Public speaking is a skill that is important to begin building at an early age. Whether you are speaking to persuade or to inform, there are many benefits of being able to speak clearly about topics of interest at any age.
Benefits
Critical thinking is improved when you are able to respond on the spot to peer question and review. Personal development happens as you reflect on your performance. Communication skills are refined as students continue to get feedback and have more opportunity to speak in front of others. Students add another layer of understanding to their topic as they prepare for the presentation.
What you can do
Public speaking can happen at any age level, even as young as two! Build time into your day for students to be able to stand in front of a group and speak about what they are working on, even if it is as simple as a drawing they have just completed!
Build their confidence and let them know what they did well. Give productive feedback on what they can do better next time and allow them to reflect on this. Create a rubric together of what is important when speaking in front of each other and be sure to add and grow this over time as your students have moments of mastery. Each experience will get them feeling more comfortable in front of peers and improve their public speaking skills.
Resource
Read this study to learn more about public speaking in the Journal of Youth Development article, Youth Views of Experiences and Benefits of Public Speaking
Comments