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LESSON GUIDE 4
AS:
I Am A Good Speaker
I am a good speaker! I can make my voice go up and down
in the right places – in phrases, sentences and paragraphs.
If I am feeling extreme joy or grief or just calling somebody
I assume a very high pitch voice.
In cases of solemnity, reverence and extreme awe,
I can assume a very low pitch.
If I feel that I have to speak in a normal way,
I assume an unimpassioned speaking way.
If I am questioned and may answer in a YES or NO, my voice went up.
In cases of long answers in queries, my voice goes down.
Exercise 1: Form groups of two’s (A,B). Practice this dialogue with your partner.
(With partner and then with group)
In a bowl, pick a slip of paper bearing the situation that you should act out with a
partner. Use these situations in writing your dialogues. Then practice with your
partner. Be ready for an oral presentation with your partner in front.
What do you think are the five speech techniques? Refer to the affirmation.
• Inflection or intonation
• Emphasis
• Accentuation
• Blending
• Phrasing
LA 3: Inflection or Intonation
Inflection or intonation is the movement of the voice up or down along the line of
sound. The focus is more on the “pitch” of your voice. Pitch is one of the
elements of voice along with volume/loudness, rate/duration and quality/timbre.
Pitch refers to the elevation/depression of the voice or simply the highness or
lowness of a sound. Very much the same with intonation. This is where you’re
ability to intone comes from, if you practice varying pitch in your speech.
Examples:
• Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . .?
• Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .?
• Was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Were . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Has . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Which . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Whom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
• Whose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
Exercise 7: Supply your own answer after the instructor has given out the question.
(ECF3 module p. 26)
LA 5: Emphasis
Exercise 2: Underline the words that should be stressed and read the sentences
accordingly. (ECF3 module p.27)
LA 6: Accentuation
Two things a speaker should remember when sounding the accented syllable:
Exercise 4: Pronounce these pairs of words. Note the shift in stresses and the vowels
in unstressed syllables. (Refer to ECF3 module pp. 28-29)
Additional pairs:
1. master – mustard
2. crumble – crumple
3. fodder – father
4. divorce – divulge
5. exuberant – exorbitant
6. generous – genesis
7. fewer – furor
8. burger – burglar
9. sever – severe
10. lesson – listen
11. allude – elude
12. acrid – arid
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Exercise 5: A large group of words in English may be used either as nouns or verbs
depending on which syllable is stressed. Those used as nouns are stressed
on the first syllable; those used as verbs are stressed on the second
syllable. (Refer to ECF3 module p.29)
Exercise 6: Read the following sentences. Make sure you give the correct stress for
the underlined words. (ECF3 module p.29)
Exercise 7: Pronounce these words carefully. Note that words with similar pattern of
stress are grouped together. Each group should be repeated rhythmically.
(ECF3 module p. 30)
1. circuitous ________
2. indefatigable _________
3. concentrate __________
4. characterize __________
5. adolescence __________
6. incriminating __________
7. inevitable ____________
8. dynamism ____________
9. recognize ____________
10. negotiate ___________
11. forfeiture ____________
12. condolence ____________
13. Catholicism ___________
14. lamentable ____________
15. archives ____________
16. reconcile _____________
17. destined _____________
18. distinguished ___________
19. hazardous ____________
20. determined ___________
LA 7: Phrasing
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Rate, as one element of voice, applies to the speed of your speech discerned
through: the length of sounds (phrasing) and the length of pauses between phrases
(juncture)
(Selection still to be typed, from Effective Speech and Oral Communication, pp. 17-18)
LA 8: Blending
Blending is pronouncing two or more syllables or words as if they were one. The
first word usually ends in a consonant sound and the following word begins with a
vowel sound, or vice versa. Practice blending the words that are tied together in
the following sentences:
(ECF3 module p. 31)
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Exercise 2: Read the following passage. Note carefully the phrasing and the blending
of words and phrases. (Refer to ECF3 module p. 32)
Exercise 3: Choose from the selection. Read and mark the phrasing. Be ready for an
oral presentation (individual)
END OF LESSON 4
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I Am A Good Speaker