In my Intro to Human Com classes, students respond well to the "small-talks" that I assign throughout the course. These talks are 1-2 minute informal speeches that students deliver in front of the class. Explaining their personality test results, reporting on their cultural visits, and relating active listening scenarios are a few examples of the small-talk assignments.
These small-talks help students reinforce their learning, build confidence in their speaking, and develop camaraderie with classmates. In addition, the talks enable me to assess students' comprehension of the material and offer immediate feedback.
Currently, I am assigning seven talks throughout the semester, each related to a theme we are covering. The talks are worth 10 points each (out of 1,000 for the course), making the total value of the talks 7% of a student's grade.
Comments
I think the "small talks" are a great idea, and I applaud your use of them. It would be interesting to see if the use and frequency of the small talks positively influences their achievement in major speech assignments.
That's a great question, Peter. I cover the speech section as the final module of the course for this very reason. By the time we get to the full speeches, the students have completed most of the small talks, with the last few as part of the prep for the main speech. As a result, the students feel more relaxed and confident when they deliver their final speeches because they have already delivered several short talks.
I follow a similar strategy in the public speaking class (com225). I call these "mini speeches," and I have 10 of them. This course has more main speeches, which begin earlier in the semester, so the frequent mini speeches provide practice beginning in week 1 and continuing throughout the semester.
In reply to That s a great question Peter I cover the speech section by Mark Matthews
I love the collaborative learning and provision of frequent opportunities to practice critical thinking and communication. The learning college philosophy is also reinforced as students appear to be able to take the theme of their speech in a direction they are interested.
In reply to I love the collaborative learning and provision of by Gary Kilduff
Gary,
I appreciate your point about reinforcing the learning college philosophy. I hadn't made that connection, at least consciously. Perhaps it was unconscious! :-)
I like the idea of having students do a smaller more manageable "talk" to increase their chance of success and build confidence. I agree that it's really hard to measure some of the benefits of this directly, such as increased confidence, and camaraderie. I'd also be cusrious to see if there's an impact on their larger speeches once they've done the "small talks".
In reply to I like the idea of having students do a smaller more by Marianne Smith
Marianne,
"Manageable" is a good word to describe these assignments because students build resistance to their fears as the semester proceeds toward their actual speeches.
Mark, this is a creative way to get students engaged with the material. Clearly they would need to know the material in order to talk about, even if it is just a few minutes. I wonder how you decide to give points to students. Do they have to demonstrate a certain mastery of the concept? Taking this to the next level might be to keep track of all well the students perform over the course of the semester. Perhaps there is one talk that most students bomb, or perhaps a greater percentage of students do better as the semester progresses. These are both frames for which to understand how well our students are mastering the learning we want to them to get.
In reply to Mark this is a creative way to get students engaged with by Erik Huntsinger
Erik,
The talks usually occur on the class day after we covered the concept. The purpose of this timing is to reinforce the students' learning by their addressing the competency with relevant application while it is still fresh in their minds.
Students earn full points by demonstrating adequate preparation, addressing at least one concept thoroughly with everyday application, and meeting the time guideline of 1-2 minutes. If a student's talk is lacking is any of these areas, points are deducted with an accompanying feedback note in Canvas.
On the whole, student performances clearly improve with each talk because they become more familiar with the expectations and format. While a few usually struggle to meet expectations, the majority do very well on a consistent basis.
Mark, your use of "approximations" or "baby steps" is a highly-effective way to ease the students toward their big speech. Considering that Public Speaking is the #1 phobia in our society, everything we can do as Communication educators to help the students handle the Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) makes them more successful. It's also about "practice makes permanent," and the more experience they have at speaking in public, the more confident they will become. Congratulations on the success you have had with the "Small Talks!"
In reply to Mark your use of approximations or baby steps is a by Roselyn Turner
Thanks Dr Turner! I'm glad you mentioned public speaking as the #1 phobia because we can easily forget about others' fears if we do a lot of speaking. I tell students about my first speaking experience before an audience. I was 14 years old and 4' 6" tall, and the audience laughed "politely" when I got up to speak. I had dreaded the talk because I knew they were going to laugh, but I let them get it out of the way and then just plowed through, and the terror began to subside!
If students who felt petrified at the beginning of a course can feel comfortable by the end, then they have taken huge steps in their life journeys. It is rewarding to see their accomplishments and to have played a small role in their successes. We remember that we are contributing something positive to the world.
In reply to Thanks Dr Turner I m glad you mentioned public speaking by Mark Matthews
I love this! This is definitely a great way to enable students to overcome their fear of speaking in front of groups. Not only do students have fears about getting up to speak in front of their peers but the general public as a whole is terrified to get up in front of groups to speak. I believe by taking the baby steps it is a excellent way to help them gain the confidence that they need to conquer the fear of public speaking. I love this! The class participation points that I award in each of my classes involves my students making comments on different topics that we discuss in class and I have seen that this helps them to overcome their fears of public speaking. I might incorporate this practice in some of my courses. Great job!
In reply to Thanks Dr Turner I m glad you mentioned public speaking by Mark Matthews
I love this! This is definitely a great way to enable students to overcome their fear of speaking in front of groups. Not only do students have fears about getting up to speak in front of their peers but the general public as a whole is terrified to get up in front of groups to speak. I believe by taking the baby steps it is a excellent way to help them gain the confidence that they need to conquer the fear of public speaking. I love this! The class participation points that I award in each of my classes involves my students making comments on different topics that we discuss in class and I have seen that this helps them to overcome their fears of public speaking. I might incorporate this practice in some of my courses. Great job!
In reply to I love this This is definitely a great way to enable by Cheryl Gipson Thurman
Cheryl, Thanks for the additional perspective on overcoming the fear of speaking simply by speaking up in the classroom. The "baby steps" you mentioned all add up in the end!
I used a version of small talks in my class and I found out that just the "simple" act of being in front of a group helps with managing the nervousness when public speaking and it helps them break with the confort zone of their seat. I saw that students shared more with the class. This helped by creating more camaradery and improving the synergy in class. I support this technique. Thank you for sharing
In reply to I used a version of small talks in my class and I found by Mishele Walston
Mishele, It's good to hear of your similar experience, as it reinforces the strategy. Thank you!
Hi Matthews
Kudos, I use something similar in my PSY 101 course. I call them learning team presentations. Students work with a team of 3 to 4 students and present once a week on a topic covered in the chapter we are discussing for that week.
I find that it keeps students connected, helps them manage nervousness they may experience when speaking in front of large groups. They have to check audience understanding by creating a way to involve all classmates.
Thank you for sharing.
Great strategy, Tra! Thanks for passing it on.
I really like this idea of small talks! Thank you for sharing :).
In reply to I really like this idea of small talks Thank you for by Linda Manning
Thank you. I continue to use these in COM100 and in COM225. They have become a mainstay for me because they consistently help students acclimate to speaking publicly. I have recently expanded the breadth of information required in the talks, and I have doubled the point values.
Thank you for sharing your "small talks". In my NUR classes, I encourage active discussion and I am amazed that the students feel uncomfortable speaking in front of their peers. Nurses talk all the time! We communicate with patients, family, providers, and any other member of the health care team. I will often coach them, "Say it loud and say it proud!" when we are having group discussions.
I need to add this as a formative assessment and include it in my syllabus. Well done! Kanina