Poor delivery can weaken any speech. One technique for improving enunciation, diction, storytelling skills, and debating is through public speaking games. You can improve your skills if you practice, work with a coach, team up with others, or join a club like Toastmasters.
Do you get nervous standing in front of the class or any group to speak? Public speaking activities can leave many people feeling overwhelmed and concerned that they will find themselves struggling to string coherent sentences together. Public speakers can improve their craft by playing some fun public speaking games!
What Are Some Reasons Why People Might Want To Practice Public Speaking?
Public speaking is a valuable skill, as most people who hope to advance in their careers will need it. Expert speaking shows creativity, critical thinking skills, ability to think on their feet, adapt to the audience, leadership abilities, poise, and professionalism. For most people, encompassing these qualities only comes with practice.
Speakers build their skills and improve their credibility by sealing at meetings, conferences, and other events, but there are ways to improve skills before facing a group.
One way to practice is by using public speaking games and exercises. This technique is helpful for children and teens learning to speak before groups, but some mentioned below remain useful for adults too.
What Are Some Strategies For Improving Public Speaking Skills?
Public speaking requires preparation of the text, body language, and visual aids used in the presentation.
- Body Language: As you hone your presentation skills, you will want to ensure your body language sends a strong and positive message. Try not to cross your arms in front of you, shift your body weight back and forth, or do anything else that would detract from your speech.
- Eye Contact: Maintaining strong eye contact with the audience is important for public speaking and a great life skill.
- Impromptu Speaking: The ability to articulate yourself well without time to prepare is impromptu speaking, and speech class games can help you perfect this art.
- Transitions: Moving from one part of your speech to the next requires strong and relevant transitions.
- Visuals: Visual aids can add to a speech. Of course, they can also detract from it. Ensure any visual aids you use are easy to see, relevant, and engaging.
How Can Public Speaking Games Help Perfect Skills?
Playing games can help people of all ages improve their public speaking games. Starting students out young with activities that require them to stand in front of the class can help ease them into being the center of attention. Elementary or middle school students may find it easier to speak to a group if they are exposed to this at a younger age. Even adults need to practice impromptu speaking and tongue twisters.
These games can improve both verbal and non-verbal communication skills, as well as raise confidence levels. When playing a game, you might even forget that all eyes are on you!
What Are Some Examples Of Public Speaking Games?
- Balderdash: This game will have some participants use bizarre terms, and others make guesses as to what they mean by using them in a sentence.
- Charades: Non-verbal communication and the ability to speak using body language make charades a perfect game for students working on public speaking skills. Participants pull slips of paper out of a bucket that dictates what they need to act out so that teammates can (hopefully) correctly guess what is on the slip. The slips can have a movie title, the name of a famous person, a book title, etc.
- Filler Words: You can do this exercise alone or in front of an audience. Talk for three minutes in front of the class, trying to avoid any filler words. Have your class count(or count yourself if you have recorded your speaking) to see how well you did.
- Icebreakers: Icebreaker activities take many forms as you get people to warm up in a group environment. An example is icebreaker bingo, where participants must find people in the group that fit into each category.
- Minute to Win It: Another fun speech activity involves having participants put down topics on a piece of paper. Players pull one out and have to make up a story with only one minute to plan and then give a one-minute speech. This game is an excellent exercise in impromptu speech. You can also play this game using controversial topics as players provide a two-minute persuasive speech to try to get others to side with them.
- Two Truths and a Lie: Players get a chance to tell three facts: two of which are true and one that is a lie. Other players have to guess which is the lie.
- Pictionary: Although this game involves drawing and not speaking, it is another popular one for speaking classes as it helps participants to gain experience standing in front of a group. The player up to draw has to pull a word or phrase and then draw what it is on it, leading their teammates to guess what they are drawing.
- Taboo: This fun game will have everyone laughing. Teams break into small groups. One team is given the taboo card, which has the word or phrase you are trying to get your teammates to guess and the “taboo” words you cannot say. You set the timer and see how many words you can lead your teammates to say correctly.
- Tongue Twisters: Writing and practicing tongue twisters is an excellent speaking practice activity to build confidence and get the group members comfortable with one another.
- Word Association: Word association games involve someone saying a word and others listing words they associate with that one before play passes to the next person. You cannot give a repeat answer!
How Do You Play Public Speaking Games?
The method of play will depend on the game you are focusing on. Each game has its own set of rules and standards of play. Games like Two Truths and a Lie take no pre-planning, as those playing make things up in their head.
Games such as Pictionary or Taboo require a purchase, while others require a quick download, and all the facilitator or teacher needs to do is divide teams into groups or teams. The group can play for a set time until each student gets a turn!
These games can be fun at any level, and the practice can boost public speaking skills!