The Importance of Speech (6 Reasons)

Important of Speech starts from human speech, which is one of the defining characters for humans that differentiates them from other animals. Ask anyone and they will tell the importance of speech in a person’s life. During the life span of an individual – from infancy to late adulthood – humans, with the help of speech, learn and adapt to their environment. The words infants hear and learn to help them in developing their personalities in some ways. Similarly, the use of speech differs under different situations that indicate the importance of speech concerning the occasion.

Before moving on, it is important to define the meaning of speech and how is it different from communication and language. Communication is a way through which people exchange information, emotions, ideas, and feelings. It can be either non-verbal or verbal. Non-verbal communication includes any kind of gesture; smiles or other facial expressions; and visual aid in form of pictures or videos. Whereas, verbal communication involves the function of language where the language is the proper system compromised of words either written or spoken that are used to communicate with one another. In simple words, language is a formal system that helps humans communicate in a structured way. Lastly, speech is comprised of sounds, letters, language, verbal or non-verbal gestures that are aiding humans in communication.

Functions of Speech

Speech includes both receptive and expressive language. It means there are two functions of speech: reception and expression.

• Reception means listening and understanding others during a conversation.
• The expression refers to what and how people deliver what they want to say to others. It could be either in a written or spoken way.

These two-way functions collectively highlight the importance of speech and that makes it easy for people to understand a language or participate in communication.

Importance of Speech

There is no doubt that speech or language affects individuals greatly shaping their daily lives.

1. Speech as a Way to Learn

One of the many reasons importance of speech is highlighted is that it helps individuals learn. Looking at when an infant is born there is no expressive speech in form of formal language. However, there is the reception in the infant and the use of non-verbal language. This paves way for infants to listen and learn to speak the language. As science says, language is formed by listening and infants develop the main structure of the language within the first 7 years of life. Other than that, individuals who learn in their native language learn better because of the ease of understanding and less language barrier. Therefore, the importance of speech is undeniable.

2. Get Along with People

When humans are living in a different society or a country, the one thing that makes them comfortable is how well they get along with the people of that culture. This can be achieved by learning and using their language to communicate with them. Speaking in a familiar language turn people more acceptable and supportive of you. Therefore, traveling alone or living in a country whose language one cannot speak is considered a serious impairment because the chances of unable to adapt to that environment become less when there is a communication gap.

3. Speech is Reflective of Background

It is often said that way people speak depicts their education and brought up. Just like people of different profession use their jargon related to their field in work and ends up adopting it in their daily lives. Similarly, the training children receive during their childhood imprints in their minds and reveal itself either consciously or unconsciously. If the children have grown up listening to foul speech and abusive language, they will internalize those words. Later, it can become a problem when they speak or use the same speech without realizing it. This not only applies to verbal language but non-verbal language as well, i.e. use of the facial expressions, sounds, gestures, etc. says a lot about the person. On the contrary, well-read, educated, and people belonging to a sophisticated brought up will use decent language and gestures which also highlight the importance of speech through which people will have an eloquent speech.

4. Speech Reflects Personality

Speech, if observed keenly, can tell a lot about a person’s personality and mood. People use or like things that attract them. Most of the time, attraction is based on the principle of similarity. For example, people find things attractive that they relatable and similar to their own. Language is no exception. People pick the words they like – again based on the principle of similarity – and use them in their daily lives. Now, it can be noticed is the choice of words. If a person is using bright, happy, or positive words more in life, it can be an overall theme that depicts personality. It is important to note these words in relation to other words and actions of the person instead of picking just one word from the conversation and using it to define personalities.

5. Personality Development

Just like words can reflect a person’s personality, they can also influence personality. The constant use of certain words can lead the mind into adopting a persona that is reflective of those words. Similarly, people adopt certain personas or change their way of communication in order to adjust to a new environment or a country. Moreover, everyone wants to become smart in eyes of others and themselves. For this purpose, many people change the way they speak, language, and speech to appear more intelligent and this of course, underscores the importance of speech in collective society. This works by the principle of internalization – constantly repeated information is unconsciously adopted by the human mind and alters thinking, ideas, concepts, and the overall persona of the person. Although this cannot be achieved in one night; persistence and consistency can get anything. To groom one’s personality, the first thing people change is their speech. This illustrates the importance of speech in one’s life. This is why we can see many workshops offering personality grooming courses and improving communication styles.

6. Changing Political Narrative

The importance of speech is depicted by the power words hold that they can change the political narrative. In history, the use of sentimental, patriotic, and meaningful slogans has changed the direction of a state’s political scenario. The use of words can turn any negative event into a positive or acceptable one in people’s eyes. For example, Adolf Hitler used the slogan “one people, one empire, one leader” to get the sympathies of German that he succeeded in getting in Nazi years. He implanted the idea of military leadership in the minds of using their freshly wounded patriotism for personal gains. There are many such examples in history and the present. Similarly, slogans are an integral part of any revolution. During the making of Pakistan, many slogans were made using religious emotions and rebellion against oppression to boost the morale of people. Read More

Conclusion

After analyzing the different aspects of speech, its functions, and its usage in the daily lives of people, one cannot take the importance of speech lightly. It has now become important to use speech and language to change to minds and negative thinking of the people. The stigmas and stereotypes attached to certain words need to be detoxified. It may take time but it is necessary to grow and move forward with each passing generation. Bringing a change through speech does not extreme physical efforts but the persistence of the mind. Therefore, considering the importance of speech, it has become important for us to be aware and careful of our speech and the words that are influencing us.