A speech is a message that is delivered publicly.
From the Latin discursus , a speech is a message that is delivered publicly. It is a communicative action whose purpose is to expose or transmit some type of information and, generally, convince listeners.
For example: "The governor seduced the businessmen with a very convincing speech" , "Enough of the speeches: it is time to act" , "The manager's speech was received with little enthusiasm by the workers within the framework of the convention" .
Discourse in linguistics and philosophy
It should be noted that, for linguistics , discourse can be oral or written . This means that some texts can also be considered speeches.
For philosophy , on the other hand, discourse is a system of ideas that is socially constructed. In this context, we can speak of the dominant discourse in reference to those representations that are imposed by the upper classes and that end up being accepted or shared by the majority of society.
Its use in the political sphere
The speeches appear in very diverse areas. These messages are an essential part of political activity , since candidates in an electoral process, leaders and officials usually communicate with the population through speeches.
Suppose that a country is about to elect a new president: all the candidates will give various speeches during the campaign to communicate their proposals and seduce voters.
There are different types of speech.
"The King's Speech", an acclaimed film
In this sense, it should be noted that two years ago an interesting film titled The King's Speech hit movie screens around the world. Tom Hooper was the one who directed this production that managed to break the box office and obtain countless awards such as Oscar, BAFTA, Goyas and Golden Globes.
It tells us the true story of George VI (Colin Firth) who, after the abdication of his brother Henry VIII, became king of Great Britain and had to face a big problem: his stutter. This caused him situations of stress and great insecurity when making the speeches that, as monarch, he was obliged to undertake.
For this reason, he decided to put himself in the hands of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) in order to overcome this defect. And he achieved it, yes, thanks to the experience of this professional who certainly used a series of unusual and unorthodox but very effective techniques.
Since then and throughout the Second World War, the aforementioned speech therapist was always at the king's side when making and preparing his speeches, such as the one he made in 1939 when Great Britain decided to declare war on Germany, which in At that time it was in the hands of the Nazi movement.
Product presentation and thank you message
Speech is also used in the presentation of products or services . A businessman, in this sense, can call the press and give a speech to announce the creation of a new brand.
There are also thank-you speeches given by writers who receive an award, by actors who receive an award at an event, etc. Among the most significant thank-you speeches are those made by performers when they receive an Oscar award, which have become one of the most interesting moments of said awards ceremony.