- A good demonstration or exercise in public speaking is to have students go to the front of a room one by one to recite a speech describing something. The speech can be made up on the spot or written beforehand.
The topic of the speech can be an object, person, place or even an imaginary character that students make up. No matter what it is, what is important is that they are able to describe the topic properly while grabbing the audience’s attention. - To build up confidence, eye contact, speech delivery and stage presence, a good demonstration might be a simple recitation. Let the students choose one of their favorite speeches, such as the Gettysburg Address, allowing a designated amount of time to practice. Have them go to the front one by one to recite their chosen speech.
- Improvisation – or making up a speech or dialogue on the spot – distracts the conscious mind due to the focus involves. This helps people to take their mind off the crowd. Improvisation usually involves several people, who are given a card or piece of paper with a topic written on it. They must then go in front of the class and speak about it. Allow the class to get involved by asking questions when the speaker is at a loss for words.
- A good introduction is necessary to grab the audience’s attention right from the start. Good transitions between topics are needed to keep the audience’s attention and to allow them to follow the flow of the speech. A good ending or conclusion is also recommended for the speech to make a better impact. Allow students to practice these three things by combining them into groups of three. Each person will be assigned one of the three parts of speech. Let each person write their own assigned part; once finished, they will each read their part of the speech in front of the class or group.
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