Teaching Public Speaking Skills at English Lessons

Teaching Public Speaking Skills at English Lessons

Автор: Хапаева Е.В., учитель английского языка

СОГБОУИ «Лицей имени Кирилла и Мефодия»

Аннотация: Данная статья затрагивает проблему формирования и развития навыков публичного выступления у обучающихся старших классов. В статье приведены примеры приемов по обучению навыкам выступления перед аудиторией, рассмотрены преимущества данного метода, а также даны советы начинающим ораторам.

Public speaking is the process of communicating information to an audience. It is usually done before a large audience, like in school, the workplace and even in our personal lives.

  In public speaking, the information is purposeful and meant to inform, influence or entertain a group of listeners.

There are five elements of public speaking, and it basically boils down to who is saying what to whom using what medium with what effect. In other words, who is the source of the message. What is the message itself. Whom is the audience, while the medium is the actual delivery method and ending in the effect. Think of the effect as the speaker's intent for the speech.

Benefits of teaching public skills to students:

1. Makes you Excel In Other Classes

When you speak coherently, especially in front of an audience, it helps you hone your presentation skills. Today, students are required to give presentations in the form of academic projects. This technique is followed in schools, colleges and even at the workplace. You can only speak well if you are a good researcher, thinker and also a great analyst. These skills lets you learn your subjects thoroughly, and perform well in all of them during your exams. You become more detail-oriented.

#2. Improves your Listening Skills

It develops an ear for listening and greatly enhances students’ listening skills. Listening effectively helps you solve problems easily.

#3. Helps you Influence Others

The power of great articulation and decent public speaking skills provide a lot of advantages: sharing ideas, speaking with authority, you capture the attention of the audience. Gradually, they start listening to you. In other words, you make people believe you and inspire people around.

#4. Boosts your Confidence

Fear paralyzes self-confidence. Public speaking skills boost self-confidence and contribute to the overall self-presentation of a student.

#5. Helps you Network

Delivering a speech implies interaction with the audience. In general, it leads to making new friends, interesting contacts that might not have been possible otherwise.

6. Teaches you How to Argue

Participating in debates and discussions is a very useful skill. Public speaking contributes to making good argument, logics and quick reaction. When you practice public speaking, you use all such skills spontaneously.

7. Develop vocabulary and speech fluency

Giving a speech in front of the public  helps students build and develop their vocabulary. It even brings fluency in the speech.  that is an essential component of every discussion or interview

Strategies for teaching public speaking

So it is important for teachers to use teaching strategies that give students both formal and informal opportunities in school to enhance their direct communication abilities.

1.Word-Object-Person

Another easy way for students to feel comfortable standing up and speaking is to keep the format extremely simple. The Word-Object-Person speech narrows the scope of the topic to three easy-to-remember elements.

Most of the time students use this speech to talk about themselves. They only have to stand up and answer three questions:

What’s one WORD that describes you?

What’s one OBJECT that relates to you?

Who’s one PERSON who has affected you?

The straightforward format helps students feel comfortable with the organization and scope of info. While this speech lends itself to students speaking about themselves, you can use for students to talk about nearly anything that interests them.

2. “Hot chair”.

The game implies asking and answering questions without any preparation on the topic chosen spontaneously. The tempo of the game is very fast. One student sits on a “hot chair”, the rest of the class ask questions on any topic. After answering 5 questions, another student sits on a “hot chair.”

3.PechaKucha

In Tokyo in 2003, Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein devised a new style of presentation for “Young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.” They called their creation pecha-kucha (pronounced “puh-CHOCK-chuh”), which is Japanese for “Chatter.” If you’re tired of the same old PowerPoint speech, then this dynamic presentation style may spice up your class and allow your students to take advantage of a convenient, highly popular new form.

The concept works like this: The speaker creates exactly 20 slides, each of which appears on screen for exactly 20 seconds. The slides are automated to advance on their own, creating a time constraint that compels speakers to express their ideas in a highly organized, clear manner.

Tips for being successful at public speaking.

1.Talk about what you know and make your speech yourself. Never plagiarize. If possible, choose a topic for your speech or presentation that you know a lot about and love

2.Practice. Even great speakers practice their speeches beforehand. Practice out loud with a recording device or video camera and then watch yourself to see how you can improve. If you are feeling brave, practice in front of a friend or family member and ask for feedback.

3. Visualize confidence. Visualize yourself confidently delivering your speech. Imagine feeling free of anxiety and engaging the students in your class.

4.Mind the timing. It is rater challenging the keep the attention of the audience for a long time. So, try to mind the timing – 2-3 minites will be enough.

5.Organize your talk. Every speech should be well-structured: it should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Structure your talk so that the other students know what to expect.

6.Grab the audience's attention. Most of your fellow classmates will pay attention for at least the first 20 seconds; grab their attention during those early moments. Start with an interesting fact or a story that relates to your topic. Give examples, address the audience, be interactive.

7.Have one main message. Focus on one central theme and your classmates will learn more. Tie different parts of your talk to the main theme to support your overall message. Trying to cover too much ground can leave other students feeling overwhelmed.

8.Illistrate your speech with examples and statistics data. Vivid examples catch the attention of other students and deliver a message in a more meaningful way. Whenever possible, use a story to illustrate a point in your talk.

9.Develop your own style. In addition to imitating good speakers, work on developing your own personal style as a public speaker. Integrate your own personality into your speaking style and you will feel more comfortable in front of the class. Telling personal stories that tie into your theme are a great way to let other students get to know you better.

10.Avoid filler words. Words such as "basically", "well", and "um" don't add anything to your speech. Practice being silent when you feel the urge to use one of these words.

11.Vary your tone, volume, and speed. Be emotional. Interesting speakers vary the pitch (high versus low), volume (loud versus soft), and speed (fast versus slow) of their words. Doing so keeps your classmates interested and engaged in what you say.

12.Smile. If all else fails, smile. Your fellow classmates will perceive you as a warm speaker and be more receptive to what you have to say.

The following are some useful aspects/components of speech delivery that can be assessed in a speech evaluation sheet:

Introduction: How effective is the introduction? Does it grab attention?

Content: Is the content well organised? Are the ideas generated suitable to the purpose of the speech? (e.g. expository, narrative, persuasive etc.). Has sufficient library research been carried out?

Voice Quality: Is the voice loud and clear? Are aspects of speech delivery well executed? (aspects such as pitch, rate, pace and pronunciation)

Non-verbal Communication: Are gestures used suitable? Does body language of speaker help/hinder speech delivery?

Eye Contact: Does speaker look at audience when speaking?

Visual Aids: What types of visual aids are used? Are visual aids well prepared and are they suitable?

Conclusion: Is the conclusion effective? What types of strategies are used? (summarising main points, using a quotation, relating an anecdote, etc.). Is the conclusion interesting?

Teaching public speaking skills is not an easy process. It definitely takes a great amount of time and patience, but this activity contributes a lot to the language proficiency of students, teaches them how to successfully interact with the audience and be a confident speaker.

Relevant Sources

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/teaching-skills.html

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/public-speaking-skills

https://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Public-Speaking-Skills