Teaching Public Speaking Classes
Speech Class Tips for Middle, High School, & College Students
Planning to teach a public speaking class? Here are some tips for teaching this difficult but important subject.
Public speaking may be one of the most difficult classes to teach. Why? For one thing, many of your students really don't want to be there. Whether you're teaching middle school, high school, or college students, a large number of people have a fear of public speaking--so that's an obstacle you're going to have to contend with. In addition, you'll find that many students have little experience with public speaking, and therefore have only rudimentary skills.
In short, you've got your work cut out for you! And yet public speaking is a critical "real world" skill that students really do need to master, so it's worth the trouble to offer this class. Here are a few basic tips to get you started as you teach public speaking.
Content Tips
Here's one thing students often don't understand: public speaking is about content as much as it is about presentation. That is, it's not enough just to have charismatic speaking skills-- you need to actually say something in a manner that effectively informs or persuades the audience. It's not that delivery isn't important, but it's not the only thing.
Thus, much of what students learn in a public speaking class is just like what they learn in a writing class. One important thing they need to know is organization. If the audience can't follow along, the speech won't be the least bit effective, so it's important to teach students how to use outlines to create an organized speech. It's also important to teach students how to use thesis statements to preview the speech, along with "signposts" words like "first' and "finally" to help the audience follow along. They also need to learn how to use transitions, which is an important part of both writing and speaking.
One major problem that students have with public speaking is the failure to research speeches correctly and incorporate sources accurately while speaking. Since this is a skill that is often lacking in their writing as well, it is doubly worth your efforts to make sure they understand this. In almost all assignments you should require sources. Consistently penalize students who do not cite them or who do so incorrectly. This may sound nit-picky, but this is a very important skill to master.
Another important content lesson that students need to learn is to make their speeches as relevant to their audience as possible. As a teacher, you already know that it's important to use examples and appeals that your students get, and it's important that they learn this too. To help students with this, include class brainstorming sessions where the students help each other think of ways that a proposed topic relates to their experiences.
Finally, an important part of public speaking involves visual aids. Here are some tips for how to use visual aids effectively in a speech.
Delivery Tips
The process of actually getting up in front of the class is the most nerve-wracking part, and many students really need work at this. One of the most important things a teacher can do for his or her students is to provide very frequent opportunities to practice through assignments in ungraded activities. The more they speak, the better they will get, and the less nervous they will be.
One important lesson to teach students is to speak extemporaneously. This means speaking using notes as a tool to guide the speech, as opposed to reading a speech word for word. Nervous students would just as soon read speeches that are written out, especially if they are worried about filler words such as "um" or "uh.' However, a good speaker needs to speak extemporaneously. After all, can you imagine how your lectures would sound if you read them all word for word? Thus, it's important to teach students how to use note cards or other notes to deliver a speech. Assure them that an extemporaneous speech with some stumbles and filler words and such still sounds much better than a speech that's read word for word.
Another concept to instill in the students: the whole point of speaking is to speak to the audience. Students need to look at the audience and establish a rapport with them as opposed to delivering a speech in a vacuum. Making the audience feel like the speaker is with them is the most important part of delivery, and supersedes all the smaller (but important) stuff like speaking slowly and clearly, and not distracting the audience with hand gestures.
Stick With It
Public speaking may be one of the most difficult classes there is to teach--so if you don't master it right away, keep trying. Experiment with other teacher's class exercises, and talk to experienced teachers for advice. Your students may not know it, but you are teaching them a skill they will need throughout their lives. Best of luck!
