Public Speaking for Youth

Before we begin

Thank you for using this guide. Its intention is to help teach public speaking
skills to elementary/middle school aged students. The following lessons are
layouts of useful information when teaching public speaking skills. Please
use this guide in any way that would be the most beneficial to the audience.
There is 7 outlines of lessons covering the topics of: controlling your fear,
impromptu speaking, selecting your topic, organizing
presentations/speeches, planned speaking, knowing your audience, and
body language. Along with the lessons, it is advised that the lessons are
paired with activities and sample presentations to achieve the full effect. At
the end of the lessons there are a few sample activities to help out. This
material was created using materials of Toastmasters International. For
additional resources you can look on their website ​www.toastmasters.org​.

Presenter tips
➢ Set the skills in context to situations the students may face
➢ Demonstrate techniques when necessary and have students follow
along
➢ Use real life examples when possible
➢ Have students participate in an activity before the lesson so they can
better grasp it
➢ This is just an outline, paraphrase and add on as necessary
Lesson 1, Controlling Fear
It is common for both experienced and beginning speakers to be nervous
about giving a speech. The difference is that the experienced speaker
knows how to control this nervousness and use it to their advantage. By
understanding the causes and symptoms of the fear, a speaker can
harness those “butterflies” and channel it toward a positive outcome. The
experienced speaker also knows how to appear confident in front of an
audience. To obtain a confident appearance, a seasoned speaker is able to
use methods to remain calm and clear.

Anxiety Triggers
➢ New and unknown situations – New experiences are stressful. The
inability to anticipate the unforeseen causes high levels of anxiety.
➢ Risk of failure – From childhood to adulthood, we dream of success,
victory, and achievement. To not finish first or be the best often
increases nervousness and anxiety.
➢ Potential for appearing foolish – Beyond achieving goals, we all want
to appear “cool” in the way we accomplish our goals. No one wants to
suffer embarrassment. The possibility of embarrassment causes
great fear and panic.
Anxiety symptoms
When confronted with a situation that causes anxiety, the body responds
by increasing the flow of adrenaline. Adrenaline causes the heart to beat
faster. Extra blood and oxygen rush to the muscles and brain. This natural
rush provides extra energy that enables quick responses, but it also can
have some less desirable effects:
➢ Increased heart rate
➢ Butterflies in the stomach
➢ Shakes
➢ Lightheadedness
➢ Dizziness

Ways to control your fear

➢ Experience – Studies show that one of the best methods for reducing
anxiety is practice. Repeatedly giving speeches reduces fear and
helps to build confidence. After speaking a few times, you begin to
put your anxiety into perspective. Try these techniques to gain
experience:
○ Practice in front of a mirror.
○ Rehearse in front of family and/or friends.
➢ Visualization – Research shows that by imagining what will happen,
before it happens, a person can become better prepared and reduce
fear. When you are visualizing make sure to use these techniques.
○ Envision what you want to happen; rehearse to yourself
 ○ Picture presentation going in order with all points in line
○ Keep in mind audience and reaction
➢ Relaxation – Because the mind and body are connected, feelings
often affect the body physically. As anxiety builds, so does physical
stress. However there are many ways to reduce stress, practice
these techniques to reduce tension:
○ Stretch out a loosen tight muscles, such as shoulders or arms
○ Take deep breaths
■ Circle breathing: 3 second inhale, 3 second holding of
breath, 3 second exhale
■ Deep breaths
○ Participate in an different activity such as art or sports
Lesson 2, Impromptu speaking
Many times speakers are given a plan on when and where they have to
speak. For example a slideshow presentation, or a report. However, this is
not always the case, but with enough practice, anyone can develop the
ability to present ideas clearly in any impromptu speaking situation.

When to use this

➢ Class discussions
➢ Formal conversations

Five step formula

➢ Listen
○ To truly be able to answer someone, you need to first listen to
what they say.
○ If you agree, your reply will reflect your knowledge of their
point. If you disagree, you are able to make a suggestion to
their thoughts.
➢ Concentrate
○ Don’t interject your own ideas before the other person has
finished. Instead, focus on what is being said.
○ The advantages are:
■ People are more likely to respect and listen to your ideas
when you listen to them.
 ■ You’ll be able to incorporate some of what you’ve heard
into your reply.
■ You’ll improve your chances of commenting directly on
what you’ve heard so you can give relevant responses.
➢ Pause
○ Pausing before you speak allows you to refresh your thoughts
and think of an answer.
○ A pause can add drama, allow the audience to absorb your
message, or give them the opportunity to respond to humor.
○ A pause can even help you catch your breath while thinking of
what you will say next.
➢ Confirm
○ Repeating or confirming the question out loud provides you
with a clearer idea of how to respond and will help verify the
topic in case you misunderstood the question.
○ It can also help show the other person or people that you were
listening and value what they said
➢ Tell
○ Be enthusiastic but stay focused and stick to the essentials.
○ Don’t give in to the urge to over analyze. Stick to a few main
points
○ Once you have said what you want to say, don’t over do it.
Bring your comments to a close; emphasize your main point,
smile, and make eye contact with your listener if possible.
Lesson 3, Selecting your topic
Sometimes there are strict guidelines given for a presentation. This
includes topic, contents, etc. However, there may be times where this is not
true. In the case that it is this way, a speaker wants to make sure they are
maximizing their potential by the topic and information they choose to use.

Topic
When selecting a topic becomes difficult, it is time to consult two general
sources of information:
➢ Personal Experience:
○ The more personal involvement, interest and enthusiasm you
bring to a speech, the more likely your audience will respond
positively.
○ Personal experiences cause the speaker to deliver the speech
with passion, because the subject matter is not separated from
the speaker’s daily life or history. There is a large amount of
subject matter related to your personal experience. Here are a
few examples of personal topics that will generate ideas:
■ Sports,
■ Hobbies
■ Entertainment
■ Values, and goals.
 ➢ Reference Material:
○ An unlimited amount of ideas is no further away than your
fingertips. Think of where you want to find your information and
start there. A few ideas are:
■ Websites
■ Books.
■ Magazines
■ Newspapers

Narrowing it down
Before you choose any topic there are a few things to consider:
➢ Parameters:
○ even if you have some room to be creative, the teacher
probably still has some sort of guidelines your topic must fit into
○ For example: you may get to choose your state for a state
report, but you still have to choose one of the 50 states
➢ Passion:
○ With emotional connection or just general interest in your topic
your presentation/speech is likely to be better
○ Choose a topic that interests or inspires you
➢ Resources
 ○ Before deciding on anything, a speaker wants to make sure
they will be able to find enough information on their topic to
complete the job

Once you choose a topic

Once a topic is chosen it does not mean all the decisions are over.
Assigned topic or not it is likely that the speaker has some control over the
information they include. Not all the facts in the world can fit into a
presentation/speech so there are a few things to consider when choosing
what to include and what to leave out.
● Importance
○ Not every detail can be a fun fact, make sure to have all the
important information and essential details
● Interest
○ Choose information that interests you
○ Choose information that would interest others or just give them
a better understanding of the topic
Lesson 4, Organizing your presentation
Before any presentation, project, slideshow,or speech, it is important to
have a plan in mind. In a speech, someone may write things out word for
word, but in a project there is a possibility that improv will be necessary.
Either way, organizing a presentation is the first step in nailing it.

Identify
You want to take into account all that you know about your topic and
sources (see lesson 3), then you can dive into organizing your
presentation. Before you start, however, you want to take into account
requirements or parameters on your project
➢ What are the requirements?
○ Many presentations, especially in school, will have
requirements
○ Consider these to make sure you are checking all the boxes.
Some examples include
■ Time and/or length
■ Content
■ Sources: is there enough reliable information on the ideas
and which sources will you use
Organizing
Now that you have your topic, content, and are meeting all the
requirements, it’s time to get to work.
There are different approaches based off of project type and personal
preference
➢ Slideshow
○ For a slideshow know your information and add it to the slides
○ You also have the option to opt out of reading directly of the
screen and instead using big points and adding further
explanation
➢ Speech
○ For speeches you will most likely either: write the entire thing
word for word or write bullet points to build off of
➢ Other
○ Organize your information in a way that fits the project
○ Make sure your information is easy for you to explain and
expand upon
Lesson 5, Planned Speaking
Where impromptu speaking requires quick thinking and quick action, for
most presentations you will have knowledge of it prior to the actual day and
you have time to prepare. Preparation can be the key to doing a great job,
especially if you are nervous.

How to Prepare
➢ After you have selected your topic and put together your
presentation, speech, slideshow, etc. you have time to prepare.
➢ A few things to keep in mind are:
○ Am I memorizing or just becoming familiar with the words
○ How much time do I need to give myself to prepare?

Memorizing
➢ If you are memorizing a speech or another segment of text in a
presentation make sure to give yourself plenty of time based on
length
➢ Learn what memorization strategies work best for you
➢ Make sure to practice the complete product a few times over,
because you want to be prepared if you forget something on the day
of

Becoming Familiar
➢ If it is alright to not memorize. A smart idea is to at least become
familiar with the words
➢ If you have a completely written piece that read it a few times to make
sure you can pronounce all the words and are familiar with it enough
that if you stumble or lose your place, you can find your way back
➢ For bullet points or another situation that requires you to expand on
ideas, rehearse some possibilities of what you will say so you do not
have to think as much about it on the day of
Lesson 6, Knowing your audience
Speakers want to share knowledge and move an audience to share their
viewpoint. To do this, they must send their message in such a way that it is
easy for the audience to receive and understand it. The speaker must know
who the audience is and fine-tune how the message is sent to the audience
in order to succeed.

Variables
➢ There will always be diversity among a group of individuals but a
typical audience has several characteristics that distinguish it from
other audiences.
➢ Some variables include:
○ Age range: is the audience younger than you, same age, or
older? This can have a large effect on their attitude and how
you want to address them.
○ Familiarity: How well do you know your audience? If you don’t
know them that well, you may have to spend a little more time
introducing yourself, but if you are already familiar, you can
jump right into the presentation.
○ Formality: Think of why giving the presentation and how you
want the audience to perceive it. If you are delivering an
assigned presentation in class you would most likely keep it
formal, but if you are giving a speech and trying to win people
over, you may go a little less formal if you believe your
audience would respond better to that
 ○ Interests: Awareness of an audience’s hobbies and activities
could help you further understand the audience’s interests and
really connect with them through your presentation

Put it into action

➢ Once you have thought of who you are addressing, it’s time to use
that information to your advantage. When planning your presentation,
take these variables into account when deciding what tone and
formality to go with and what you are trying to convey to your
audience.
Lesson 7, The Use of Appeals
Once identifying the audience, a speaker can draw appeals into their
presentation to make it more engaging and a stronger argument. These
appeals include ethos, logos, and pathos, the greek terms for establishing
credibility and ethics, using logic, and targeting emotion.

​Ethos
➢ Ethos targets the audience by developing credibility and appealing to
the audience’s or ethics
○ Can be reached in a variety of ways, examples include:
■ Sources: reliability of sources can strengthen credibility; a
name you can trust or good resource
■ Common values: you can as a speaker establish common
values or use a source that will appeal to the beliefs and
interests of the audience
■ Can be as simple as being prepared because that too
gives a sense that what you ate being said should be
listened to

Logos
➢ Logos is the use of logic to strengthen your presentation
○ Can be the use of statistics, research studies, and easily
understood logical arguments
○ Anything that builds a logical development in the eyes of the
audience
Pathos
➢ Pathos targets the audiences emotion to convey an argument
○ Examples include
■ story/personal experience
■ emotional details, facts, or other details that reach the
audience’s heart

Why we use it
➢ Depending on your audience, certain appeals can make the
difference in having an effective presentation
○ Ethos is essential when speaking to an audience that doesn’t
know you as well, Logos may be effective to create
understanding and proof to a skeptical audience or outlandish
claim, and pathos can be very effective in many cases as many
people are driven by emotion
○ The appeals can be used together in an effective way
■ Build off of each other as more credibility could help the
logic, emotion could help credibility, emotion can coincide
with facts to strengthen both appeals, and many more
possibilities to use them together
Lesson 7, Using body language
The body can be an effective tool for adding emphasis and clarity to a
speaker’s words. It can also be useful in convincing an audience of a
speaker’s sincerity, passion, and commitment. A speaker’s stance, facial
expressions, hand gestures, effectively the movement of the entire body,
communicate more to an audience than actual spoken words. Body
language can also help release nervous energy. Displays of discomfort
through nervous habits distract the audience. A stationary speaker is more
likely to lose the audience’s interest. There are three general categories of
body language:
➢ Facial expressions
➢ Gestures
➢ Whole body movement

Facial expressions
Facial expression is often the key to the meaning behind a message. A
speaker’s face communicates more clearly than any other part of the body.
An audience will watch a speaker’s face for clues about the speaker’s
sincerity, attitude toward the message, and passion. Match facial
expressions to spoken words. If a speaker talks about a tragedy but his or
her face carries an expression of joy, the audience will be confused. Eye
contact is important. Whatever the situation, try to make everyone in the
audience feel as if you are communicating in a personal manner. This
projects an air of confidence and sincerity.
Gestures
➢ Gestures reinforce verbal messages or convey a specific thought or
emotion. Gestures can be made by any part of the body but most are
made with the hands and arms. Avoid nervous mannerisms, such as
fidgeting with jewelry, as they tend to distract and annoy an audience.
Conversely, strong, purposeful, and complementary gestures
strengthen your message and add interest to your presentation.
○ Conventional gestures are symbols for words, such as the
raised hand for the word “stop” and two raised fingers for the
number two.
○ Descriptive gestures describe the idea you are communicating,
such as holding the hands apart to show length or moving the
hands and arms to indicate shape.
○ Emotional gestures suggest feelings, such as shaking a
clenched fist to show anger or determination or shrugging the
shoulders to show indifference
Sample Activities
Activity 1: Topic Cards
Useful for: Impromptu speaking
How to: Have cards that have different topics such as “How to shoot a
basketball” or “Fashion tips for pets.” Have the students take turns, in a
large group or split up into smaller groups, drawing a card and giving
around a one minute presentation on whatever topic they draw. Make sure
they are attempting to use what they have learned.

Activity 2: Commercial analysis

Useful for: Knowing your audience
How to: Play a few commercials that target a specific audience (i.e. youth,
new parents, elderly). Have students analyze who the speaker
(commercial) is targeting, how they are attempting to reach that audience,
and how the approaches differ in different commercials because of the
different audiences.

Activity 3: Newspaper reading

Useful for: Planned Speaking/Using body language
How to: Gather newspapers/articles and hand out around the room to
smaller groups of students. Each student will select a section of an article
to read to their partners. Have them first do it without any specific focus.
After everyone does the same, have them repeat the activity with the same
section. This time have them attempt gestures and enunciate. Finish by
gathering the thoughts of the students on which reading was more
interesting and engaging. The second time should be better because of
gestures, enunciation, and being familiar with the words.

Activity 4: Identifying appeals

Useful for: the use of appeals, knowing your audience
How to: Gather several different paper or television advertisements. You
may want to handpick them to choose ones with a clear use of appeals.
Show them to the students and have them identify which aspect the
advertisement is appealing to; is it emotion, logic, credibility, or a
combination? Describe what parts of the ad are that way and what is the
intended effect by it (how do the ad writers want to reach the audience).