Public Speaking Class Activities

Day One Class Activities

Imagine the first day of a public speaking class. Public speaking is many American’s number one fear, above death, heights, and bugs (according to the Washington Post).

I tell my student they are courageous for taking a public speaking class. Then I start the semester with a small group activity. Students form groups of 3 to 4 students and introduce one another. Then I provide three questions for them to discuss:

1. What prior experience have you had with speaking in public?

2. What are some barriers that you have encountered?

3. How have you managed to overcome those barriers?

The first question enables students to reflect on previous experiences with speaking at work, school, or for special occasions such as a wedding.

After 10 minutes, I ask one or two students from each group to write their answers to questions 2 and 3 on the board. After that, students introduce themselves to the class and share the answers that each group discussed.

Group Results

Some of the barriers that students shared were anxiety, fear, sweaty palms, using filler words, being embarrassed, talking too fast, language barriers, and being introverted.

Students offered some great suggestions for overcoming these barriers: practicing, being confident, breathing deeply, pausing, and asking other students for help.

The purpose of the activity was to enable students to start learning about one another. Students in the past have told me that presenting is hard to a room full of strangers. Thus, the group activities help students to become familiar with one another prior to giving their first speech in two weeks (introduction speeches).

Your Audience Wants You to Succeed

Students get to know more about each other (their audience). As a result, they are no longer speaking to a room full of strangers. Thinking about the audience as supportive, not critical, helps students to break down their fear of speaking in front of the class.