Lesson Speech

Subject(s):
• Language Arts/Speech
Duration: Two 50-minute sessions
Description: Students need to understand that how they say something and how they physically present themselves are just as important as what they say. By understanding the dynamics involved in effective persuasive speaking, students will improve their overall confidence in communicating.
Goals: The goal of this lesson is to improve students' speaking skills by understanding persuasion proficiencies.
Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate the appropriate classroom public speaking and listening skills (e.g., body language, articulation, listening to be able to identify specific examples of the speaker's coordination of talking and action) that would be necessary to influence or change someone's mind or way of thinking about a topic.
2. Define the elements of persuasion.
3. Recognize the elements of personal credibility.
4. Develop methods to analyze other students' speeches.
5. Understand outlining main ideas.
6. Create a persuasive speech.
Materials:
• teacher-prepared topics for persuasive speeches
• sample rubric (available in .pdf format)
• Sample Rubric

Rubric in .pdf format; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Click the icon to obtain the free Reader.
Procedure:
During class discussion, define and explain how people make decisions based on what they see and hear. Explain that sometimes we have to use skills to convince others about our positions. Have the students recall and list their own experiences trying to convince their friends about something, and then ask them to share these with the class. Have the students pick a proposition that not everyone would agree with such as: "nuclear power plants are superior energy sources." Have them write a 6-8 minute speech in outline form to persuade the class. Each student will then deliver this speech in front of the class while the rest of the students take notes and prepare to give the speaker feedback on the speech.

The voice and the body are the best tools -- every student is a natural persuader!
They have done it all their lives. Every time someone enters a conversation, he or she engages in elementary persuasion techniques. It is true that any time students make a statement of fact, they are asserting its validity and assuming that their listener agrees. This speech goes further than a normal conversational assertion: now students have to assume that not everyone will agree with them from the start, and it is their job to make them see things their way. The goal of this speech is to change someone's mind or way of thinking about a topic. This is not a speech to sell, as students do not ask that the listener do anything except to agree with them or to begin to listen to their way of thinking. Their message is, of course, very important in this speech, but their voice and body language are even more important. Here they will learn how their delivery can help. There are several important aspects of presentation to keep in mind; the academic elements of persuasion are:
• Body Language - Make sure that they have a proper posture. If their shoulders are sagging and their legs are crossed, they will not appear as being sincere, and people just will not accept their message.
• Articulation - Articulation means how their total vocal process works. There are several steps to this entire process. Students need to understand the process. First, they need air from the lungs, their vocal cords in their larynx must be working, their mouth and tongue must be in sync, and they have to make sure that they have got some saliva in their mouths to keep things oiled. They should be aware of their physical makeup to be able to understand how they speak.
• Pronunciation - Students need to pronounce each word. They must avoid slang, except to make a point, and not slur the words. They must avoid saying, "you know."
• Pitch - Pitch refers to the highs and lows of the voice. Whatever they do, they must avoid a monotone!