How to Teach Public Speaking for Teens

From The Homeschool Highschool Podcast · 17:18

Show by The Homeschool Highschool Podcast

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Teach Public Speaking for Teens. How to Teach Public Speaking for Teens Public speaking is unavoidable. Even teens who are terrified of public speaking will likely need to speak in public at some point in their lives. So, if they have learned tools in a non-threatening, even fun way to build confidence and public-speaking skills, they will be better prepared for that time. Why and when teens would need to do some public speaking Teens in a co-op, in group classes, or in dual enrollment at college will most likely need to give a presentation or speech at some point. They will be in front of a group of people, presenting information. That’s public speaking. If they serve in Sunday school or VBS and help teach a lesson or show kids how to do a craft. That’s public speaking. What if they go on a missions trip and have to explain a little bit of the gospel? That’s public speaking. Or they might become entrepreneurs and take a workshop from the Small Business Administration where they learn how to do networking. They will have to get out there and rub elbows in the community. All of that’s public speaking. The list of public speaking experiences is endless. Public speaking happens, so it is a good idea to help teens build confidence doing it Let’s start with a true story. When my daughter was in 12th grade, she was taking photography courses at the local community college. One afternoon, she ran into the dean of the visual arts program. The dean was on her way to a board meeting discussing cutting funding for the photography program. When the dean noticed my daughter, she said, “Hey, listen, please come with me and tell the board why they should not cut funding for the visual arts program.” So my daughter, in the time between seeing her administrator and walking down this very long hallway, had to come up with a speech on the spot about why that funding should not be cut. And guess what? The funding was not cut. Fortunately for my daughter, she told me later that she used the public speaking skills she learned in co-op class. They had been using 7Sisters Speech curriculum. 7SistersHomeschool Speech 1 Curriculum Teaching public speaking When our 7Sisters teens were in high school, they participated in Public Speaking class, either in co-op or umbrella-school classes. Believe it or not, they just had a blast doing it. Public speaking does not need to be intimidating or boring! When we developed the Speech curriculum for high schoolers, we wanted to take the terror out of public speaking and turn it into something more fun. So, they started their group sessions with some deep breathing. “You’re gonna breathe in nice and deep, expand your diaphragm, purse your lips, breathe out slow.” It may sound a little silly, but if you do that two or three times, your stress hormones drop and your brain thinks more clearly. Next, they do some tongue twisters like, “Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.” They were loosening up all those muscles in their mouths, and besides, it’s fun to say tongue twisters together. If you get a group of kids saying tongue twisters together, somebody’s going to start laughing. As soon as you laugh, you can learn. Then we do a little bit of standing up and moving and relaxing the body. Then we learn public speaking and non-verbal stances, helping teens feel confident in their body and their words. Next, they would have a lesson with a non-threatening topic. For instance, they start by presenting kiddie lit. We would pass around children’s books like Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham or other favorite kids’ books. The teens would sit down and have fun reading them to each other. Eventually, they would practice enough that they could read the book aloud to the group. The curriculum includes a variety of non-threatening experiences. Another week, they would present a Bible reading. One week was spoken-word poetry. As they gained confidence, one week was a humorous monologue. They would do visual how-to speeches with visual aids. Other expository speeches included a biographical report. They also did elevator pitches and infomercials as a group. Then we practiced something really practical: job interview skills. The curriculum contained 15 different lessons. By the end of the class, teens felt encouraged that they COULD handle public speaking! Teens without a group can also take a public speaking course. Teens who felt shy and did not want to take a group class learned public speaking skills as well. They could practice at family events, like saying a blessing at Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. Or they could present to parents or siblings. It’s okay! Adding drama Once they got the ball rolling, many of our teens said, “You know what? Being in front of people and saying things isn’t so bad.” So they added drama camp, readers theater events, church plays, or community theater. Some of our homeschool high schoolers got so interested…

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