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photo credit: schwa23

Does oral language instruction get the short straw in your langauge arts program?

When preparing your students for standardized tests, those little standards labeled Speaking And Listening can easily slip by the wayside. And yet, is there any skill more important in landing a job, surviving social engagements, or being a successful leader than confident oral language skills?

This standard became the cornerstone of my oral language instruction (Although specific to 6th grade in California, you’re bound to have something similar to teach in your grade/state)

1.7 Use effective rate, volume, pitch, and tone and align nonverbal elements to sustain audience interest and attention.

And here’s a generalization you can use so your students can work whole to part:

Verbal and non-verbal patterns converge to create a powerful public speaker.

1. Introduce Verbal & Non-Verbal Patterns

First, discuss the difference between verbal and non-verbal elements of a speech. Act out these elements to show how things like rate, pitch, and volume differ. Bring students back to the generalization.

• Verbal elements include: rate of speech, pitch, volume, tone, repetition etc.
• Non-verbal elements include: hand gestures, body movement, use of imagery and realia, technology, etc.

2. Identify and Analyze These Patterns Using A Video

Next, show a video of an authentic, amazing speaker. Now you may be eager to jump straight to Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy, but I begin with something that is closer to my students’ hearts: Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ announcment of the iPhone.

Sample tree map for Steve Jobs' speech

• Select parts of the movie to watch (it’s pretty long and parts are too technical)
• Have students identify patterns in Steve Jobs’ use of verbal and non-verbal traits. What does he do that makes him an interesting, effective speaker?
• Students should create some sort of graphic organizer to keep track of specific examples.
• Finally, engage in a discussion of the patterns they found. I create a community graphic organizer.

Next Steps

In the next part, we will expand students’ understanding of these patterns by analyzing additional videos and searching for parallels.

How do you teach students to be effective public speakers? Anyone do anything similar? Share your ideas in the comments.