Speech-Related Activity: 1-minute Speeches

Aims: Practice quick analytical thinking, expression of opinions

Level: This works best with more advanced students, and in smaller groups.

Materials: Pre-made topic slips, a clock or watch for keeping time.

Roles: Each speech requires a speaker and a timekeeper.

Procedure:

1. The student to perform the speech randomly selects a faced-down strip of paper containing a topic.

2. The student has a short period of time (3 – 5 seconds) to turn the strip over and read it.

3. The time-keeper shouts: “Start”

4. The speaker must begin speaking about the subject. The speaker can say anything he or she wants to about the subject, so long as it is related to the subject. The speaker must attempt to continually speak without long pauses until:

5. After 1-minute, the time-keeper shouts: “STOP!”

Variations:

A: The speaker may begin the speech by saying what the topic is: e.g. “My subject is ‘Supermarkets’”

B: The speaker does not specify the topic he or she is speaking about. (However he or she can still say the word during the speech). At the end of the speech, the audience must guess what the subject was

C: The speaker may choose which variation (A or B) will be used.

D: In terms of running the activity, there are a variety of options. For one, you can break the class into groups of 5 or 6, and they can perform the activity in small groups. Or, you can make this an ongoing activity: At the start of each class, you can have 3 or 4 students perform their speech in front of the entire class. You can run this activity this way for several days until everyone has performed.

Sample Topic Slips:

The topics can be absolutely anything. Preferably 1 or 2 words only. They can range from very specific to very general:

SUV’s (Sports Utility Vehicles), Supermarkets, Pollution, Convenience Stores, Sports, Vacations, Traveling, Holidays, Newspapers, Cars, Pets, Restaurants, Dating, Television, Clothing, Shopping, Winter, Karaoke, Izakayas, Reading, Hobbies, Cats, Movies, Flat-Screen Television.

Note: It’s good to keep the topics short (1 or 2 words) and allow the speaker freedom to decide what context to put it in. For example, a student who selects “Restaurants” may wish to speak about his or her favorite restaurants. Or the student might decide to speak about why eating in restaurants is more convenient than eating at home (or vice versa). Or (if your students are business-oriented) why a restaurant would make a more lucrative business to start than a retail store.

In this way, your student’s speech may be considerably different from how you originally intended when you devised the topics!!! This is good, because it is easier and more dynamic for the student, and very entertaining for the teacher as well!

Evaluation:

For this activity, each student in the class can be provided with a grading sheet, on which different aspects of the speech can be rated on a scale of 1 – 5.

e.g.

Please circle one: (Weak) ß------------------------------- à (Strong)

Creativity 1 2 3 4 5

Pronunciation 1 2 3 4 5

Grammar 1 2 3 4 5

Comments:

This way, the speaker can receive positive feedback and encouragement from classmates. Also, the other students in the class can practice communicative listening-comprehension skills.

Lastly, if an AET is present, the AET should mark the speech and provide comments as well. Hearing encouragement from a native speaker should greatly improve the confidence and motivation of the student!