Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however, it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole.
Spell Trigger: Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, but it's even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin. The user must still determine what spell is stored in the item before she can activate it. Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Is a wand an exception to the 'speak a single word' rule, or does it apply and was simply not mentioned under wands because it would be a redundancy? I always assumed anything smart enough to have ranks in UMD could just wave their magic stick around and make lightning come out, but I think the rules indicate you also need the ability to form words. What are the qualifications for speaking the word? Do you need to be humanoid, have a human-like mouth/vocal cords? Does it just need to be able to make noises?
