How do I make my students deliver a good speech?

as originally answered on Quora.com

This is a challenging question in that it doesn’t provide a lot of parameters. How old are the students? Have the students had any speech construction and delivery training? What is the nature of the speech that it is expected? Is it exciting or mundane? Is their performance and delivery rated by a pass/fail grade?

I would start off by addressing one aspect of the question “How do I make …” You can’t make anybody do so. You can encourage them, teach them, help motivate them but make them, no.

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There is an old saying that goes “you can’t push a rope!” You can pull them along with you though. You will likely have some students that are quite excited about creating an effective speech. Others may liken it to chewing on glass.

I think that one solution, time permitting, is to make it a group project, where everybody is responsible for the outcome. The process should be more important than the results.

I recall, way back in grade seven I had to deliver a speech, of my choosing. I spoke on the topic of alien encounters, which was very interesting to me at that age. My teacher did not support me and spoke negatively on my presentation.

Later on in high school, I had an English teacher who took offence to everything that I said when I was asked to answer out loud in class. I rebelled by answering essay questions prefaced by “In your opinion I think …” That sure showed her. I received a 50% final mark, so perhaps I wasn’t as persuasive as I had hoped for.

If you don’t have self-confidence, public speaking isn’t likely for you. There is a saying that goes “the cream will always rise to the top.” In any group, you will have those that thrive on the activity and those that don’t. I believe that utilizing those that love public speaking to help others is one strategy to help your students become better speakers.

If you have the luxury of time, I would suggest running a program that teaches the fundamentals of public speaking. As your students become more comfortable and their self-confidence increases, you will likely receive better results.

Thanks for the question!

 

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