OUTCOME
Students will have an
increased ability to speak in impromptu situations. This
will also result in greater confidence in prepared
presentations.
SKILLS
Students will learn
specific techniques to assist them to instantly create a
‘mini-speech’ on any topic.
METHODOLOGY
Regular classroom activities
involving impromptu speaking can significantly improve
your students' ability to speak to a group. This
improvement soon becomes evident in their prepared
presentations as well.
PAIRS EXERCISE - Page 47
You can modify this exercise based
on students' confidence level. If you are presenting the
topics, you can gradually increase the level of
creativity required by the students by starting with a
topic involving something in the room, moving to a topic
based on something that exists outside the room, and
then, lastly, to an abstract topic such as friendship,
pride, etc.
The exercise can be expanded by
joining two groups together to create a diamond
shape as shown at right.
Speakers number off 1-4 and speak in turn to a topic
provided by somebody else in the group (generally, their
opposite number ie 3 gives a topic to 1, 4 gives a topic
to 2, 1 gives a topic to 3, etc.
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REGULAR
QUICK EXERCISES
Experience has shown that after
approximately two weeks of regular impromptu speaking
activities most students become comfortable standing on
their feet and speaking. They no longer see this as
being somehow totally divorced from when they speak to
their family or friends. If students can be 're-taught'
that speaking in public is essentially no different to
speaking to your friends, a great deal of their anxiety
can be dispelled.
Here are five activities that
could be incorporated in any class period - they can be
done in about five minutes. They are all based on one
person starting the activity (this could be you or a
student) and then everyone else standing in turn
and adding their 10-30 seconds worth.
1
Pick the Word
The first person starts by standing and speaking for 10
seconds. They will finish on a particular word and the
next speaker will have to start with that word. It is
not a continuous story - speakers are encouraged to be
as creative as possible with their application of their
'start word'. For example: "So, as I was leaving
school yesterday, I decided I would" NOMINATED WORD: 'would' Next speaker "Wood comes
from trees, and I just love trees." The first
speaker controls the exercise around the room by
stopping one speaker (a 'sounder' eg a bell can help),
nominating the word, and, if necessary, naming the next
speaker.
2
The Travelling Tale
Similar to the above, except that the first speaker
starts a story and the other speakers add their 'bit' to
the story.
3
Fortunately/Unfortunately
This is a 'travelling tale' with the difference that each
speaker takes the story in a different direction. The
first speaker finishes their starting story with
"but unfortunately...". The next speaker
continues on and finishes with "but
unfortunately..." and so on, alternating around the
room.
4
Name that Star
This exercises
both the imagination and the impromptu speaking skills.
Each student speaks in turn for 10-30 seconds on the
subject of their special (imaginary) movie character.
This character has a name that is a combination of the
student's pet's name (or the name they would give a pet
if they had one) and the name of their street. In their
allotted time they have to say the name of their 'star'
and the role he or she would play in a movie. For
example - "My star's name is Goldie Bayview, and
she is a sophisticated lady of the Confederate South of
the USA last century. She says 'ya'll' a lot." or
"I want to tell you about Butch Forbes - the
meanest, toughest criminal in 1920's Sydney. You could
always pick him by the tattoos on his arms and the scars on his face."
5
Spaceship
The world is about to be
destroyed by an asteroid. One spaceship is being
prepared to leave in a short time carrying the small
number of people who will hopefully ensure the survival
of the human race. This classroom contains the
candidates for that flight - but only one in five can be
selected. Each successful candidate will be allowed to
take one thing on board - and the selection is based on
what thing the student nominates. The exercise is to
have each student speak for 10-30 seconds, nominating
what they would take. The exercise can be further
facilitated by nominating a list of things from which
the students have to choose one and say why.
The main advantage of these
exercises is that the students get to their feet and say
a few words regularly. (This is very important -
allowing the students to sit compromises the
effectiveness.) Mostly, the exercises are a lot of fun
and the participants are eager to participate.
© 2007 Adrian
Pauley & Kevin Ryan |
