Speech and Oral Communication

Oral communication items on the LET describe a real speaking or listening situation and ask you to name the element, the barrier, the speech type, or the delivery skill at work. The vocabulary is small and the questions are predictable once you own the terms below.

The communication process and its elements

Communication is a two-way exchange, not a one-way broadcast. Learn each part of the loop:

Element	What it is
Sender (source)	The person who starts the message.
Encoding	Turning thoughts and feelings into words or symbols.
Message	The idea being sent.
Channel	The medium the message travels through: sound waves, print, a phone line.
Receiver	The person who takes in the message.
Decoding	Interpreting the message that was received.
Feedback	The receiver's response sent back to the sender.
Noise	Anything that interferes with the message.

Two terms trap test-takers. Encoding is what the sender does (thoughts into words); decoding is what the receiver does (words back into meaning). Feedback is the response that closes the loop and tells the sender whether the message got through.

Verbal and nonverbal communication

Verbal communication uses words, spoken or written. Nonverbal communication sends meaning without words: gestures, facial expressions, posture, and eye contact. A thumbs-up or a nod communicates, yet uses no words.

Learn the sub-labels boards love:

• Paralanguage (vocalics): the vocal features that ride along with speech, such as pitch, loudness, and tone. It is how you say something, not the words.
• Kinesics: body movements and gestures.
• Proxemics: the use of physical distance and personal space.

Barriers to communication

A barrier is anything that blocks a message. Know the three most-tested kinds:

• Physical barrier: an environmental obstacle, such as a rattling air-conditioner, distance, or faulty equipment.
• Semantic barrier: a language problem, such as unfamiliar jargon, ambiguous words, or meaning that does not carry across.
• Psychological barrier: an internal state, such as anxiety, prejudice, or inattention, that keeps the message from being received.

Types of speeches and speech purposes

Sort a speech first by its purpose:

• To inform: explain or teach (a lecture on how a bill becomes a law).
• To persuade: move the audience to believe or act (a talk urging people to donate blood).
• To entertain: amuse (an after-dinner toast).

Then sort it by delivery method:

Method	How it is delivered
Impromptu	On the spot, with little or no preparation.
Extemporaneous	Prepared and practiced, then delivered conversationally from brief notes or an outline.
Manuscript	Read word for word from a full written text.
Memorized	Recited from memory, word for word.

The extemporaneous method is the gold standard for most speeches because it is well prepared yet sounds natural. A manuscript suits messages that must be exact, such as an official statement.

Listening skills

Listening is active work, not just hearing. Match the type to the goal:

• Active listening: fully attending and confirming understanding, for example by paraphrasing what the speaker said.
• Critical listening: evaluating a message for its logic and evidence, as when you weigh a campaign speech.
• Empathic listening: focusing on the speaker's feelings and point of view to give support rather than judgment.
• Appreciative listening: listening for enjoyment, as with music or a story.

Public-speaking delivery

Strong delivery carries a message as much as the words do. Sweep your eye contact across different parts of the audience instead of staring at one spot or reading off the slides. Control your rate and use brief pauses between ideas so listeners can follow, which also steadies a nervous speaker. Vary your tone, stand with open posture, and use natural gestures.

English stress and intonation

Word stress can change a word's part of speech. Many English noun-verb pairs shift the stressed syllable: the noun PRE-sent (a gift) stresses the first syllable, while the verb pre-SENT (to give) stresses the second. The same pattern fits REcord and reCORD, OBject and obJECT.

Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice across a sentence:

• Rising intonation normally ends a yes-or-no question: Are you joining the review class?
• Falling intonation normally ends statements, commands, and wh-questions: What time is the exam?

In a spoken sentence, content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives) usually carry the stress, while function words (articles, prepositions) stay unstressed. That rhythm is what makes spoken English sound natural.

Exam-day strategy

• When an item describes a step in the loop, name it: turning ideas into words is encoding, the response back to the sender is feedback, the medium is the channel.
• For barriers, match the cause: noise and broken equipment are physical, jargon and word-meaning issues are semantic, anxiety and prejudice are psychological.
• Split speeches two ways. By purpose (inform, persuade, entertain) and by delivery (impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, memorized). "No time to prepare" is impromptu; "reads it word for word" is manuscript.
• For stress items, first-syllable stress usually marks the noun; second-syllable stress usually marks the verb.
• For intonation, a yes-or-no question rises; almost everything else falls.