Speak

Out

KS3
Writing
Intervention
Welcome
This booklet is divided into sections you can work on in class or try
at home. Some tasks will require a partner or small group. There are
different types of task to try as you make your way through:

Thinking Point
You don’t need to write anything down for these questions. You can just
think about them or talk them over with a partner or small group.

Quickfire Question
These questions need a short, written answer. This should be very brief
and it doesn’t have to be in full sentences.

Give It a Go
This is a task for you to complete related to the topic you have been
learning about. Follow the instructions to see what you need to do.

Speak Out
This task requires you to try out the techniques you have been learning
about. You will need to use your voice for this one!

Contents
Section One: Finding Your Voice ............................................................ 3
Section Two: Listening  .......................................................................... 10
Section Three: Language Choice  .......................................................... 12
Section Four: Drama and Role Play  .................................................... 17
Section Five: Discussing  ........................................................................ 21
Section Six: Giving a Speech  ................................................................ 28
Section Seven: Bringing It Together  .................................................... 35

1 Speak Out
Feedback
As you work your way through the tasks in this booklet, you’ll receive
feedback on what went well and what could be improved. Use the table
below to record this, so you know what you need to work on.

Section Date Feedback

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

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Section One: Finding your Voice
LO: To understand the basic components of public speaking.

Tone and Volume

Thinking Point
What do we mean by tone and volume? Why do we vary these when we
speak? What effect can it have?

Quickfire Question
Can you write a definition for these two terms?

Tone: 

Volume: 

Give It a Go
How many different tones of voice can you think of? Make a list.

1.  7. 

2.  8. 

3.  9. 

4.  10. 

5.  11. 

6.  12. 

3 Speak Out
Speak Out
Try saying the following statement using the different tones you have
listed above. Vary your volume, too. How does its meaning change when
you vary how you say it?
You need to
come with me.

Breathing

Thinking Point
What do you know about how we breathe?

Quickfire Question
Look at the diagram below. Can you work out which labels go where?

lungs vocal chords

ribs mouth

diaphragm trachea

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Give It a Go!
When we inhale, we fill our lungs with air and our diaphragm (a large
domed muscle sitting below our lungs) becomes flatter, helping them
to expand. When we exhale, the air goes up our trachea and passes
through our vocal folds. In order to speak, we vibrate these folds, which
produces sound. When the sound reaches our mouth, we move our
cheeks, tongue and lips to articulate words.

The key ingredient here is breath! If you run out of air, you can’t
speak well.

Practise the process described above, paying special attention to how

the air moves in and out of your body, enabling you to make sound.

Speak Out The Charge of the Light Brigade

Try reciting this verse of
poetry. Experiment with
where you breathe – is it
best to breathe at the end
of lines, or in between
particular words? Can
you inhale enough to get
through the whole verse
without needing to take
a breath?
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!’ he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

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 Body Language
Thinking Point
Apart from the sounds they make, what other clues do we get about
what someone is saying?

Quickfire Question
Write your own definition of the following term.

Body language: 

Give It a Go
Body language is an important part of how we communicate. The way
we position our body and the gestures we make tell others a lot about
how we are feeling and what we are thinking.
Look at the poses below. Can you describe what they might be
telling us?

Body Language What It Tells Me

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 Body Language What It Tells Me

Speak Out!
Go back to the verse from The Charge of the Light Brigade in the last
section. Try reciting this verse with added gestures. How can you use
body language to give more impact to the poem?

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 Using Notes
Thinking Point
Why do we sometimes need to use notes when speaking?

Quickfire Question
What do you think might be the disadvantages of using notes when
speaking to an audience? List as many reasons as you can think of:

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

Give It a Go
Sometimes we need to use notes to ensure that we remember
everything we need to say and the way we want to say it. However, it is
important that we keep our notes as short and to-the-point as possible.
If we spend our time looking down at a sheet of paper, then we lose eye
contact with our audience, and our voice gets directed to the floor!

Look at the notes on the following page. Can you simplify them into
short bullet points?

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 Reasons why homework Reasons why homework
should be banned! should be banned!

1. It takes so long to do and we 1.

should be allowed more free
time to ourselves. Sometimes
we can spend up to three hours
a night doing it!
2.
2. It doesn’t really help with
learning and so it is completely
pointless. We should be taught
everything in school time.
3.
3. I f you get stuck on something
at home there is no-one to ask
for help so there is nothing you
can do.

4. There is no way to know if 4.

people have done it themselves
so some people might be
cheating which is not fair.

Speak Out
Now, practise using the notes you have made above to deliver a short
speech about banning homework. Remember to:
• Hold your notes no higher than chest height. Your audience needs
to see your face.
• Only glance at your notes every now and then. Maintain eye contact
with your audience.
• Make sure your head is up so that your voice can travel to your
audience – not the floor.

Try practising in front of a mirror to check you are doing it correctly!

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Section Two: Listening
LO: To hone listening and active listening skills.

The Importance of Listening

Thinking Point
What do we need to do to ensure we are listening effectively?

Quickfire Question
How do you feel when you know someone isn’t listening properly to
you? Write a list of words to describe your feelings.

Give It a Go
Find a news report on TV or radio. Listen to the first item carefully.
Can you summarise what it is about?

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 Active Listening and Acknowledging
Thinking Point
What ways do we show someone that we are listening to them?

Quickfire Question
Can you find a definition for the following terms?

Active listening: 

Acknowledging: 

Give It a Go
We can often show we are actively listening by using gesture, such
as nodding our head. Another way to show we are concentrating
is to acknowledge what the other person is saying by making small
interjections. These need to be very brief, so that we are not interrupting
– just confirming that we are listening.

Ask a partner to tell you about their weekend. Practise active listening
techniques to show that you are listening to them.

yes I see uh-huh

oh right Mmm...

Speak Out!
Now, you need to acknowledge what your partner has told you. What
questions can you ask them to show you have been listening? How can
you move your conversation forward?

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Section Three: Language Choices
LO: To know how and why we might use language differently.

Formal and Informal Language

Thinking Point
What influences the way a person speaks? Think about the people you
come across every day and why they might speak differently.

When we speak to different people, we might use different language

depending on:
• who we are speaking to;
• what we are talking about.

We change how we talk depending on how important they are or what

position of responsibility they hold. For example, we might use ‘posher’
language if we were speaking to the head teacher than we would with
our friends. We call this formality. This depends on:
• who your audience is;
• how old they are;
• what matters to them;
• what you want them to do or feel;
• why they are listening to you.

Quickfire Question
Look at the list below. Write down if you think you would use a formal
(posh language) or informal (chatty language) tone with them:

head teacher  grandma 

friends  neighbour 

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Quick Fire Question
Formality is on a spectrum. Write on the scale below where you think
each phrase should be in terms of how formal it is.

formal informal

1. How are you all today?

2. Thank you for having me.
3. Thanks for listening.
4. I am passionate about helping people.
5. To not do anything would be unforgivable.
6. Hi everyone, I’m here to chat to you about…
7. Next up, let’s talk about what we get up to in our lessons.

Jargon
Thinking Point
If you went into a hospital and listened to two doctors having a medical
discussion, you might find it quite difficult to understand. Why might
that be?

Just like we change how we talk depending on who we are talking to,
we might also change what we say depending on the other person’s
knowledge and understanding of the subject area. For example, the two
doctors in the Thinking Point above will use medical vocabulary that
someone who isn’t a doctor or medical professional might not know or
understand. We call this language ‘jargon’ and this refers to any special
language that is used in a particular profession, trade or situation.

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Thinking Point
Who else might use jargon?

What do you think the advantages and disadvantages might be when

using jargon?

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Quickfire Question
Look at the words below. Circle any words that you think are jargon.

stethoscope car piston

verb winch book

PPE industry RAM

defender player firewall

Give It a Go
Read the example paragraph below. Using a highlighter, can you identify
any jargon being used?

When you are scuba diving, it is important that you follow some simple
steps before each dive:

1. Make sure that you check your tanks and gear, such as your
snorkel and mask, carefully and complete the buddy check before
each dive.

2. Once in the water, descend slowly and equalise every few feet.

3. When you get down, make sure your buoyancy is dialled in.

4. You may also need to adjust air pressure in your ears. You can also
assess your health suitability for a dive by consulting a doctor with
awareness of the Divers Alert Network (DAN).

5. Don’t forget to regularly check the gauge on your tanks to make

sure you have enough air to continue your dive.

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Give It a Go
You are going to have a go at writing your own paragraph using jargon!
You might like to write about:

Topic Jargon Examples

playing football defender, striker, shin pad, tackle, goal

English lessons verb, AFOREST, paragraph, semi-colon

gymnastics balance beam, dismount, roundoff

dance cannon, accent, axel, plie

science Bunsen burner, beaker, test tube

Speak Out
Swap your work with someone sitting near to you or next to you. Read
out their paragraph to practice using jargon in your speech.

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Section Four: Drama and Role Play
LO: To practise drama and role-play techniques.

Working from a Script

Thinking Point
If you could play any character from a film, play or TV series, who would
it be and why?

Quickfire Question
When we read a character in a play, what clues do we have to know
what they are like? Make a list.

Give It a Go
Read this short extract from a play. What clues do we get about Marlowe
from the text? Highlight anything which might give you a hint about how
an actor should play his character - annotate to show what it tells you.

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 The Jacksons’ kitchen. Selma is at the sink, peeling potatoes. Marlowe
enters in his school uniform and dumps his bag on the floor.
Selma: Hello, love. Did you have a good day?
Marlowe: Nope. (Sits.)
Selma: What happened? Did you get into trouble again?
Marlowe: Why d’you say that? Why are you always having a go
at me?
Selma: I’m not. I just-
Marlowe: (Pushes back his chair and stands up.) Can you just
get off my back for five seconds? Everyone’s always
getting at me.
Selma: Maybe there’s a reason for that.
Marlowe: (Shouts.) What’s that supposed to mean?

Speak Out
Now, with the help of a partner, take it in turns to play Marlowe in the
above scene. Think about:
• how he moves;
• the gestures he uses;
• whether he looks at the other character;
• the volume of his voice;
• the tone of his voice.

Experiment with different ways of playing the scene. Can you convey
different things about Marlowe’s character by changing the decisions
you make?

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 Role-Play
Sometimes, we have to play a character without having a script to rely
on. This is called improvisation.

Thinking Point
Why do you think we might use improvisation when we study a text
in English?

Quickfire Question
Does anything worry you about improvising a character? Write any
concerns you have here:

Give It a Go
Improvising a character can be scary because we don’t know what we
will be asked or how we will have to behave. The best thing to reduce
your nerves is to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

Choose a character from a book you have read recently, or a film or TV

programme you have seen. Fill in the boxes with as much information
as you can – if you don’t know the answers, you can make them up!

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What five words would describe this person?

What makes them happy?

What makes them angry?

What makes them sad?

What do they want most in the world?

What do they fear most in the world?

How do they feel about other characters in the book/film/series?

What do they want other people to think of them?

How does your character move/sit?

Speak Out
Now, ask a partner to hot-seat you in the character you have chosen.
Try to be as faithful to your notes as possible.

Did you find out anything new about your character?

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Section Section Five: Discussing
LO: To develop skills for effective discussions.

Roles in Group Discussions

Thinking Point
Think back to when you have worked in a group in different lessons.
Can you think of a time your group worked really well? Can you think of
a time when your group was less productive?

When you are asked to discuss something as a group, there are ways to
make your discussion more productive and effective. When we discuss
ideas, it gives us chance to gain feedback from others and develop our
ideas to make them even better. But this can only be done if we follow
some rules to make sure we get the most out of our discussions.

Quickfire Question
What makes a good discussion? List five things.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

What kinds of things happen when a discussion doesn’t work or isn’t

productive? List five things.

1. 
2. 
3. 

21 Speak Out
 4. 
5. 

The best discussions will usually have people listening to each other,
giving everyone a chance to share their ideas and views. Also, there will
be specific roles for individuals within the discussion so that everyone
has a part and a purpose.

Give It a Go
Look at the roles below that would help to make discussions more
productive. Can you match the definition with the role?

A thinker who can query ideas that are put

Listening/ forward in order to develop them further. This
Note Taking may also involve asking for more details or
posing questions about how it might work in
order to grow the idea.

Questioning/ This is an important job because it involves

Clarifying listening and then repeating back ideas in a
concise way. It may also involve sharing verdicts
or outcomes from the discussion in terms of
next steps.
Direction/
Staying
Writing down what is said so that nothing is
on Topic
forgotten. This could be noted down in the form
of a mind map or list.

This person needs to be confident and able to

Summarising/
keep the rest of the team focused on the task at
Consolidating
hand. It is important they know the focus of the
Discussion
discussion to make sure the discussion that is
taking place is relevant.

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Give It a Go
Look at the roles from the previous task. Which one do you think you
would be best at in a discussion and why? 

Speak Out
With someone sitting near to you or next to you, discuss the roles that
you think you might be best suited to. Make sure you are using your
listening skills and summarise what the other person has said about
why they would choose that role for themselves!

Listening and Responding

Thinking Point
What tools do you need to have an effective discussion?

In group discussions, it is really important that everybody has chance to

share their views. This means that everyone in the group has to listen as
well as share their viewpoint. Being a good listener is just as important
as being able to share your ideas effectively.

Quickfire Question
Look at the images on the next page.

Which group of people are having a more effective discussion? How do

you know?

23 Speak Out
Some of the things you might have spotted are below.

1. Eye Contact
Looking someone in the eye while they are speaking or you are speaking
to them shows you are interested and engaged in what they are saying.
In a group situation, this might mean looking around as you talk and as
a listener, it means that you are showing you are focused on what they
are saying.

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2. Body Language
Make sure your body is facing the person who is talking to show that
you are listening and focused on them. Sitting away from them or
having ‘closed’ body language like hunching over or folding your arms
makes you look like you are defensive about what they are saying or
not interested.

3. Direct Questioning
Asking questions about what someone has been saying shows that you
are listening and processing the information. You must make sure that
you wait for them to finish before you ask, but it can show that you are
considering what they are saying and trying to further understand.

4. Taking It in Turns to Talk

Talking over someone shows that you are not listening to them or
interested in what they have to say. This is not an effective way to
communicate or discuss something because not everyone will have a
fair chance of sharing their views or being heard.

5. Treating Everyone’s Views Equally

You might not always agree with what someone else is saying – that’s
OK! However, everyone is entitled to have an opinion so you must not
laugh at someone else’s views or belittle them. Instead, you might
respond to them by saying something like: “That’s a valid point, but I
always thought that…” or “I have a different view to you – I believe that…”
This still allows you both to share different opinions, but in a polite and
appropriate way.

Did you spot any others?

25 Speak Out
Give It a Go
Look at the grid of different suggestions about what might make you a
superstar at listening and responding. Highlight the ones that you think
you could do in your speaking and listening to be successful:

You look at When someone is You take it in turns to

the person who speaking, you turn to share your ideas.
is speaking. face them.

When it is your turn As someone is talking, When you have

to speak, you mumble you nod as you listen. listened to someone’s
and say your view view, you ask them
quickly to get it over questions to find out
and done with. more.

Someone says You make sure that Someone says

something that you you speak clearly and something that you
don’t agree with. You without using any think is stupid so you
nod in agreement. slang. laugh and nudge the
person next to you.

Someone says You include members You have a different

something that you of the discussion who view to someone
don’t agree with. You may be a bit quieter else. You say “I
interrupt them to or who haven’t had can understand
share chance to share their your thoughts on
your viewpoint before view yet. that, but have you
they have finished considered…” before
speaking. sharing your view.

Speak Out
In groups of three, roll the dice to get a column and a row number from
the topic grid on the next page, then practise discussing it. Make sure
you are following the rules of effective listening and responding!

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 1 2 3 4 5 6

The
Action films The best
Cats are Boys are English is seaside
are the colour for
1 better than stronger better than is better
best kind a room
dogs. than girls. maths. than a
of films. is white.
city break.

Being It would You should

Everyone Live music There
happy be good not have
should is better shouldn’t
is more to live to attend
2 take a than be such
important until you school if
year out recorded things as
than being are 120 you don’t
to travel. music. exams.
rich. years old. want.

Summer
Cheese holidays Everyone Roller The legal
Nurses
and onion should be should be discos driving age
should
crisps are shorter taught how should should be
3 be paid
the best with more to swim be part of lowered
more than
flavour holidays before they the school to 16
footballers.
of crisps. during are seven. curriculum. years old.
the year.

Phones Slow and School

Pink is Driving is Footballers
should be steady uniforms
4 the best better than should be
banned in wins the should be
colour. walking. paid less.
schools. race. banned.

Christmas Weekends
Everyone Night is Homework Eating
is the should be
5 should better is good for animals
best time three days
own a pet. than day. students. is wrong.
of year. long.

The legal
Everyone
drinking Games People who All lessons
should be
Summer is age Design murder should
made to
6 better than should be should be should be group
join the
Winter. increased a GCSE face capital work all
school
to 21 subject. punishment. the time.
choir.
years old.

27 Speak Out
Section Section Six: Giving a Speech
LO: To develop skills for effective discussions.

Structuring an Argument
Thinking Point
What kind of technique could you use to make your speech persuasive?
In order to write an effective speech, you must prepare! This means
making a plan about your speech and what is going to be in each section.

You should aim to write at least five paragraphs including your

introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph should have a topic sentence at the start. This is a

sentence that opens the paragraph and tells you what the rest of the
paragraph is about.

Structure of a Speech

Make it clear that it is intended to be spoken e.g.

I am here today to tell you about / talk to you…
Opening

Your introduction needs to:

Introduction
• Grab the reader’s attention.

• Clearly show the direction of your writing.

• Needs a lively and entertaining tone.

• Short and snappy – 2-3 sentences

• You could start with a rhetorical question

to hook your reader.

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 Structure each paragraph using the following:
2× topic led Topic sentence + 3× techniques.
paragraphs
For higher level candidates:
(minimum) Vary paragraph length and structure.

Your conclusion needs to:

Conclusion • Link back to your introduction.
• End on a strong point.

• Use a rhetorical question to keep the

reader thinking.

• Consider using a group of three

ambitious adjectives to sum up.
• Thank the audience for listening.

Being Persuasive

Thinking Point
Think about the best assembly that you have seen at school. What made
it interesting and engaging?

Being able to deliver a speech and keep people interested is really

important and there are lots of ways that you can achieve this.

Direct Address
Talking directly to your audience will make sure they are involved and
engaged. You can do this by using personal pronouns (I, you, your, we,
our). These make it seem like you are speaking to each individual even
when you are speaking to a lot of people all at once.

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Quickfire Question
Look at the examples below. Which one talks directly to the listener and
engages the listener through direct address?

Example 1
Someone needs to do something
about the rubbish that is all
over school. It looks messy. It is
strongly believed that it is down
to the students to sort it out.
Example 2
We need to do something about
the rubbish that is all over
school. Don’t you think it looks
messy? I strongly believe it is
down to us to sort it out.

Extension: Highlight any personal pronouns you can see being used in
either example.

The example I think is the most effective is 

because 

Repetition
Repeating a keyword or phrase throughout your speech makes it
memorable and gives it a rhythm.

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Quickfire Question
Look at Winston Churchill’s famous speech declaring war. Highlight any
words or phrases that you think are repeated for effect.

Why do you think it is effective to repeat these phrases? How might it

make you react as a listener?

Use of Voice
Remember that speeches are listened to, so using your voice is one way
to make it really effective!

Volume
Firstly, you need to be heard by everyone that you are addressing.
That means you can’t whisper! At the same time, you can’t shout either
because that would be unpleasant to listen to.

What you need to do is speak at a volume that is appropriate for

everyone to hear and then sometimes say some important words a
little louder so that the audience know that it is important. We call this
emphasising a word.

Speak Out
Read the sentence's below. Where there is a word that is bold, say this
word a little louder.

31 Speak Out
 • We must do something.
• Donate today.
• It is a disgrace that some children are without food.
• What difference did it make to the sentences?

What difference did it make to the sentences?

Now, look at the sentence's below. Which words do you think need to
be said a little louder to emphasise them in an effective way? Try saying
them and then underline the word you want to emphasise.
6. Something I am passionate about is football.
7. I strongly believe that nurses should be paid more.
8. Why is this happening?

Body Language
Remember the work we did on body language at the beginning of
this booklet? Just as we need to use our body language to show we
are listening to others, our body language can be used to engage our
listeners too.

Your audience is much more likely to be engaged if you have open body
language, such as arms naturally at the sides of your body or gesturing
as you speak. This is where you move your hands as you talk. Watch
people talking on TV without the sound on and you will see that they are
moving their bodies all the time as they speak.

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Facing your audience with your head up
and looking around at different listeners
is also important to make people feel
involved and engage them.

Finally, making sure that you smile and

look relaxed is also important. This relaxes
your audience and shows that you are
confident about what you are saying – this
builds trust.

Quickfire Question
Look at the image. What suggestions could
you make to the speaker to help them
improve their body language?

Other Techniques You Could Use to Engage Your Audience

Technique Why It Is Effective

imperative This is a type of instruction that you can give to

your audience. This makes them feel like they
need to act on the points you have made in your
speech, especially if you use personal pronouns to
talk directly to them. E.g.

Donate now.

You need to do something now!

Go out there and shout about it!

33 Speak Out
 pauses Using a pause can be really effective to emphasise
a point and give your audience time to think. E.g.

Something needs to change.

[pause]

Even a small step could be a big change.

rhetorical This is a question that implies the answer and is a

question brilliant way to engage your audience because it
makes them think about what you are saying. E.g.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

How can you make a difference?

hyperbole This is a posh name for exaggeration or going

over the top. This can add some humour to your
speech or over-emphasise a point to make it more
important. E.g.

This is the best charity in the world.

This food is the best in the universe.

Speak Out
Read each of the examples out loud, practising using different volume
and body language.

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Section Seven: Bringing It Together
LO: To practise effective speaking and listening skills.

Thinking Point
What has been your favourite task in this booklet?

Quickfire Question
Why are good speaking and listening skills important?

Give It a Go
You’re about to try an independent speaking and listening task. What
do you need to remember to do? Make a checklist of all the things you
have learned.

35 Speak Out
 

Speak Out
You’re now going to put into practice all the skills you have learned in
this booklet. Pick a task from the choice below.

Write and deliver a speech to Write and deliver a

your class persuading them to presentation to the class about
abolish school uniform. a hobby or interest of yours.

Find a short scene or In a group, choose roles and

monologue from a play and prepare, then have a discussion
perform it for the class. about a recent news issue.

Prepare notes on a character

from a text you have studied
in class and get the rest of the
class to hot-seat you in the role.

Good Luck!

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37 Speak Out
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