7/27/2019 Public Speaking Guide

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/public-speaking-guide 1/3

How to Make the Most of thePublic Speaking Skills Poster

In the past, educators placed great emphasis on literacy – mastery o the written word – and largely neglected oracy – uency in speaking andlistening. But we now recognise that human beings all speak ar morethan they write, and it is through oral language that we express ourselves,earn a living and become participating members o our society.

The Public Speaking Skills poster is a guide or educators teachingthis essential topic in the classroom, and a range o interesting andproductive lessons can be modelled on the our steps it identifes (seepages 2 and 3). When students ollow all our steps in the process asoutlined in the poster, they greatly improve their prospects o success in

delivering a convincing oral presentation.

To maximise the benefts o the Public Speaking Skills Poster, werecommend that you:

  Use the poster to outline the our steps to successul public speaking or students in your class,allowing them to use the resource as a ready reerence tool when planning and preparing or theirpublic speaking perormance

  Design lessons that ocus on single steps in the process, or example –

• With “PURPOSE”, you could ask students to discuss how they might deal with the sametopic or dierent audiences and purposes.

• For “PLAN”, students might create and compare inspiring introductions orconvincing conclusions or a particular topic.

• “PRESENT” calls or exercises and guidance in breathing control, voice projection,mime, etc. Perhaps these can be taught in conjunction with your school’s dramaspecialist.

  Ensure that all public speaking perormances incorporate the our steps displayed on the poster

– rom low-key presentations in ront o a single class, to ormal speeches on school assembly.Employing these our steps time and time again will ensure that these techniques becomehabitual.

  Provide opportunities or students to hear/see eective speakers in action.Play perormances, flm or TV productions, even reading aloud by competentpractitioners, will all provide useul modelling. Students can then critiquethese perormances, in term o the our steps in the poster.

A teaching approach that ocuses on the our steps outlined in the poster will helpstudents master this essential skill and provide them with a platorm to progress to,

and communicate at, higher levels o thinking.

® 

7/27/2019 Public Speaking Guide

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/public-speaking-guide 2/3

How to Make the Most of the Public Speaking Poster

Public Speaking in the Primary Classroom

Developing Speaking Skills in the Primary Classroom

The idea o this Public Speaking Program is to get all students on their

eet and speaking on a regular basis in a variety o roles and contexts.Lessons should occur regularly – perhaps once every two weeks – andthe same ormat should always be ollowed.

The Format

Every lesson is run as a ormal meeting, with a Chairperson, a Secretary who reads and takes simpleminutes, a number o speakers with dierent types o speech to deliver and other students allottedspecifc tasks. These roles are held in rotation by dierent students each lesson.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Chairperson.• Secretary: Keeps simple minutes.

• Timekeeper: ensures that speakers keep to previously determined time limits.

• Room Organiser: with the assistance o other students, sets up the room as required at beginning o the lesson, and restores its normal layout at the end.

• Topicmaster (Upper Primary): provides suitable topics or impromptu speaking section.

• Jokemaster: Tells a joke/yarn to the group at the time designated by the Chair.

• Speech Evaluator(s): Evaluate content o prepared speeches by other students. Evaluations aredelivered orally using predetermined criteria.

• Aaah-judicator: Orally evaluates the presentation o prepared speeches using predetermined criteria.

• Listening Critic: Essential or the success o a Speaking Program is an attentive audience. TheListening Critic writes a list o questions about what has been said over the course o the lesson, andseeks answers to these rom the group and/or specifc students at the end o the lesson.

• Topics: Teachers can determine these. Some suggestions:

– Impromptu speeches – Pets

– Sel-portraits – Holidays

– Persuasive talks – Games

– Current aairs: class, school and community – Hobbies

Procedure

It is up to the Chairperson to determine the order o events, probablyin prior consultation with the teacher. However, every lesson shouldstart with the Secretary reading the minutes o the last meeting, andend with the allocation o roles or the next Speaking Program lessonbeore the Chair declares the meeting closed.

All speakers should stand when speaking, preerably at the ront o the room, with a lectern available i possible.

Speakers should ollow the accepted conventions o public speaking.They should acknowledge the Chair and audience beore starting

their speeches. Observing these ormalities helps establish the righttone or the Meeting and encourages respect or other participantsand those in charge o running it.

© ITC Publications Pty Ltd

7/27/2019 Public Speaking Guide

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/public-speaking-guide 3/3

Public Speaking in the Secondary Classroom

Speaking is not the same as Writing!

Good public speakers are aware o the key dierences between speakingand writing, and prepare their speeches accordingly.

• Listeners only hear words once – readers can return to writing a number o times. So speakers mustmake their points clearly. “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them whatyou told them.” In other words, “signpost” the points you wish to make.

• Readers only get the message o the words they read. Listeners get as much message rom theperson speaking as they do rom what s/he is saying. Your manner, expression and presentationcount just as much as what you have to say.

Know Your Venue!

Find out as much as you can beorehand about the place where you are going to give a publicspeech. It will help you eel relaxed and comortable when you get up to speak.

• How big is the room? The larger the room, the more you will have to project your voice. I possible,get someone to sit at the back o the room and listen to you beore the event.

• Is the lighting bright or dim? You don’t want to be dazzled, but you do want to be able to read yournotes.

• Is there a lectern or stand or the speaker? This will aect your use o notes.

• I you are going to use visual aids, are they properly set up and working correctly?

 Visual Aids

Skilully used visual aids improve the quality o an oral presentation. They can keep the audienceinterested, help explain or illustrate complex points, reinorce points the speaker is making and

“Signpost” the change rom one topic to another.DO DON’T

• Keep diagrams and graphs simple and uncluttered• Make sure any text can be read clearly, even at the

back o the room• Present only one topic per slide

• Use too many slides• Simply read what is on the slides to

the audience

One Minute Please!

Students are each given a separate topic, and allowed three minutes to prepare a one-minutespeech. This must be delivered in ront o the group/class without breaks, temporisers (um, er, ah) or

repetitions. One slip, and the student is eliminated rom the contest. A knock-out competition willprovide an eventual winner. This entertaining and ast-moving activity helps students develop theconfdence to stand up in ront o an audience.

This exercise can also be used as a revision task at the end o a Unit, particularly one with a high levelo actual content.

My Favourite Food

For less able and younger students, this exercise provides a non-threatening and elementaryintroduction to acing an audience, and provides a simple point-by-point structureor the speaker to ollow. The speaker tells the class about his/her avourite ood,and then gives the recipe or making it. This allows students to:

• Speak rom their own experience

• Follow a straightorward sequential pattern in the body o the speech

• Make use o simple visual aids.

How to Make the Most of the Public Speaking Poster

© ITC Publications Pty Ltd