Something in the air helping speech (7)
I believe the answer is:
oration
'speech' is the definition.
(oration is a kind of speech)
'something in the air helping' is the wordplay.
'something in the air' becomes 'o' (oxygen).
'helping' becomes 'ration' (I've seen this before).
'o'+'ration'='ORATION'
(Other definitions for oration that I've seen before include "A public or ceremonial speech" , "words" , "Major speech" , "A formal or ceremonial speech" , "lecture" .)