Step up and look to speak (5)
I believe the answer is:
stair
'step up' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'look to speak' is the wordplay.
'look' becomes 'stare' (stare is a kind of look).
'to speak' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'stare' is a homophone of 'STAIR'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for stair that I've seen before include "Flight unit" , "one's seen in flight" , "Component of flight" , "A step on the way up or down" , "single step in a series" .)