There are lots of public speaking activities that can be done in order to add fun in learning public speaking. Many people, regardless of age, have or have gone into stage frights. Public speaking skills are not so much of an innate skill. It can be learned and developed through practices and proper training. Activities and exercises are being given to students in order to hone their skills and make them more comfortable in speaking out their ideas in an effective manner of delivery.

 

Listed below are the usual activities that are given out on classes and trainings for public speaking. These are fun, yet effective activities that will surely improve one’s communication skills.

 

1. Keyword Speaking – Keywords serve as guidelines when speaking. It is not recommended to memorize an entire speech. A memorized speech may seem and sound too mechanical and it might make the speaker conscious upon deliverance of words as he might forget a thing which can lead to embarrassment. In keyword speaking, students are given with set of keywords that will serve as guide when speaking. This way, they will not forget the main highlights of the speech and may enjoy a more productive interaction with the viewers while speaking.

2. Volte Face – A certain topic is given to the student. He needs to talk about it for thirty seconds. The first 30-second talk should be favorable to the topic. Usually, a buzzer or beeper is used to know when your time is up. Once the first thirty-second talk is done, another thirty seconds will be up, however, during this time, the student will talk about the same topic for thirty seconds again but in an unfavorable view. When the second thirty-second talk is over, the third thirty-second talk will begin with another favorable view on the topic, and the list goes on unless new instructions are given by the instructor. This exercise aims to develop student’s critical thinking and responsiveness.

3. Impromptu Speech – A topic is given to the student and after one minute or two, he will then be able to deliver his speech, about two to three minutes long. This kind of exercise is often frightening for students but this is actually intended to improve one’s self-confidence since you naturally and spontaneously speak out your views and ideas. In time, once a student gets used to this, the fear in public speaking will be totally gone.

4. Focus – Point Interviews – Focus points are the points given to students by which they need to incorporate these points in a debate or interview as much as possible and as long as it is appropriate. Usually, the instructor makes the student choose his topic and identify at least three focus points. The viewers or audience will then ask questions about the topic. The student should be able to answer properly, stressing out the focus points whenever necessary. This activity teaches a student how to handle an interview, focusing on specific points.

5. Persuasive Argument – This exercise can be done individually or in a group. Each individual or group is given an argument regarding social, political or ethical issues in the society. Each of them must be able to generate their ideas and present it to other individual or group and defend their stand.

6. Nonsense Speech – A fun way to improve one’s bad speaking habits is to conduct a nonsense speech. As the name suggests, nonsense speech is all about speaking nonsensical words. The speech is not formal. This activity aims to improve student’s intonation. Sometimes, the instructor asks the student to recite nonsensical words while delivering it with different emotions.

7. Imaginary Animal – The instructor will give the students instructions to create an imaginary animal. The instructor will also create list of general questions with regards to the imaginary animal. After about fifteen minutes, the each student will present their imaginary animal in front of the class by describing its characteristics. The teacher will ask the questions made earlier and the student is expected to share all the information of his imaginary animal with sense of expertise since that animal is only known by him.

8. How To Demonstration – This is one of the most interesting public speaking activities that can be done in a class. Each student is tasked to perform a short demonstration in front of the class. Some examples of demonstrative topics are “How to Make Chocolate Cookies” or “How to Make an Origami”. In this exercise, a student develops both the speaking and interacting skills. The message must be concise and delivery must be clear. The demonstration should be interesting as well in order to hold the attention of the audience.

9. Acting Numbers – This is also a fun exercise that teaches students to project the right emotions during a speech. The students are being asked to count and recite each numbers with different emotions like one as happy, two as sad, 3 as frightened and the list goes on. In a way, it also reduces the level of stage fright.

10. Alphabet Talk – In alphabet talk, the instructor asks the students to recite all the letters in the alphabet. Each letter should communicate a body movement or gestures as recited. For example, as the student recites letter A, he will raise his left hand. As he recites letter B, he will raise his right leg and so on and so forth. This aims to familiarize the students with different gestures while delivering a speech and make them comfortable in making moves while speaking in public.

 

With all the different public speaking activities available today, it is very possible for everyone to enhance their public speaking skills more. It may also be very helpful if you can monitor and record your progression in public speaking, so you can gauge how well you have been doing. More exposure to public speaking will also gear you up. Practice is always the key. So never give up on practicing, because only then you will be able to master the tricks of public speaking.