Following up on the foundations and techniques of oral delivery introduced in the Oral Communication course, the Voice and Diction, course focuses on the technical quality of delivery, covering voice development, ennunciation, vocal variety and expressiveness.The focus will center on various aspects of using the voice effectively, including volume, pitch, pace, projection, phrasing, inflection, and resonance. This will also include a review of the variations in phonetics, inflection and articulation among global speakers of the English language, globally.
In the Oral Communication course students learned to develop and format content and create an outline for a speech. Voice and Diction focuses on delivery and makng a human connect with members of an audience. This course teaches the intracasies of oration, transforming scripted content using voice delivery, applicable to public speaking, theatrical performance and acting.
Voice and diction are primary vehicles of interaction and influence. It is important to do it well. It shows authority and credibility of the speaker and his or her confidence in the validity of the message a speaker delivers.
Jesus Christ was an influential orator. Like him, applications of speaking skills are the basis of teaching, conversion and salvation. These skills are vital when joining the mission of God.
In skillful oration is great influence with the power to create positive or negative impressions in intercultural settings. It is a skill that is enhanced by supportive social interaction. Saying one thing and acting in a different way is a nonverbal red flag. "Actions speak louder than words.” So to teach goodwill yet show aloofness and disinterest is unsupportive of the message delivered. But showing empathy and compassion is supportive and confirming. People look for practical reinforcement of messages. When Jesus delivered his sermon on the mount to feed the souls of his listeners people gathered in droves to listen. But when his audience became hungry for food he used a morsel of fish and bread to demonstrate his divinity and feed their bodies.
Sociology and psychology are foundational fields of study for missional leaders, which inform the application of voice and diction in different linguistic and cultural settings around the world. Voice and diction are differentiators, which can best be used skillfully to overcome barriers and distance in missional field work.
Missional leaders must also be open to receiving and understanding standards of diction and voce in different cultures around the world to be able to build a foundation for communication and showing cultural openness.
Receptivity and openness in cultural communication sets a framework for positive interaction and mutual understanding.
Different people around the world may interpret shouting or whispering or laughing or stern speech in different ways. Learning how verbal structures are understood is a first step in intercultural understanding and communication. Paying attention to the nuances of verbal and non verbal patterns of speech in different cultures while in contact with people of different cultures is a way to conform and assimilate.
