Five-Week Plan
This sequence builds speaking confidence through small, repeated acts of speaking and listening. Students begin with how communication works, then isolate voice, body, clarity, structure and audience before putting everything together in a short original speech. The emphasis is on visible improvement, not polished performance.
The shape of the unit
| Week | Focus | Core moves | Formative evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Communication, voice and body | Map a communication exchange; practise breath, projection and pace; try stance and gesture; record a baseline. | A communication map and a 30-second baseline recording. |
| 2 | Clarity, structure and audience | Work on articulation and emphasis; build openings and signposts; analyse an audience. | Annotated script and a one-page speech skeleton. |
| 3 | Listening, feedback and nerves | Practise active listening; give and receive feedback; build a personal regulation plan. | Feedback notes and a nerve-management plan. |
| 4 | Rehearsal and delivery | Chunk the speech; mark the script; rehearse with a partner and a small audience; record and revise. | Rehearsal log and a revised recording. |
| 5 | Build, deliver and reflect | Draft a short original speech; rehearse; deliver; reflect on one specific change. | A delivered speech and a short reflection. |
A typical lesson
| Time | Routine | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Breath and voice warm-up. | Wake up the voice without strain. |
| 8 minutes | Listen to a short model or pair demonstration. | Notice one choice before naming it. |
| 12 minutes | Teach and practise one technique. | Make the skill concrete and physical. |
| 15 minutes | Apply it in a short speaking task. | Move from drill to real use. |
| 10 minutes | Give and receive specific feedback. | Turn observation into a next step. |
| 5 minutes | Reflect and record. | Name one change and one question. |
Week by week
Week 1: Communication, voice and body
Begin with a simple question: what happens when one person speaks to another? Introduce the communication model—speaker, message, channel, audience, feedback, context and noise—and show that meaning is made between people, not simply delivered. Then move to the body: standing balance, breath support, projection, pace and pause. Students record a 30-second baseline reading so they can hear change later. Keep the recording private to the student or shared only with consent.
Week 2: Clarity, structure and audience
Students work on articulation, word stress and sentence stress. They practise making a short passage intelligible at the back of the room without shouting. Then they build a speech skeleton: a hook, a purpose statement, two or three signposted points and a close. Introduce audience analysis: prior knowledge, attitudes, expectations, access needs and the occasion. Students rewrite one paragraph for a different audience and explain what changed.
Week 3: Listening, feedback and nerves
Speaking improves when listening improves. Teach active listening: attention, paraphrase, questions and noticing non-verbal cues. Students practise giving feedback that names a specific choice and its effect, then receiving feedback without defending. The second half of the week addresses performance anxiety. Normalise the physical signs, build a preparation routine and offer a menu of regulation strategies. Do not require students to disclose personal experiences.
Week 4: Rehearsal and delivery
Students chunk the speech into opening, points and close. They mark breath points, stresses and pauses, then rehearse in pairs, to a small audience and in the performance space. Record one rehearsal and watch it with a checklist. The goal is not to remove every imperfection but to make one or two deliberate changes. Rehearse entrances, the first ten seconds and the final sentence.
Week 5: Build, deliver and reflect
Students draft a short original speech of one to three minutes. The topic can be a explanation, a personal argument, a welcome or a story, provided it is appropriate for a class audience. They rehearse, deliver and reflect on one specific change between the first and final version. The reflection should name the technique, the effect and the evidence.
Materials
- A room with space to stand and move.
- Phones or tablets for recording, with clear consent and storage rules.
- Printed speech skeletons and feedback slips.
- A timer or visible clock.
- Optional microphone and speaker for realistic practice.
- A quiet space for students who need to rehearse privately.
What students produce
| Product | Purpose | Keep it manageable |
|---|---|---|
| Communication map | Shows how context and feedback shape meaning. | One annotated scenario. |
| Baseline recording | Gives students a starting point. | 30 seconds, private by default. |
| Annotated script | Marks breath, stress and pause. | One paragraph or one page. |
| Speech skeleton | Builds structure before wording. | Hook, purpose, three points, close. |
| Feedback notes | Practises specific observation. | Two strengths and one next step. |
| Regulation plan | Prepares for nerves without disclosure. | Three strategies and a backup. |
| Short speech | Integrates the skills. | One to three minutes. |
| Reflection | Makes learning visible. | 100–200 words. |
Speak every lesson. Public speaking improves through frequent, low-stakes practice. A 30-second pair explanation is more useful than a single high-pressure speech at the end of the unit.
Routines that save time
- Two-minute warm-up. Breath, shoulder release, tongue and lip stretch, one sustained vowel.
- One-minute spotlight. One student speaks; the class listens for one specific technique.
- Back-of-room test. A listener at the back raises a hand when a word is unclear.
- Feedback sentence. “I noticed ... and it made me ...”.
- One-change rehearsal. Each run changes only one thing.
Common planning errors
- Waiting until the end to speak. Build short speaking tasks into every lesson.
- Teaching theory without practice. Every concept should be tried aloud.
- Making one big speech high-stakes. Use low-stakes rounds and choice.
- Correcting everything at once. Focus on one or two techniques per lesson.
- Ignoring the room. Acoustics, seating and sight lines change what works.
- Forcing disclosure. Students can practise with fictional or text-based material.
- Treating nerves as a character flaw. Frame them as a normal response with practical management.
Next, read outcomes and skills to see what the unit builds towards. The speech as communication page begins the conceptual work.