Activities

Spice Up Your Speech

Objectives:

• To target emotions when telling a speech.
• To gain experience telling stories.
• To use language, vocal changes, and body language to elicit emotion.

Instructions:

Nancy Duarte suggests that emotions are the condiments of speech.  Students will tell a true story and try to elicit one of the emotions from the list to “spice up” their speech. They can elicit emotion by their story choice, language choice, vocal changes, and body language.

1. Write or project the emotions on the board: passion, vulnerability, awe, regret, excitement, fear, and power.
2. Give students five minutes to prepare a story that uses that emotion.
3. Have students sit in small groups and tell their stories. Have the audience guess the emotion.
4. Have the audience coach the storyteller on how they could do it better.
5. At another session, have the student stand up and tell the story to the whole class.

Note: I have some practice speeches where students stand in front of the class and speak and others where they sit at their desks in a circle and share.  When I’m working on the skill–I have them present in small groups first and then the next class, I have them stand up for the full presentation experience. If you have time for only one activity, I suggest letting them sit down in a circle with a small group or use break-out groups online.

Videos

Will Smith on Skydiving

Adventureusla. (2017). Will Smith on skydiving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG-F_rRVdLc Standard YouTube License.

Why Storytelling is More Trustworthy Than Presenting Data

Eber, K. (2020). Why storytelling is more trustworthy than presenting data. https://youtu.be/Ez5yS4Q5ASA Standard Youtube License.

Waiting for Water

Fepulea’i-Tapua’i, A.  (2019). Waiting for Water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SJVPFV5iWc

Why Storytelling Matters

Reynolds, G. (2014). Why storytelling matters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbV3b-l1sZs Standard YouTube License.

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Pausch, R. (2007). Really achieving your childhood dreams. https://www.ted.com/talks/randy_pausch_really_achieving_your_childhood_dreams. Standard YouTube License.

Storytelling in Teaching

Kienzle, R. (2020). Storytelling in teaching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9SFLsg3bnM Standard YouTube License.

This is Your Brain on Communication

Hasson, U. (2016). This is your brain on communication. https://www.ted.com/talks/uri_hasson_this_is_your_brain_on_communication?language=en Standard YouTube License.