Speech perception refers to the processes by which humans can interpret and understand the sounds used in a language. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception psychology. Research in speech perception seeks to understand how listeners recognize speech sounds and use this information to understand spoken language. Research into speech perception also has applications in building computer systems that can recognize speech, as well as improving speech recognition for hearing and language-impaired listeners.
I am not sure why, but I have also found this fascinating. People interpret things in different ways. People can also convey messages in different ways as well. There are people to research speech and the way certain things are perceived. This can lead to technology advances. Have you ever wondered how siri is able to identify when you say “hey siri”? Siri can do this because of the advances that speech perception researchers have made. You may think this has nothing to do with giving speeches in front of an audience, but it does.
The sound that a speaker conveys can alter a speech. If the speaker is very monotone, the audience might drift off. If the speaker is talking loudly, the audience might try to block him out. The rate, tone, and fluency of a speaker affects the way the audience responds. The speaker has to practice giving his or her speech in a tone that the audience will positively respond to. He or she also has to practice how fast or slow the speech is given. You cannot be rushing through one part of your speech and dragging the other part along. This is something that practice will help improve. You can’t just go out and give a speech expecting to fully perfect the rate and tone of your speech. That is not how that works. Practice makes perfect.
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