Games and Strategies to Help Young Students Speak with Confidence

Strategies and Games to Help Young Students Speak with Confidence

As early as preschool, building confidence in students is crucial. their speaking skills using techniques borrowed from actors.

by Jocelyn Greene

This article was originally published on Edutopia

Two kids and their teacher demonstrating their confidence to the class. — Students Speaking with Confidence at Child’s Play NY. Photo Credits: Hunter Canning

During class, you might ask a student to say the morning message, share about their weekend, discuss a topic with a classmate, or even practice reading aloud. Their days are filled with speaking, which makes sense because it’s a competence required in most elementary schools and a life skill that sets them up for future success, personally, academically, and in their chosen careers. Yet the experience can be riddled with anxiety for some students, and there is little research around interventions for educators to support reluctant speakers.

With some practical tools from drama education, we can certainly help our scholars with their communication. In my work as a director and educator, I’ve seen how the techniques that actors use to connect with their audiences can also be helpful for students in developing these skills and building a comfort and joy with speaking.

Read the full article “7 Ways to Help Young Students Speak With Confidence and Poise” on Edutopia

Learn More Ways to Help Young Students Speak with Confidence

Strategy 1: Breathe!

The most important preparation for speaking is breathing, which research shows has a direct link to our anxiety and emotions. With your students, you can try meditative breathing or a playful variety like breath of fire or lion’s breath.

“As students get savvy about recognizing their feelings (and the sensations they cause), they are more likely to be in control of them when they speak.”

Strategy 2: Acknowledge and Reframe Nerves with Emotions Charades

Ask students to use different—and potentially positive—vocabulary when they are describing how they feel about public speaking. You can do this by having students practice more feeling words in a game like emotions charades or physically expressing them in a song like “Shake Your Sillies Out.’

“If students have a tendency to speak too quietly as they present, sometimes they simply need to tap into the vocal energy they would use in another context. “

Strategy 3: Make Reading Fun by Acting it Out!

Play with dialogue and gesture and drama. For exciting read-alouds, turn storytelling into a game. Depending on the character, model how to use rhythm, pitch, or volume to change how a character sounds.

Similarly, gestures help make their ideas and characters come to life, and it’s never too early to teach this. You can turn a story into a movement game and just isolate the gestures to show how much impact movement can have.