Advantages and Disadvantages of Speech

There are some advantages of good speech. They are given below:

Easy to understand: If the speaker delivers his or her speech on the basis of the audience level, it becomes easy understanding. So, the main advantages of speech are understandable.
Time-saving: Direct speech between the speaker and the listener saves time to communicate information.
Good relation: Speech can help to develop the relation between the speaker and the audience. It is possible to establish a friendly relation among the parties concern through direct speech.
Cost-saving: Direct speech saves money because it does not require any device or writing instruments like a pen, paper, computer, telephone, etc.
Suitability: It is very suitable to communicate with both illiterate and literate people. But written communication is suitable only for literate people.
Quick means: Speech is a quick mean of communication. Many formalities are to be needed for written or other communications. But it does not take any formality.
Direct feedback: There is quick and direct feedback of oral communication because the audience can interact directly to the speaker.
Mass communication: Direct speech is suitable for mass communication. The speaker can communicate with many people at a time through speech.

There are some limitations and disadvantages of speech. These limitations are stated below:

Inaccuracy: The main disadvantages of speech or inaccuracy. If the speaker fails to understand the need of the audience, speech becomes worthless.
Complexity: This form of communication increases the complexity in the communication channel. If the number of audiences is large, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the speech.
Delay: It is a lengthy process to take decision making because it takes more times for personal discussions to each other. If the audiences do not understand the meaning of the speech it takes more time to take a final decision.
Irrelevancy: Sometimes the speaker delivers an irrelevant speech which makes the audience displeasure or disgust.
No record: Usually no records are kept in this form of communication. So speech cannot be sued as legal document unless it is taped.
Lack of secrecy: In this form of communication, the important and secret information may be disclosed.
Conflict: Speech cannot be kept in mind for long. So it can create many conflicts among the parties concerned.
Expensive: Sometimes the organization pays the T.A. And D. A. To the audiences. So it is also expensive.

The successes of the speeches fully depend on the qualities of the speaker. The speaker’s qualities are given below:

“A good speaker is lively, interested, enthusiastic and vital.” He treats his audience as a group of living people. He makes it sure that he is keenly interested in the subject he is speaking about and he is taking pains to make his audience equally interested in it.
“A good speaker is earnest.” He does not speak just for the sake of speaking in order to show off, to impress his audience with his erudition or his authority.
A good speaker has a sense of responsibility to his listeners and to others. He does not take more time than what is allotted to him.
A good speaker has a sense of responsibility to his subject. He does not bite off more than he can chew. He does not spread it thin.
A good speaker has a sense of leadership; he stands up tall, talks eye to eye, speaks responsibly and with authority, as a leader should.
“A good speaker keeps his head.” He is not carried off by over-enthusiasm or overconfidence.
A good speaker keeps his sense of honor.