In the philosophy of language and linguistics, __speech act__ is something expressed by an individual that not only presents information but performs an action as well - wikipedia 
> Almost any speech act is really the performance of several acts at once, distinguished by different aspects of the speaker's intention: there is the act of saying something, what one does in saying it, such as requesting or promising, and how one is trying to affect one's audience. > > Kent Bach
The contemporary use of the term "speech act" goes back to J. L. Austin's development of performative utterances and his theory of Locutionary act, Illocutionary act, and perlocutionary acts. Speech acts serve their function once they are said or communicated. These are commonly taken to include acts such as apologizing, promising, ordering, answering, requesting, complaining, warning, inviting, refusing, and congratulating.