Public Speaking

In Awkward memorization from Seth Godin's Blog from Seth Godin share,

“My suggestion: Don’t memorize your talk. Memorize your stories. Ten stories make a talk. Write yourself a simple cue card to remember each story’s name. Then tell us ten stories.”

I hate public speaking! I have hated writing and reading speeches and avoid them at all costs!

I have given a few presentations (which I prefer to do rather than speeches). I see giving a presentation a lot like teaching a class.

Ever since I’ve seen TED talks, I realized that this is how I want to give a presentation. I don’t want to use a PowerPoint that lists things and then I read the things off of the slide. I know when I see these things, I read them and copy them down. I’m more focused on the slides and the words than I am on the speaker.

The most effective way that I have given a presentation is by finding pictures that represent what I want to speak about. These pictures are a trigger for me so I know what I want to speak about. On each picture slide, I will have a title that reminds me of what I want to say. People seem to enjoy the pictures as much as hearing me speak. I think the pictures help relate to what I’m talking about.

I have my own notes for each slide that remind me to talk about the main points I want to say. This really helps me at the beginning when I get really nervous. I try to keep what I say short for each slide so that I’m moving to the next slide easily. This changing of pictures help keeps the audience engaged. I also let the audience know that I will share my notes later with them, so they don’t have to copy everything I say. This is always helpful to me so that I can really pay attention to what is being said.

Since I’ve started giving presentations this way, I am much more comfortable with talking before a group. I just know in my head that I need to avoid saying it is a “speech” and I will do much better.

We need to teach our students how to give presentations like this. This keeps them from trying to memorize words or facts and will help them really learn the material. They still will have notes but won’t be allowed to read them from the paper. They will have to put the information in their own words.

How do you help your students learn how to do public speaking? Please share.

Photo by Miguel Henriques on Unsplash

Learning to Listen Better

In 10 Ways to Listen More. Talk Less. Teach Well  from Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, gives great suggestions on how to listen better. She also says,

“So often, people don't hear what you say because they're too busy formulating their own response. Let's focus on listening, especially to our students…Remember that sometimes your behavior shouts so loud people don't hear what you say. If you're talk about listening well and you don't do it yourself, you're a hypocrite and so am I. Let's be true to what we believe in our classrooms. Listen more. Talk Less. Teach Well.”

I have to confess that I am one of those people. For some reason, I am so worried about what I’m going to say and how people will receive it that I sometimes shut down. I focus on one thing that is said and I’m so busy thinking of my answer that I don’t hear the rest of the conversation. Sometimes I disagree so strongly that I want to object to each point separately. I don’t want to hear the rest of what is being said. Vickie gives some great suggestions for helping this. I thought I would add some more for my students.

Write notes. I have started writing down the points that the speaker is giving. Then when it is my turn to speak, I can address each of the points that were given.

I can also jot a word down to jog my memory about what I want to say later. Sometimes I interrupt because I’m afraid I won’t remember what I want to say later.

In a disagreement, it helps if each person gets to say all that they want to say without interruption. Then the next person should be given the same respect and opportunity. Once both parties have had their say, then they need to take turns responding. Some kind of manipulative to hold is a great signal as to which person has the floor.

I have attended a meeting where the person leading the discussion had a great way of running the meeting. During the discussion, each person could talk about one thing that pertains to a specific topic and every person in the group would be given this opportunity. After everyone has had a chance to speak, each person would be given another chance. This continues until all points have been discussed or time has run out. This really helps stop any interruptions or from people going off on a tangent.

How do you handle conversation interruptions? Do you do this and how do you stop yourself? How do you teach your students not to interrupt?

Image: 'The librarian warning'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53326337@N00/4687584539

Teaching Students to Speak Out

In Leaders today and tomorrow from Generation YES Blog, Sylvia Martinez states,

“Great leadership is inclusive leadership, yet the largest stakeholder group in schools is often forgotten — students.”

This is so important and I think so many adults forget this. What about the students? Why are they often times forgotten or ignored?

Many times I meet with students and ask them questions like:
1. What do you think?
2. What works for you?
3. How can we solve this problem?

Most of the time, I am given a blank stare and no answers. They are either stunned that I would even ask them for input or they are afraid to give their input.

I have had students tell me that no one has ever asked them this or that they believe that no one really cares. Even if they give the answers, they feel that no one really listens to them.

How many times has adults said the same thing about their administration? Or even about the government? Have these students just grown into adults and remain the same silent stakeholders?

I need to teach my students to speak out. I need to teach them to ask questions and question things that they don’t understand or believe. I need them to find their voices.

Many times my students don’t even know the questions they should ask. By modeling, I can show them how to come up with the questions and how to ask them in appropriate ways.

I need to show my students how to be proactive without appearing aggressive. They need to understand and believe that they should have a say in their future and things that will affect them.

I started by explaining the IEP process to my students and then explaining their individual IEP. By encouraging them to run their own IEP meetings, I am allowing them to have some control. I am giving them opportunities to talk and explain why they feel things are important to them. They are able to share things they thing will work for them. Sometimes we have to trust them by letting them have control over some of the things that affect them.

They need to find out what they believe in and why. When they see injustices or have someone question their values, they need to be able to speak out. They need to defend their beliefs and their rights when necessary. This will be helpful if they are ever faced with bullying. By speaking out, they will become stronger individuals, not in physical strength but in mind.

I need to teach my students self advocacy. They need this not only in the classroom, and in the workplace but in every aspect of their lives.

How do you teach your students to speak out? Please share.

Image: 'Speak out!'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11883362@N00/2273448091

I Can’t Hear You!

In Pump up the Volume from Learn Me Good by Mister Teacher, he states,

“I have a strict rule in my class that when someone works a problem in front of the class, they are not allowed to just write and DO the problem. They have to explain the steps verbally as they go. In some cases, I have to stop a kid midway through their first step and say, "We can't hear you." Usually, they pause for a heartbeat, then start over AT EXACTLY THE SAME VOLUME LEVEL. So I repeat, "We can't hear you. Please speak louder."”

When I was in school, I was very shy and unsure of myself. Classes where a teacher insisted that I speak in front of the class would make me break out in hives. In fact, it was probably the class that I hated the most. My fear of talking in class actually made focusing on the content almost impossible. I was probably the least popular student in the whole class and even experienced some bullying (because they usually attack the weakest student). I still can feel that same feelings just thinking about those situations. I knew that when I became a teacher, this was one of the things that I would not inflict on my students.

Maybe the student doesn’t talk loudly because of fear. They are afraid they might have the answer wrong and previously, they were ridiculed by the teacher for doing it wrong. Maybe they have been laughed at by classmates when they have gotten the wrong answer. Maybe they really don’t understand this concept and by making them talk about it in front of everyone just makes them feel bad. Sometimes this fear is so real and so big, that they would rather fail then to get up in class to do this. Unless a student trusts the teacher and the classroom, this fear is really hard to overcome.

I would allow students who want to work out a problem in front of the class to come up and do this. There are always some students who really like the attention and don’t mind doing this. This helps the others see a peer working out the problem and going through the thought processes out loud. I could still correct any mistakes as they happen and those students who make the same mistakes can see it from their seats.

If I call on students who don’t feel comfortable working it out in front of the class, I would give them the option of explaining to me at their seats how they worked it out. This could be done at a later time or I could ask the students to watch and help the student at the front of the class while I go around and ask individuals to tell me their process. Having a choice really alleviates their fear and lets them concentrate on the concepts.

My main reason for wanting them to explain the steps would be to check for understanding. Maybe if I was teaching a speech or drama class, talking in front of the group would be important but I need to look at the reasoning behind my activities. I’m afraid that by insisting a student speak louder only makes their brains shut down rather than encouraging them to try harder. Eventually by encouraging the students and building trust, they may eventually volunteer to work out a problem in front of the class. I would continue to ask them to come to the front of the class but if they turn me down, I would offer them other options to let them show me they understand. Maybe one day they will surprise me and say yes the next time I ask them.

I think eventually these students will feel successful when they can solve a problem on their own. Whether they show this by explaining it to the whole class or just to me, doesn’t really matter. Their success is what is important to me.

Original image: 'What did you say???' http://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/1905410893 by: Keven Law