Speech Purposes: General and Specific | Presentation

After reading this article you will learn about General and Specific Speech Purposes.

General Speech Purposes

There are three general speech purposes to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. (These three purposes apply equally to public or private communication.) As we discuss these speech purposes, we should remember that we are in reality talking about responses we desire from our audience.

Any discourse concerning this topic must take into account the obvious fact that all individuals are different, and therefore what is intended by the speaker as a speech to inform may well persuade or entertain certain members of the audience. Let us now briefly examine these three types of speeches.

i. Informative Speeches:

The purpose of informative communication is to increase the receiver’s knowledge and understanding of a subject. Informative speeches may also entertain or change beliefs. A speaker whose immediate purpose is to impart information often uses amusing or dramatic illustrations to entertain his or her audience, thus holding their attention.

Moreover, information, even it if consists only of facts, may lead to changes of belief, although such results may not be a part of the speaker’s purpose.

In informative speaking, your main concern is to make the audience understand and remember the information you present. The teacher talking to a class or the manager of a department store explaining the duties of a job to staff members are both engaged in informative speaking. How much the listener knows at the conclusion of a talk is the real test of the speech to inform.

Some examples of informative subjects are:

a. The procedures to be followed for adding new courses to the college curriculum.

b. How to grow vegetables in a greenhouse.

c. The working of a pollution-free engine.

ii. Persuasive Speeches:

The major function of the persuasive speech is to induce the audience to think, feel, or act in a manner selected by the speaker. You may want your listeners to discard old beliefs or form new ones; or you may merely want to strengthen opinions that they already hold.

The salesperson uses the speech to persuade as a means of getting the customer to buy a coat. The person asking for a raise, the wife trying to get her husband to fix the tap, the teacher trying to get the class to study – all are trying to persuade someone to do something.

The following are examples of subjects that need persuasive treatment:

a. Final examinations in our colleges should be abolished.

b. The Indian Government should condemn the actions of Saddam Hussain.

c. Students should be given time off to campaign on behalf of political candidates.

iii. Entertaining Speeches:

The third major type of speech has the purpose of entertaining the audience. Here the word “entertainment” is used in its broadest sense to include anything that stimulates a pleasurable response, whether it is humorous or dramatic.

Through such speeches the speaker wants the people present to have an enjoyable time. The speaker is not concerned with ensuring that they learn a great deal or that they change their mind in one direction or another. Entertainment is the purpose of many after-dinner speeches and a favorite type of speech of the comedian.

Some subjects that lend themselves to humorous treatment are:

a. My first day as a college student.

b. The gourmet food served in the college cafeteria.

c. How to write a political speech.

These, then, are the three major speech purposes. If you know exactly what the purpose of your speech is, you will have a guide for your preparation – a reminder that each bit of material contained in your presentation should contribute something to the accomplishment of your purpose

Specific Speech Purposes:

The general reaction you want to secure from your audience may be stated in terms of informing, persuading, or entertaining. But the particular and immediate reaction that you seek must be precisely formulated into a specific purpose. The specific purpose describes the exact nature of the response you want from your audience. It states specifically what you want your audience to know, feel, believe, or do.

There are three requirements a good specific purpose should meet: it should contain only one central idea; it should be clear and concise; and. most important, it should be worded in terms of the audience response desired.

When your general purpose is to inform, your specific purpose might be:

a. To have the audience understand the important aspects of student government.

b. To have the audience understand the basic fundamentals of boating safety.

c. To have the audience understand the history of the modern Animal Rights movement

If your general purpose is to persuade, your specific purpose might be:

a. To get the audience to give money to a college fund to beautify the campus.

b. To get the audience to agree that India should withdraw all its soldiers from Kashmir.

c. To get the audience to agree that we should have a Department of Women’s Studies at our University

If your general purpose is to entertain, your specific purpose might be:

a. To make the audience laugh at the “clear” statements of some political leaders.

b. To have the audience enjoy hearing about the best ways to escape the clutches of the hostel warden.

c. To have the audience enjoy, vicariously, my appearance on MTV-Bakra.

You might find it helpful to write down your specific purpose on a sheet of paper. This will give you a constant target at which to aim. It allows you, at a glance, to see if the material you have gathered, and the organization of that material, directly relates to your specific purpose.