Advantages And Disadvantages Of Effective Speech In Communication

Speech is one of the popular media of oral communication. Speech has many advantages in conducting, social, religious and political activities. The major merits or, advantages of speech are as follows:

Advantages of Effective Speech

Saving time and labour

Speech helps to transmit a message quickly to a large number of audiences at a time. Therefore, when a message need to be communicated to a large audience immediately, speech is most appropriate.

Reducing cost

Speech also helps to reduce cost of transmitting message. It does not require use of any stationary or telephone. Hence, cost remains minimum.

Appropriate persuasion

Speech of the leader acts as the best source of inspiration for the followers or subordinates. Therefore, speech isarranged on a priority basis to transmit important message to the followers and to inspire them.

Close contact

Speech also to crate a close contact between the speaker and the audience. While delivering speech, the speaker can create a lively relation and contact with the audience through body language, facial expression and non-verbal cues.

Quick transmission of message

Speech is a kind of direct communication. In this method, the message directly goes from the speaker to the listener. Hence, there occurs no delay in transmitting message to the intended receiver.

Providing clarification

Speech also helps the audience to seek clarification, if they do not understand any part of the speech. As a result, the speaker can give instant clarification and thus remove confusion.

Immediate feedback

With the help of speech, the speaker can get immediate feedback from the audience. As a result , the effectiveness of communication increases greatly.

Communicating with illiterate people

Speech is the most appropriate method of communication with the illiterate people. Since illiterate people can neither read not write, speech is the only way to transmit message to them.

Less formality

Although speech is a structured and formal method of communication, it requires lower degree of formalities than the written communication.

Flexibility

While communicating through speech, the speaker enjoys a great deal of flexibility. Considering the situation, the speaker can modify his speech which is not possible in written communication.

Disadvantages of Effective Speech

Although speech is an effective medium of communication, it is not free from defects. Some of its limitations or defects are as followers:

Chance of misunderstanding

Speech is one kind of oral deliberation. Therefore, it can create misunderstanding if the audience does not listen carefully and attentively.

Possibility of denial

Speech has no documentary proof unless it is recorded. As a result, either the speaker or the audience may deny the message to gain advantage.

Lack of legal validity

In absence of any record, speech has no validity in the eye of law.

Non-suitability

Speech is not suitable in transmitting message except in meeting, seminar, symposium etc. It is also not a suitable in of supervision and direction.

Reduce the importance of message

While delivering the speech, sometimes the speakers gives more importance on his dress up and movement rather than on the information being communicated. In such situation, the importance of the message reduces.

Distortion of meaning

Speech can also lead to the distortion of meaning if the speaker fails to deliver clearly or the audience fails to listen attentively.

Presence of emotion

Emotion an important part of effective delivery of speech. If the speaker becomes emotional at the time of giving speech, the message may loss its objective.

Delivering irrelevant speech

Sometimes the speaker gives lengthy and irrelevant speech to the audience. This creates the audience annoyed and reduces the importance of the main theme.