Speech context refers to the environment or situation in which communication occurs and how the message is relayed during the process. Understanding the speech context of a conversation is important because it helps us to easily understand the message and make feedback clearly and appropriately. There are four types of speech context:
- Intrapersonal: This refers to communication with oneself.
- Interpersonal: This refers to communication between and among people and establishes personal relationships between and among them.
- Public: This type refers to communication that requires delivering or sending the message before or in front of a group.
- Mass communication: This refers to communication that involves the use of media to reach a large audience.
Speech context can be defined by various factors such as the physical space in which the speech occurs, the current state of an audience members values, beliefs, attitudes, and needs that impact how they decode and derive meaning from a speech, and the actual reason why a speech is delivered.
