Public speaking is a vital skill for gifted students to develop, or at least practice. When students are young is the best time to teach public speaking. Speaking properly can help them develop other life long communication skills that will give them the self-assurance necessary to do well in the business and academic worlds, all leading to improved self-esteem and confidence.
Sight and Sound Differences
Students in a GATE class should realize from the beginning that material delivered in speech form often times does not read well and vice-versa. While in the composition of the basic ideas there are many similarities, as they will soon find out, students cannot write a speech using the same presentational techniques that you would use for a written essay. It could sound very dry.
It is true, however, that the two do have some traits in common. Both require proper organizational skills and send a message that is received and decoded by a listener. However, there are some major differences. Of greatest importance is the difference in sound. A speech must not only be right, it must sound right. As students will discover, numerous vocal considerations come into play. No essay ever had to worry about tone or pitch to be effective. Further, a speech has the human element: things can, and often do go wrong. This is what makes Public Speaking so dynamic and yet elusive to so many.
The Importance of Student Support
No personal or academic growth can take place unless the class has a caring and knowledgeable group listening and responding. This is not the "real world." This is guided practice. Students will have enough opportunities for speaking in the real-world soon enough. The truth is if only one person in the class is not focused, the chances of everyone becoming an effective public speaker drop considerably.
This makes the Public Speaking class unique as far as in any other subject, if someone falls asleep or is acting in a non-involved manner, it is only his or her loss. In a Public Speaking class, it is the speaker’s loss as well. The obvious message here is that the class will either sink or swim as a unit and needs to attend to that fact from the beginning. Focusing on group dynamics from the start will make the program as successful as possible.
Listening and Evaluating
Each student as an individual can do a great deal to make sure that the class makes progress because a class is really only a collection of individuals. Each member in the class will grow through the group's help, and as such, the class itself will mature, which is also a standard in most GATE classes. The formal task of the class is to offer appropriate feedback to each speaker through formal and informal critiques. To begin the program, students need to know only three formal rules for offering feedback to a speaker:
-Describe the speaker's mistakes – do not get personal.
-Offer specific comments.
-Only comment on things that the speaker has control over, such as tone, content or speed.
The class has two basic roles while a member is speaking, one as a listener and one as an evaluator. Their responsibilities are outlined below:
As a Listener...
-Do not judge the person by his or her speech. Be genuine and sincere.
-Do not practice or think about your comments while the person is speaking.
-While the person is speaking, have a positive regard for the speaker.
-Try to understand the speaker from his or her point of view.
As an Evaluator…
-Share feelings and thoughts with the speaker.
-Make "I" statements (e.g., "I think your speech was…" or "I feel you need to…")
-Be specific.
-Be constructive, not destructive.
-Remember that each speaker is unique.
-Comment only on the speech - not on the speaker.
-Do not project your own biases onto the speech.
As mentioned before, the gifted class is a collection of individuals, each with his own or her own thoughts, likes, dislikes, prejudices and preconceptions. Sometimes communication becomes difficult in such a group, so it is important to realize from the start that it is okay to disagree with someone in the group. To disagree does not mean to become disagreeable. Rather, the even flow and exchange of ideas are most beneficial and can only be hampered by a disagreeable classmate.
Resource:
Parker, Douglas A. Basic Public Speaking, 2nd Edition - The Roadmap to Confident Communications! (ISBN: 0-7388-5619-3). 2001. Xlibris, Random House Ventures.
