Special Occasion Speeches: Public Speaking Banquet Bonanza Style!

Want to include an Oral Communication component in your curriculum? Need to get students speaking in front of the class in a low-pressure/no-pressure format? Want to have students enthusiastically creating and delivering speeches without taking two or three weeks of class to get through the delivery of them? Do you desire to introduce kids to special occasion speeches, also termed social ritual speeches? Try the Banquet Bonanza! This compact bundled lesson introduces the concepts of these speeches in a group project format designed to get the students cooperatively creating, rehearsing, and delivering within small groups. Use this project to encourage confidence and competence in public speaking while also reinforcing positive group dynamics in getting the job done! Because students do not go in front of the class alone, this project shines as an introductory speaking experience for many kids at various levels. Instructors interested in more interdisciplinary benefit could also refocus the content by controlling what group themes are chosen in order to meet needs for social studies, science, literature, and many other academic areas of study. This is a project of my own creation which I have been using with my students for many years, resulting in positive reviews from both sides of the desk!

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