes you free to use your gestures that in turn make your speech to be likely.

Students in Debate

PARTS OF ORAL PRESENTATION

The oral presentation/speech should be divided into three parts, whereby each of the three parts needs its due attention, the following are the details above what you ought to include in each of the parts.

i) Introduction

This is the opening part of your speech that needs to be very attractive to capture the attention of the audience right from the beginning i.e. it needs to be appealing by the use of expressions that catch the attention of the audience.

In the introduction you need to tell your audience what you want to talk about i.e. brief introduction of what you are talking about. You are also expected to give the direction of your entire presentation.

ii) Main body

This is the part where you exhaustively discuss the topic of your presentation i.e. it is here where your knowledge about the subject matter becomes exposed thus because most your message is found in the main body, present it in a manner that will keep listeners listening.

The main body show the listener that they have researched and you know the subject very well so make sure that you win your audience trust. That may achieved by showing confidence as you speak likewise the main body is expected to provide evidence for various issues and it is usually made up of many points of which one point should be classified before you start another point.

iii) Conclusion

This is the closing part of the presentation or it is an exit of the presentation.

The conclusion gives brief drowned important points which the audience should remember i.e. it is a summary of important issues raised in the main body.

The following are some of the expressions are used in a conclusion.

In summary in short we can say that……………..

To sum up……………………

To conclude…………………….

By the way of summering……………….

All in all…………………….

In a nutshell…………….

VARIOUS TYPES OF SPEECH

We make speeches for various purposes mainly speeches are made for the aim of informing or persuade.

1. Speaking to inform (informative speech)
These speeches are meant to provide information; they are meant to make you know what they did not know. These include definitional speeches, Descriptive speeches and Expository speeches.

Study the following:

What is morphology?

The term morphology may not be new to most of you, but what does it mean? Well this is a sub discipline in linguistics, it deals with the following.

- Describe how words are structured.

- What components form the words?

- How significant these components are.

- Where the study of small components

In words can help to make it easy for language learners in learning foreign languages.

As you can see, this is somewhat an elaborate definition as it tells almost everything about what morphology is about. Since the definition goes beyond what goes beyond what a dictionary is capable of doing we call this an extended kind of definition. This is what a definition speech is all about. When you make this speech you use details which you think your partner will understand.

2. Descriptive speech

This is a speech which describes a person, thing or place. The speech talks how a person/thing or place, place looks like.

What actually do as you provide a descriptive speech is painting a vivid picture of a person, place, event or object.

Example if you are told to write a speech that you will deliver in the class about the beach you visited.

In your speech you may include

- When you visited the beach.

- How big it is.

- What colour is the water

- What feature surrounds the beach

- What makes the beach special.

3. Process speech

In this kind of speech you are expected to explain the stages passed through when certain activities are performed, Example you may be required to say something on how to make a chair.

Process speeches are of two types. One is meant to enable a person to carry on an activity. The other is meant to explain how something is done without necessity wishing to perform it.

The following are the guidelines about how a process speech should look like.

- All steps should be included.

It is important to include all the necessary steps involved in carrying out an activity.

Use visual aids when necessary

Use diagrams or charts so that your audience can see how, the procedure is carried out more vividly. If possible demonstrate.

- Involve the audience in physical activities.

Involving the audience makes them remember each stage of the process. If you happen to be in the audience side, do not do anything until you are instructed by the instructor.

- Use a manageable presentation speed.

Since most procedures are new to the audience explain each slowly so that your audience can understand. Remember that, what you perceive to be something difficult to a person who sees or hears for the first time so use speed that is manageable to your audience.

- Tell the audience about difficult parts of the procedures.

In so doing use expressions such as “The following step needs more of your attention”, “The next step is a bit tricky”, “Now we are approaching a more demanding stage”… such expressions are used to attract the attention of your listeners.

4. Expository speech

This is the speech that involves the provision of oral reports. Expository speeches are not a result of research. It is important to note that a well written expository speech is organized in topics. So organize your speech in that manner. Support your speech with evidence from your research

5. Persuasive speech

Here the speaker is expected to speak in order to move the audience by influencing their thinking and motivating them to carry out some kind of action.

How can you influence thinking?

To influence thinking is to speak in a manner that will make your audience convinced by accepting your points or ideas. As a part of persuasive speech is meant to influence you will be require to argue in order to respond to other people’s points. You should also be a very good listener so that you hear what others say in order to respond to other people’s points. You should also be very good listeners so that you hear what others say in order to be able to give counter argument.

How can you influence action?

The following can be used as a guide for persuading people.

- Tell them why it is important to take action.

- Give evidence of cases which show that people elsewhere succeeded by doing as same as what you want them to do. Show how the people will benefit from the under taking.

- Show how urgent the issue is.

- Be straight about the action, you want your audience the audience to take, you will tell your audience whether they have to demonstrate, contribute money clean the
compound, vote for someone.

- Make your listeners give their responses before they leave the room/place. This can be done by writing names, raising hands, pledging.etc.

We encourage you to seek people’s responses as early as possible so that they don’t forget. This is because when you speak, you raise their commitment. So you should enforce action before that commitment cools down.

It is important to note that listeners should be persuaded and not intimidated speak in a manner that will make your listeners willingly be convinced to take the action that you wish them to show the listeners that you are competent or experienced in what you are saying. Example you want to tell the people how important it is for them to use mosquito nets. You may do that by telling them that you have been using such nets for e very long time and you have never suffered from malaria since you started using mosquito nets.

The Conclusion that we can make about persuasive speaking is that it is an action oriented type of speech, so whenever you are engaged in this kind of speaking, speak in a manner that will move the audience.

Martin Luther Jr giving a speech to the mass

PARTICIPATING IN INTERVIEW

An interview is a formal questions and answers session which is aimed at understanding or digging into someone 's knowledge about something .An interview is a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions in order to find out his/her knowledge about certain course of study or job or about certain information.Normally the interviewer asks questions and the interviewees responds.It is important to note that there are various interviews for various purposes

For example: - Journalists interview people to verify news.
- Employers interviews an expected employee
- A researcher interviews different people to collect information
To make an interview successful one has to prepare both mentally and physically.The following should be observed.

Before the interview

- Know the organization
i.e get enough information and knowledge about the organization information like (who they are,what they do,their objectives etc.)
The information can be obtained from the website of the of the organization (if any) or from people who know about it or from their newsletter .This can make you happy or at ease if you be asked about the organization.

- Reherse the interview
i.e learn about different questions that are likely to be asked in an interview and practise answering them.Stand infront the mirror or just in your room asking yoursel questions and answering them.

- Be punctuali.e arrive at interview office about an hour before.This will help yoy calm down before the time of interview .Arriving late will make you panic hence fail to respond to the question correctly.

- Be smart
Being tidy will add more credit about you as the interviewers will have positive image over you.

During the interview

- Friendliness
     . smile
     . actively listens or reflect back words and gestures of the interviewers
     . pleasant tone voice
     .Firm handshake(greet and make eye contact with others)

- Courtesy
    .Let the interviewers finish talking before responding
    .Use courteous words("please" ,"thank you" ,"nice meeting")
    .Make appropriate small talk while waiting
    .Hold doors open,step aside to let others pass by

- Responsive
    .Use no long"uh's" before answering
    .Go beyond "yes/no",answers to questions
    .Volunteers information without interviewers having to proud for more information

- Empathy
    .Head noddling when appropriate
    .Slight learning forward
    .Eye contact
    .Paraphrasing to show understanding

- Assertiveness
     .Volunteer pertnent information not asked
     .Disclose negative information truthfully
     .Sound confident and fourth right in voice and words

SAMPLE QUESTION

1. Tell us about yourself
In this question provide your unique selling proposition(USP) ie Personal branding or value added statement .state your best qualification for the job.Be specific and include examples to support your statements.
e.g.I get great deal of satisfaction from knowing that i have done something well and on time

2. What are your greatest weaknesses?
In this question turn negative into positive
e.g.Sometimes i spend more time than necessary on a task or take on tasks personally that could be easily be delegated to someone else although i have never missed a a deadline,it is still an effort for me to know when to move on to the next task and to be confident when assigning others work
OR
I like to make sure that my work is perfect so i tend to spend a little too much time checking it.However I've come to a good balance by setting up a system to ensure everything is done correctly the first time.

3. What are your greatest strength?
In this question provide attribute that will qualify you for the job.
E.g When I'm working on a project ,I don't want just to meet deadlines rather I prefer to complete the project well ahead of schedule
OR
My time management skills are excellent and I'm organized ,efficient and take pride in excellent my work.

4. Are you a self motivator
- Absolutely .I'm a very active person and I enjoy my work.I'm always looking for new and innovative ideas to bring to project
- I believe I am a self motivator -I gave to my all to a project and I'm always looking ahead to the next one at hand.

5. What do you do in your spare time?
Here the interviewer wants to know your other side of life(Out from office)
In this question describe any volunteer work you do and any hobbies such as playing spirits carpentry,gardening etc. avoid mentioning inactive activities such as watching television

6. How do you react to instruction and criticism?
In this the interviewer is trying to find out how you get along with the supervisors and how you feel about authority.You might say
- I appreciate getting instruction and criticism when it is done fairly and constructively

All in all there are many questions that can be asked in an interview.It is your time now to think of them and try to respond to them correctly.This will make you make you very strong and confidence in any interview that you will be called upon.

Mwalimu Nyerere addressing a gathering

SEARCH NOTE

ENGLISH: FORM FIVE - SPEAKING SKILLS

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