English Phrasal Verb Speak To | 4 Ways to Use It

Wait a second. Is speak to really a phrasal verb in English?

Aren't phrasal verbs supposed to be idiomatic in their meaning?

and if someone says, you should speak to Laura about this,

how is that idiomatic? Those are great questions.

They're very observant questions. And the answer is:

in a sentence like, you should speak to Laura about that,

or Daniella is speaking to customer service right now,

the words speak to are not phrasal verbs at all.

There's nothing idiomatic about those words in those two sentences.

Instead,

they're simply using the verb speak with the preposition to to

indicate that someone is speaking directly to another person or entity.

But what about this painting really speaks to me?

Or your hard work speaks to your overall determination to

succeed?

The chaos in this office right now speaks to the need to make some

changes in our workflow? I'd like to speak to this issue.

Of course, paintings hard work and chaos don't speak.

They can't talk.

And I can't speak to an issue the way that I can speak directly to a

person or a person representing an organization or department.

So in these examples,

the verb speak combined with the preposition two is a phrasal verb.

It is idiomatic in its meaning,

but what exactly does the phrasal verb mean in the context of those

sentences?

In this Confident English lesson today we're going to look at this one phrasal

verb and four different uses or meanings this phrasal verb can

have including personal connections or feelings we might have toward

an object or something.

It can also be used to highlight a fact or reveal a truth.

It might also indicate a connection or a relationship between two things.

But before we get there, if this is your first time here, welcome.

I'm Annemarie, an English confidence and fluency coach.

Everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your

life and work in English.

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Now let's get right to use number one of speak to as a

phrasal verb.

The first use is to address a specific issue or

topic. For example, you might ask someone,

could you speak to how the conference benefits from

transitioning to an online platform? In this question,

you're asking someone to address or talk about a particular issue.

In a business meeting, you might say,

I'd like to speak to the expected timeliness to implement these changes,

or Sheila wants to speak to the concerns parents expressed

about last week's school event. In each of these examples,

someone is addressing,

acknowledging or discussing a specific issue.

Let's take a step back and look at a bigger scenario to see how we might

use this phrasal verb.

Imagine you're the one setting the agenda for an upcoming neighborhood or

community meeting and safety is on your mind in sharing that

agenda. You might say, in our next meeting,

I'd like to speak to the matter of updating our neighborhood safety

measures. I want you to look again at the example sentences that I've provided.

In each case,

there's a specific structure that we're following When speak to is used

in this way,

it is immediately followed by the specific topic or subject that someone wants

to address to speak to how something benefits to

speak to expected timeliness,

to speak to concerns or safety measures.

Think for a moment about a challenging situation you might be experiencing at

work or with a group that you're volunteering for,

and imagine that in a future meeting you want to address this particular topic.

In doing that, the structure of your sentence would look like this,

I would like to speak to and then the specific topic,

concern or subject. Now,

at this point you might be wondering what exactly is the difference between

to speak to a topic and to talk about a topic.

For example,

I would like to speak to the expected timeliness for implementing these changes,

or I would like to talk about the expected timeliness for

implementing these changes. On the surface,

there's really no difference between these two sentences.

Someone could use one or the other,

and there's very little difference in meaning. However,

there are two subtle distinctions. Number one,

the verb speak or in this case speak to is considered

more formal than the verb talk or talk about.

As a result,

you're more likely to hear the word speak or the phrasal verb speak to

in this context, in a business meeting, a presentation,

a formal debate, or any discussion that is more diplomatic.

The second subtle distinction is that when speak to is used in this

context,

it means that you're going to address this one and only issue.

You're going to address timeliness or safety concerns.

When we use the phrasal verb to talk about something,

it has a sense that it's a much broader conversation.

Not only will you address that one particular topic,

but there might be multiple related issues that are going to come up in the

conversation as well. Again, these aren't huge differences,

but there are some subtle changes in meaning.

The second use of speak to is a phrasal verb is to express some kind of personal

connection that you have with something, some personal,

meaningful experience.

It might also indicate a special meaning or level of importance you

associate with something, and when we use the phrasal verb speak to in this way,

it's immediately followed by the subject object or idea to which

you feel a personal connection. For example,

the song's lyrics spoke to me after the breakup.

This painting speaks to my love for the natural environment in this area.

The book Quiet by Susan Kane really spoke to me.

I felt like she wrote it just for me.

In each one of those sentences were indicating that we have some special bond

or connection with that thing or idea. Imagine for example,

that you're part of a book club and in your next book club meeting everyone's

sharing their thoughts about the book. In that conversation,

you might say The author's message about family strongly

speaks to my own beliefs about familial relationships.

The third use of this phrasal verb speak to is to unveil or

indicate truths.

This is particularly true when we're referring to someone's efforts or actions.

For example,

your hard work speaks to your deep commitment to our mission,

or as in the example I shared earlier,

the chaos in this office speaks to the need that we need to make some

changes in our workflow. In the first example here,

we're highlighting that someone's hard work indicates that they are truly

committed to the mission of a company,

and in the second the chaos happening indicates a need for change or

it unveils a uncomfortable truth that things aren't going the way

they should be going.

You'll find that this particular use of the phrasal verb speak to is often used

when giving feedback. Imagine for example,

that you're giving feedback to a team member. In that conversation,

you might say your consistent effort speaks to your

determination and motivation. Before we move on to the fourth use,

I want to review a few more examples of how we use the phrasal verb speak to

in this context of unveiling a truth or indicating some sort

of truth or fact. Number one,

the empty streets and low traffic speak to the overall

decline of small businesses in this part of the city. Number two,

the recent rise in car thefts speaks to the need for

increased surveillance in the neighborhood, and number three,

the feedback I receive from women speaks to the desire for women only

programs and communities and now use number four of the phrasal verb speak

to.

We use it to indicate that one thing relates to another or

one thing does not relate to another. For example,

if you watch an interview with a journalist on tv,

you might hear something like that information or that answer

doesn't speak to the issue at hand. In other words,

someone is not answering the question.

One thing doesn't relate to the other. Another example,

recent events speak to the dip or the decline in the

stock market. To fully understand this use,

let's look at two specific scenarios and think through how we would

respond in that situation using this phrasal verb. In this first scenario,

I want you to imagine the marketing team has just pitched a campaign

for a new service that your team is launching and you find

the campaign to be vague and confusing,

and when asked to share your thoughts, you might say,

I don't think this campaign speaks to our client's concerns

or why they might need this service. And now for our final scenario,

I want you to imagine your at a parent teacher meeting for your child,

and in that discussion, your child's teacher might talk about an upcoming test,

and then she might say,

your child's results will speak to her candidacy for the new science program

opening at this school.

Now that you have these four clear ways in which the verb speak combined with

two is indeed a phrasal verb with idiomatic meaning,

I want you to practice in this practice,

I have three different scenarios with questions that I want to put to

you. I want you to think about them carefully.

Take some time to reflect on them and try to create one or two

sentences you might use to respond in this scenario using the phrasal verb

speak to. After I share these three scenarios,

I will also share with you some example sentences that I might use if I

were going to respond. Now, after you've created your own sentences,

whether it's today, tomorrow, or next week, you can always share them with me.

The best place to do that is in the comments directly below this video.

So scenario number one, talk about your hobby. Why do you enjoy it?

Scenario two,

share what contributes to the strength of your relationship with your best

friend. And scenario number three,

I want you to imagine that you're going to a meeting.

It might be a work related meeting.

Perhaps it's with a volunteer organization or with a teacher where your child

goes to school. How would you address a specific concern you have?

Here are my examples of how I might answer those questions.

The first one about my hobby and why I enjoy it when I paint.

It's like each brush stroke in each unexpected color combination

is an extension of who I am. It speaks to my soul.

Now with the second question of the strength of relationship you have with a

friend, my response would be the years of childhood memories,

my best friend and I share,

speak to the length and the strength of our friendship.

And for example, number three,

if I had to imagine a concern that I might address with a team, I might say,

in today's meeting,

I'd like to speak to the lack of communication in making

decisions that affect the whole team. And now it's your turn. Again,

take some time to think through these scenarios and when you're ready,

share your examples with me. If you found today's lesson helpful to you,

I would love to know, and you can tell me in one very simple way,

give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube, and while you're at it,

make sure you subscribe as well so that you never miss one of my Confident

English lessons. Thank you so much for joining me,

and I look forward to seeing you next time.