Selection of ESU Games to Train Public Speaking and Debating

Selection of ESU Games to train public speaking and debating

One word novelist
Start with “Once upon a time...” and ask each student to add one world to the story. Go around the class in a circle, so that each student adds a word to the story as it develops / Average time: 10 minutes
Use with: all age groups, especially KS2 and 3
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: Great for smaller groups (approx. 10 students)
Learning Objectives
-Students relax and start speaking without having to deliver a full speech
-Prompts students to use their imagination and be creative
Just a minute
Students have to speak for one minute on a topic that is given to them, without hesitation, deviation or repetition (except small words and the title). Other members of the group can challenge the person speaking if they think they’ve broken the rules; if the interruption is upheld, the challenger takes over for the remainder of the time. The person speaking when the minute is over is the winner. / Average time: 5 minutes
Use with: KS4 and 5
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: Do not run more than 4 or 5 speeches, as the repetition will tire the students.
Learning Objectives
-Students relax and deliver short speech
-Students start thinking about their speaking style
Thirty seconds
Give one student a topic of your choosing (an object, a person, etc), and ask them to speak for 30 seconds. After the thirty seconds, give them a second unrelated topic to discuss immediately for another thirty seconds. Finally, ask them to combine both topics into another thirty second speech (e.g. the first speech is on pirate ships, the second is on cupcakes, and the final speech tries to find a way to discuss pirate ships and cupcakes at the same time). / Average time: 2 minutes per student
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: If you are working with younger or less confident speakers, invite three students to stand up. Ask each of the first two speakers to deliver a 30 second speech on different topics, and then ask the third speaker to combine the two previous speeches.
Learning Objectives
-Students relax and deliver short speech
-Prompts students to use their imagination and be creative
Developing arguments
Pick a motion, and ask students to come up with one point in favour of that motion. Start developing the argument on the board, using an acronym such as P-E-E-L (Point, Explanation, Evidence, Link) or R-E-A-L (Reason, Evidence, Analysis, Link). / Average time: 15 minutes
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating
Tip: Use simple motions that the students can relate to, and can come up with relevant examples for (see motions on page....).
Learning Objectives
-Understanding the difference between a reason / opinion, and an argument. Starting to explain why ideas are significant and relevant to the debate.
Sticky prep
After announcing a topic, give each participant a sticky note and ask them to write an idea on it that is relevant to the topic (it could be a point, an example, or a fact). Write the topic on the board and ask each participant in turn to read their idea and stick it on the board. When an idea has already been given stick the note on top of the first one. If the two ideas are similar, stick the notes close together. Similar ideas, supporting examples, and points of analysis end up grouped. / Average time: 30 minutes
Use with: all age groups (especially KS3-5)
Type of workshop: Debating – especially Intermediate and competition preparation
Tip: Use simple motions that the students can relate to (see examples on page....). If a student cannot think of any reasons, ask the next student, and come back to them with a different motion.
Learning Objectives
-Students familiarise themselves with the process of building a case, rather than having a list of arguments. They can see how points relate to each other and to the debate.
Drawing like Picasso
Divide the group in pairs. Give a blank A4 paper to one of each pair, and an A4 on which you have drawn a number of geometrical shapes (pyramid, square, star, circle, cube, it can vary in difficulty) to the other. The student with the paper with shapes has to instruct the other to draw the shapes in such a way that he or she makes an exact copy of the A4 in hand. When they are done, ask them to switch roles. / Average time: 30 minutes
Use with: all age groups (especially KS3-5)
Type of workshop: Debating – especially Intermediate and competition preparation
Tip: If you do not have an A4 paper with shapes, ask the students to draw on a piece of paper, collect the papers, and redistribute them among the class.
Learning Objectives
-Students realise the importance of clarity and logical order in their instructions. If they give bad instructions, the picture comes out bad. It is the same with their own argumentation.
I couldn’t disagree more
Give participants a statement and ask them to give reasons why they disagree with you. Make the statements absolute, but difficult to disagree with (e.g. ‘I believe that we should never hurt animals’; or ‘I believe that lying is always wrong’; for older students, ‘I believe that war is never justified’). / Average time: 2-3 minutes per topic.
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating
Tip: Alternatively, go round in a circle with each participant saying why they disagree with the statement given by the previous participant, and then giving a new statement of their own (e.g. “I couldn’t disagree more because fruits can have too much sugar, but I do think that the sky is always blue”, followed by “I couldn’t disagree more because the sky is normally grey, but I do think holidays are fun”).
Learning Objectives
-Prompts students to think about points critically, and come up with effective responses.
-Helps students come up with objections that they personally disagree with, but would be reasonably convincing to a general audience
Count to 10
Write a list of emotions on the board, making sure to include as wide a range as possible. Then pick two emotions from the list, and ask a student to count out loud from one to ten, starting with one emotion at number one, and transitioning to a different emotion by the time they reach number ten. Select emotions that are sufficiently different to illustrate the transition. Possible pairs of emotions would include: sad-happy; calm-angry; and relaxed-stressed. For more advanced or older groups you can ask them to demonstrate three different emotions while counting. / Average time: 5 minutes, 1 minute per volunteer.
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: You can ask students to suggest different emotions when compiling the list. Make sure the emotions are appropriate and understandable for the age group.
Learning Objectives
-Demonstrates to students how to use non-verbal cues.
Arms wide open
Ask a volunteer to come to the front of the class. They should stand up straight, open their arms wide open, and deliver a speech on any topic for 30 seconds while maintaining eye contact with their audience. Ask them to try not to fidget while they speak. Make sure the topics are simple, such as their hobbies, their favourite food or TV show, to make the experience less stressful for them. After several volunteers have taken part in the game discuss with the group why it is so difficult to control eye contact, posture, and hand gestures. / Average time: 10 minutes, 1 minute per volunteer.
Use with: all age groups, especially KS2 and 3.
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: As the game progresses, you can give students time incentives to maintain eye contact with the audience. For example, every they look away from the audience you can add 5 seconds to their time.
Learning Objectives
-A great way to make students aware of their posture and gestures while they speak, and to practice making eye contact with the audience.
Guess the style
Tell the participants they are going to speak about a topic for 30 seconds in a particular style. Choose a speaker and give them a style (angry, bored, funny, nervous, sad...) and a topic. Ask the rest of the group to guess what the style was, and discuss how the speaker conveyed that style to the audience. / Average time: 10 minutes, 2 minutes per volunteer.
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: When trying to make the game more entertaining for younger students, make sure the topics are irrelevant to the emotion you are asking them to show. For example, they can talk about tables in a sad way, or be nervous about cake.
Learning Objectives
-Demonstrates to students how to use non-verbal cues.
In the style of a...
Give participants a short text describing some events (e.g. a basic news story). First, ask them to read out the text in the style of a particular character without changing any of the words (e.g. the Queen, a pop singer, a teacher, a politician). Then ask them to give a version of the speech that keeps the meaning the same but changes the words to the ones their character would use. / Average time: 10 minutes for 5 volunteers
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Public Speaking
Tip: You can also ask students to change the speech according to a particular type of audience (e.g. school assembly, a party conference, a morning radio show)
Learning Objectives
-Demonstrates to students how to use verbal and non-verbal cues to change the style of their speech
Make it sound good, make it sound bad
Divide the students into small groups, and give each pair of groups a “neutral” statement (e.g. “London is a big city”, or “Birds can fly”). Ask one team in each pair to present the statement to the group so it sounds good (“London is a big, multicultural, thriving city”), and the other to present it so it sounds bad (“London is a big, dangerous, noisy city”). / Average time: 10 minutes
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: For less confident groups, you can ask divide the whole class in two groups and ask them to brainstorm on one side of the statement each. Then ask one volunteer from each group to present their statement.
Learning Objectives
-Students understand how the can use different vocabulary to make a point more effectively and persuasively.
Moving about
Ask each student to come up with a statement, and three points to support it. Ask them to deliver the three reasons to the class in a short speech (they do not need to provide extensive analysis on their points, so long as the three points are distinct from each other). Ask that during the speech they move to a different place in the classroom between each point. / Average time: 10 minutes, 2 minutes per volunteer
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: Instead of moving around the room, they can deliver one reason sitting on the floor, one standing up, and one sitting on a chair.
Learning Objectives
-Students think about when and how their points are separated in a speech, introducing them to a clear structure.
The condensing machine
Ask a member of the group to speak for 1 minute on a topic. Ask a second student to speak for 30 seconds, summarising what the previous speaker said. Then ask a third student to summarise the previous speech in 10 seconds. Make sure students do not add different and new ideas in each speech, but rather focus on the main points of the previous speaker. / Average time: 5 minutes per topic
Use with: all age groups
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: Play “broken telephone” style, where groups send “messengers” to other groups giving shorter and shorter messages until the message comes back to the original group.
Learning Objectives
-An effective way for students to practice their summary skills. It teaches them to identify the key phrases in a speech, and distinguish between central points and examples or rhetorical devices.
Running out of ink
Tell speakers they are going to have to speak for one minute about a topic you give them, and they may only write down ten words for notes. Ask speakers to present to each other in small groups. / Average time: 5 minutes, 1 minute per volunteer.
Use with: all age groups, especially KS3-5
Type of workshop: Debating and Public Speaking
Tip: Vary the number of words relative to the length of the speech to make it easier or harder according to the level of the group.
Learning Objectives
-Give students the confidence to identify keywords in their speech, and then to speak without being reliant on extensive notes.