body - the central message of a communication; "the body of the message was short"

introduction - the first section of a communication

close, closing, ending, conclusion, end - the last section of a communication; "in conclusion I want to say..."

epilog, epilogue - a short speech (often in verse) addressed directly to the audience by an actor at the end of a play

speech act - the use of language to perform some act

allocution - (rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts

colloquium - an address to an academic meeting or seminar

dithyramb - a wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing

Gettysburg Address - a 3-minute address by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War (November 19, 1963) at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg

impromptu - an extemporaneous speech or remark; "a witty impromptu must not sound premeditated"

inaugural, inaugural address - an address delivered at an inaugural ceremony (especially by a United States president)

lecture, public lecture, talk - a speech that is open to the public; "he attended a lecture on telecommunications"

litany - any long and tedious address or recital; "the patient recited a litany of complaints"; "a litany of failures"

oratory - addressing an audience formally (usually a long and rhetorical address and often pompous); "he loved the sound of his own oratory"

oral presentation, public speaking, speechmaking, speaking - delivering an address to a public audience; "people came to see the candidates and hear the speechmaking"

preaching, sermon, discourse - an address of a religious nature (usually delivered during a church service)

language, linguistic communication - a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"

auditory communication - communication that relies on hearing

words - the words that are spoken; "I listened to his words very closely"

orthoepy, pronunciation - the way a word or a language is customarily spoken; "the pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners"; "that is the correct pronunciation"

conversation - the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.

give-and-take, discussion, word - an exchange of views on some topic; "we had a good discussion"; "we had a word or two about it"

locution, saying, expression - a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations; "pardon the expression"

non-standard speech - speech that differs from the usual accepted easily-recognizable speech of native adult members of a speech community

idiolect - the language or speech of one individual at a particular period in life

monologue - a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation)

magic spell, charm, spell - a verbal formula believed to have magical force; "he whispered a spell as he moved his hands"; "inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese"

dictation - speech intended for reproduction in writing

monologue, soliloquy - speech you make to yourself

utterance, vocalization - the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication

speaking, speech production - the utterance of intelligible speech

expressive style, style - a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; "all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper"

address - the manner of speaking to another individual; "he failed in his manner of address to the captain"

catch - a break or check in the voice (usually a sign of strong emotion)

paralanguage, paralinguistic communication - the use of manner of speaking to communicate particular meanings

tongue - a manner of speaking; "he spoke with a thick tongue"; "she has a glib tongue"

shibboleth - a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people

tone, tone of voice - the quality of a person's voice; "he began in a conversational tone"; "he spoke in a nervous tone of voice"

elocution - an expert manner of speaking involving control of voice and gesture

prosody, inflection - the patterns of stress and intonation in a language

inflection, modulation - a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified

rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to take the rebuke with a smile on his face"

preaching, sermon - a moralistic rebuke; "your preaching is wasted on him"

curtain lecture - a private lecture to a husband by his wife

dialog, dialogue - the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction

aside - a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage

cue - an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech

monologue - a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor

soliloquy - a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections

throwaway - words spoken in a casual way with conscious under-emphasis

line - text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen; "the letter consisted of three short lines"; "there are six lines in every stanza"

faculty, mental faculty, module - one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind

lexis - all of the words in a language; all word forms having meaning or grammatical function

lexicon, mental lexicon, vocabulary - a language user's knowledge of words

verbalise, verbalize - convert into a verb; "many English nouns have become verbalized"