Activity
1. Before you begin this lesson, you may want to take the
time to create an evaluation checklist for your students
which they can use to critique the speeches they will
hear today. You may also want to use these checklists
during the final presentations in order to allow students
to get feedback from their peers. You may create your
own evaluation criteria, or you may use the following
checklist:
12
Question Speech Evaluation Criteria
1.
Did the speaker appear informed about his/her topic?
2. Did the speaker keep within the time limit?
3. Could I identify the main idea of the speech?
4. Did the speech have a clear beginning, middle, and
end?
5. Were the facts in the speech logically presented?
6. Did the presenter speak clearly and pronounce
words correctly?
7. Did the speaker use powerful words to communicate
their message?
8. Was the speech appropriate to the audience it
was presented to?
9. Did the speaker use voice variety and avoid monotone?
10. Did the speaker look up at the audience?
11. Could you identify use of at least one of the 3 appeals
(logic, emotion, and ethics)?
12. Was this speech successful at persuading you to accept
the author’s viewpoint?
This
criteria is intended for students to use for evaluation
of their peers, but
it may be modified to be used by the
teacher if desired. Each student should have two copies
of this checklist
at the beginning of class.
2.
At the start of class, take about 5 minutes to brainstorm
the following two questions:
What makes a “good” speech presentation? What
makes a “bad” speech presentation? As the students
think about and respond to these questions, list their
responses
on the board in a double-column format. Help the students
to compare and contrast what makes a speech succeed and
what makes
it fail. In these two lists, make sure you include
elements from the POAM method, such as rate of delivery,
clarity of
speaking, organization, target audience, etc.
3.
After discussing these points, tell the students that
two students
from the class are going to present “mock” speeches
today (pull aside two students you have chosen ahead
of time who are fairly accomplished and feel comfortable
in front of
the classroom). Give each of these students a slip
of paper indicating that they will give a “good” or
a “poor” mock
speech; you may also include some of the following
details to guide their mock speech, which only need be
a minute or
two.
“Good” Speech
Habits
Speak confidently and clearly
Smile and take your time
Avoid fidgeting, stand up straight
Look at the audience every so often
“Poor” Speech
Habits
Look at your feet or at the page all the time
Use the word “um” often
Speak slowly, pause often, or speak quickly
Use monotone (no variation in your tone)
Both
students will be given the same short speech to deliver:
The
Importance of Making Friends
Making
friends in high school is a very important part of your
educational experience.
First
of all, friends
help you
discover
who you are as a person. As you talk and
get to know them, you discover who they are and
what they
believe
in. This
often leads you to consider what you believe
in and want in life.
Second, friends provide an important emotional
support. You will go through some challenging
experiences in high school,
and friends will be there for you when
you most need
them. They will be a shoulder to cry on
when needed, and give
you encouragement to go on when times are
tough. Finally, friends
are vital for your educational experiences
because they help you develop social skills. Learning
to share experiences,
discuss important issues, clarify misunderstandings,
and forgive errors
are all skills vital to the development
of social
relationships.
4.
Distribute 2 evaluation sheets to all students and instruct
them to mark each
question with
a “yes” or “no” as
they listen to the two mock speeches. Have
the students who are presenting get ready,
perhaps allowing them to practice
in the hall where other classmates cannot
see them. Proceed with the mock speeches. Closure
After the class has had a chance to independently evaluate
each speech, compare and contrast the two. Which made
the “good” speech successful? What made
the “poor” speech less successful? What
can you learn from this to implement in your own presentation? Homework
Students will
continue working on their final projects, which will be presented
in class this week. |
