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How to help your child write a speech (without doing it for them)

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It’s hard for parents to help kids with homework without doing it for them . It can be especially difficult to work out where to start when your child is preparing a speech for school.

You might find your child is procrastinating more about getting started with a speech than about other homework. This could be because they are anxious about it.

Having something that they want to say to their class can help to increase your child’s confidence and motivation when they deliver the speech. A positive speechmaking experience can increase confidence for next time, which is why some schools teach public speaking in a systematic way.

It’s important to keep in mind that public speaking has two parts to it: writing the speech, and delivering it.

Here are some tips for how to help your kid with both aspects of preparation.

Writing the speech

First, help your child find something they want to say to their audience.

When a child is delivering a speech to the class, they are being listened to, observed, and watched by their peers. Most other classwork is only read by the teacher. In a speech, they are sharing their ideas with the whole class.

That’s why it is really important they own what they are saying, and say it in their own words.

It’s key they own the topic (if it is a free choice of topic) or that they own the stance they are taking (if the topic is set by the teacher).

As a parent, it’s tricky to support your child to find their own words to say – but it’s very important you don’t write the speech for them.

Help them to think about what they care about and what they think is important to share with their class.

Apart from the fact the teacher will spot a parent-written speech a mile away, if your child has no ownership of their speech, they will not care about communicating the ideas to the class.

Next, help your child to think about organising their ideas.

It’s good to have a hook or a catchy introduction into the main idea of the speech. That could be a rhetorical question, an anecdote or an amazing fact. They can then think of around three main points about the topic.

Ask your child questions that help them to think about some examples or evidence that support their ideas.

Finally, help them to finish their speech. Often, the ending might return to the beginning to round off the point being made – a kind of “I told you so”!

Delivering the speech – 4 tips for parents

1. Encourage your child to focus on communicating their idea to their audience.

If they focus on sharing their ideas, rather than worrying about themselves, everything will come together. Encourage them to think about looking at the audience and making sure everyone can hear them.

2. Practise the speed of delivery and time their speech.

One of the easiest things to practise that makes a big difference to the delivery of the speech is the pacing.

The big tip is to slow down. When speakers feel nervous they tend to speed up, sometimes just a little — but often students will deliver their speeches at breakneck speed, racing to just get it done so they can go and sit down.

I’ve listened to thousands of student speeches and have never heard one delivered too slowly. But I have heard many that sound like a horse-race call.

3. Be an affirmative audience to their speech.

Listen to your child practise when they feel ready to share with you, but don’t push them if they are resistant.

Focus on building their confidence by talking to them about the moments you felt they were connecting with you as an audience member. Be appreciative of their jokes or show you share their feelings about ideas they care about.

Your children seek your approval – don’t be stingy with it.

4. If they are feeling confident, suggest they work on nuancing their delivery.

Once they are feeling confident about delivering the speech, the child can add variety and texture.

For instance, they might slow down for emphasis on certain words, add a pause after asking a question, or think about some moments where they might speak more softly or loudly.

Variation will add interest to the delivery of the speech and help to grab and keep the audience’s attention. It also helps further convey your child’s ideas.

Good support takes time

It’s hard to get the balance right when supporting your child to prepare their speech. The trick is to understand that it will take more than one sitting.

So, plan for a few chunks of time, and work on building their ideas and enthusiasm.

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Speech Writing Outline and Format for Students

Learning how to write a speech is a skill most students will need help refining. Guide your students through the speech writing process with the outline and descriptions below. All of the major components of a speech are included and explained in a format students can understand and apply. Once students understand the step-by-step method for crafting a successful speech, they will feel more confident speaking in front of an audience.

I. Introduction

The beginning of a speech is called the introduction. The introduction is important because it sets the tone for the entire presentation. The introduction can be broken into two parts: the attention grabber and the preview.

A. Attention Grabber: Capturing the attention of the audience is the first thing the speaker says or does. In order to do this, the speaker might tell a humorous story, ask a rhetorical question, describe a hypothetical situation, or share an interesting fact.

B. Preview: The second part of the introduction is when the speaker introduces himself or herself and the topic of the speech. The main points of the speech can also be presented at this time.

After the introduction, the speaker transitions to the body of the speech. This is where the speaker will spend the most amount of time. The goal of the body of the speech is to clearly explain the topic.

A. Main Points: To clearly explain the topic, the body of the speech is broken down into main points. The number of main points will vary from speech to speech. Regardless of the number, it is important to keep the main points organized in a purposeful way. Also, clear transitions between main points (and throughout the speech) are critical. Without them, the audience will have trouble following along.

1. Supporting Details: Each main point needs supporting material to help the audience understand and remember that point. Examples, explanations, visual aids, and props can be used as supporting material.

III. Conclusion

The conclusion puts the finishing touches on the speech. It lets the audience know that the speech is about to end. Like the introduction, the conclusion can be broken into two parts: the review and the final statement.

A. Review: During the first part of the conclusion, the speaker restates the topic of the speech and each main point.

B. Final Statement: The speech ends with a strong final statement. The final statement addresses the topic one last time in a powerful and meaningful way. The purpose of the final statement is to round out the speech and provide the audience with a strong signal that the presentation is complete.

Click here to download everything you need to teach your students how to write an organized speech. The comprehensive lesson includes “How to Write a Speech” informational text, comprehension questions, example speech, speech outline template, speech writing rubric, and a list of 40 student-friendly speech topics.

Speech Writing Lesson Bundle

“This was an excellent way to begin the year in my speech class. It was very informative for students, had a fun appearance, and was easy to follow. I know I will use this every semester! Thank you!” -Kim O.

How to Make a Good Speech for School

Last Updated: February 10, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 1,231,513 times.

A good speech in school will earn you the admiration of your teachers and peers alike. You probably won't deliver the kind of speech you hear in the movies, but that's a good thing: people will enjoy your original take much more. From getting an idea to conquering stage fright, here are the steps to take if you want to make your final speech a memorable, exciting success.

Sample Speeches

Writing the Speech

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To use an example from earlier, if your theme is "Become an even better version of the hero who inspired you," you could begin your speech with two or three sentence about your hero, then say "You all have heroes who inspire you, but you don't have to just follow them. You can become even greater than the people you look up to."

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Include phrases such as "Now I'd like to talk about..." and "But we should also remember..." when moving on to your next idea.

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Have a teacher, family member, or trusted friend check it over for grammar mistakes and offer feedback. Spelling isn't as important, since you'll be speaking out loud.

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If your topic involves a lot of numbers, plan to write them on the board so your audience can remember them

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Your notes are there to remind you what to say next and of important facts. "Move on to bear wrestling story (guy's name is Paul Bunyan)" is the level of detail you need.

Practicing and Delivering the Speech

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If you speech is too long, you absolutely need to cut some material out of it or shorten the longer stories or ideas. If you're giving a commencement speech, aim for a 10 or 15 minute maximum. An election speech should be no more than a few minutes, and your teacher should be able to tell you the time limit for a class assignment speech.

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If you can't stop rushing, work out how long you should spend on each section and write the number of minutes at the top of each index card or paragraph. Practice near a clock so you can check whether you're on pace.

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Use slightly different words each time once you have the main ideas down. Try not to get caught up on exact memorization; using a new phrase to communicate the written idea makes your speech sound more natural.

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Dressing nicely will increase your confidence and gain respect and attention from your audience.

What to Do and What Not to Do

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Don't tell stories that only a few friends will understand. Even references that your whole class will get should be used sparingly if there are parents in the room as well.

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If you're giving a high school commencement speech, remember that not everyone in your class will be attending college. Don't joke about your education letting you avoid a "bad" profession; chances are good there's a parent who has that job out in the audience.=

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About This Article

To make a good speech for school, choose a theme or topic to focus your speech on so it's easier to write. When you're writing your speech, stick with simple language so your audience understands and doesn't get bored. Also, try to start your speech with a joke, story, or shocking fact that will immediately grab their attention. Remember to talk directly to your audience by asking rhetorical questions and making references they'll understand. End your speech with something memorable, like an inspirational quote or a call to action. To learn more about how to practice and memorize your speech before you present it, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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A museum display of six all-white statues of men from the 1860s, which represent the jobseekers and visitors to the Lincoln White House. In the center, a man in a suit raises a finger as he speaks. Opposite him, a short man in a top hat is pointing to him with his mouth open, as if they are engaged in a debate.

Original Speech Writing

Students write eight original speeches.

Rubrics and example speeches are included. Each speech performance focuses on using two Podium Points (elements of effective public speaking).

Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1

Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence

Classroom Activities

Teacher Preparation:

Catherine Plumb-Sperry is a sixth-grade reading teacher at James Bridger Middle School in Independence, MO. Over the course of a year, her students write and perform an original speech each month. This lesson gives teachers framework for how to structure eight different speeches. Catherine’s most important tips for successfully implementing this in the classroom:

Additionally, Catherine believes that a podium is a necessary classroom accessory when teaching oratory. Students need to be accustomed to speaking from and using a podium. The podium is also a visual aid indicating that when someone stands to speak, we listen.

Classroom Activity One

Introductory speech.

The first speech of the year is untimed. Catherine usually does the speech on the third day of school. Students cannot use notes of any kind.

The podium point being evaluated is presence: Can you walk to the podium confidently (even if you don’t feel confident) and use a greeting?

Students are expected to:

After the speech, the students in the audience spend two minutes giving warm and cool feedback.

Classroom Activity Two

Brown bag speech.

This speech is very similar to “show-and-tell” from early elementary school.

Students are each given a brown lunch sack. They write the speech requirements on it. They bring it home that night, and select an item to share with the class for their speech. The item must fit in the sack, and may not be a previously living or presently living item. Students bring the item in the sack to school the next day.

The two Podium Points added to this speech are volume and pace. Nerves cause speakers to speak quickly so pace is a challenge. Introduce pace early in the process so student have many opportunities to practice speaking at an appropriate pace.

After the speech, the class spends two minutes giving warm and cool feedback.

Classroom Activity Three

Storytelling speech.

In this speech, students tell a story from their life. It must be something they are comfortable sharing in front of the class.

The two podium points that are the focus of this speech are tone and emphasis. Students are telling stories that may contain strong emotion, so this is a natural way for them to add tone and emphasis. Students should write their speech down and identify the tone they are trying to achieve. They should also highlight or circle any words they are going to emphasize. They will use the written text to rehearse, and then turn in the text before giving their speech.

Students are expected to

Classroom Activity Four

Tribute speech.

In this speech, students are telling the class about an important person in their life, and why they admire this person.

Encourage students to bring a photograph of their person. A photograph gives the audience a nice visual reference during the speech.

The two podium points that are the focus of this speech are eye-contact and diction. Students may use a script when delivering this speech. A caveat: because a script is allowed, students may tend to read to the audience. It takes a high level of skill to have a script and still make eye contact. Students are expected to rehearse their speech at home before the speech performance day. Assign a rehearsal log to ensure that students practice before their performance.

Teach tongue twisters in class to support development of diction. Students can practice these tongue twisters at home when rehearsing their speech. On speech performance day, the class can warm-up using the tongue twisters. Starting off class this way may also alleviate nerves, as tongue twisters can be fun and promote a bit of laughter.

This is the first speech where speeches are timed. Speeches must be at least one minute and no longer than two minutes. Discuss time with the students but do not use it as an evaluation criteria.

Classroom Activity Five

“read to me” speech.

Note: It might be helpful to pair this with the Refining Tone and Emphasis Lesson.

In this speech, the students read a piece of text written by someone else. The text can be lyrics from a song, a story or a poem. The Podium Points that are the focus of this speech are emphasis and tone. Although these Podium Points have been covered in the past, the content of this speech requires “extra” attention to tone and emphasis when delivering the speech. Students should make a deliberate effort to put emotion into their delivery.

To find a text to read for performance, students may search online to find song lyrics, a story or poem that they connect with emotionally. They should cut and paste this text into a Word document. Students should read the text carefully to understand the message of the text, and determine the emotional tone. They should annotate their text by circling words they think best express the meaning and tone, and practice emphasizing those words when saying it aloud. Students should bring their annotated text with them to the podium for reference.

Speeches are timed and should be between one and maximum two minutes long.

After the speech, students are expected to explain briefly how they employed tone and emphasis to convey the meaning of their speech. The class then spends two minutes giving warm and cool feedback.

Classroom Activity Six

Book speech.

In this speech, students review a book they’ve read during the school year.

The Podium Points added for this speech are gesture and posture. Students need to demonstrate confident posture. Confident posture includes standing up tall, without slouching, feet firmly on the floor, no rocking or fidgeting. Shoulders should be back and down. Students can be prompted to squeeze their shoulder blades together, or imagine that they are tucking their shoulder blades into the back pockets. The goal is to open the chest up, without puffing it out, so that students can breath properly and look confident.

They also should use gestures to emphasize the important parts of the speech or to engage the audience. Remind students that gestures should be as natural as possible. As a frame of reference, it may be helpful to demonstrate examples of natural gestures, or play clips of famous orators and have students observe their gestures.

Students are required to use a visual aide for this speech. They have the choice between creating the visual aide (e.g. a poster advertising the book) or bringing in an item related to the topic of the book (e.g. for a baseball book, a news article from the same time period as the book, or memorabilia that relates to the book). Using the visual aid is an easy way for students to include gesture into a speech.

This is a timed speech and should be between two and three minutes.

After the speech, students spend two minutes giving warm and cool feedback.

Classroom Activity Seven

Teaching speech.

In this speech, students teach something to the entire class. To help students decide their lesson topic, offer some suggestions. This helps students to focus their ideas, so they select something they will feel confident teaching. Some suggestions: origami, how to draw something, a sports strategy, how to do a card trick, a dance step or a simple craft project.

By lesson seven, all of the Podium Points have been introduced. Students are now assessed on their use of all Podium Points and speech requirements.

This is a timed speech and should be between three and five minutes.

Classroom Activity Eight

This i believe.

In this speech, students speak about a topic important to them. This speech introduces students to the art of persuasive speech. Students should be encouraged to think about what matters to them, and to select a topic they feel passionately about. As they write their speeches, students should consider what they want the audience to know, understand and do about the topic as a result of listening to their speech. The speech must include a call to action to the audience.

This is speech includes a research component, to help students understand their issue, find evidence to support their belief, and learn about any opposing points of view. Students will need to be provided with time for research. Length of instructional time dedicated conducting research should be determined according to grade level and how much time the school curriculum will allow.

After researching the topic, the writing process begins. In-class time devoted to writing should be a minimum of three days. Consider a process that includes students writing drafts, editing and rewriting. This I Believe has an excellent teaching guide on how to help students write their own statements.

Our original speech writing lesson also has several useful techniques for helping students write their own speeches.

This is a timed speech and must be at least 1 minute 50 seconds, and no longer than 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Each speech includes an individual rubric for assessment.

Planning With Kids

Public Speaking Tips For Kids

The speeches are written and practiced at home. This year I created a template for the kids to help make a start on their speech. The template not only helps them plan out the content for their speech, but gives them tips on how to define the purpose, research and practise their speech.

I used this template with all three kids – prep, year three and year five. The level of guidance needed by each child varied and I naturally I spent the most time with the six year old as this is the first time he has had to write and present a speech.

Not every element of the template will necessarily need to be completed and depends on the topic. For example the prep child chose “Kids have fun when….” from the list of topics for his class. This topic requires no research to be done as he is an expert in knowing how kids have fun!

The kids may also need more room than for the “middle” section, depending on how long their speech is to be. We simply turned over the page and wrote on the back.

Public Speaking Tips For Kids – A Checklist

I have listed below the elements the template covers:

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那么问题来了全家桶为啥没鸡蛋！ #肯德基 #全家桶 #涨知识 #冷知识 #Shorts
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COMMENTS

Speech Writing
If the audience is small then you can afford to be more specific, perhaps even name audience members. If your audience is broad then choose the words that will
How To Write A Speech Teaching Resources
This speech writing template helps students thoughtfully outline ... for your elementary writing process pieces for public speaking.
How to help your child write a speech (without doing it for them)
Delivering the speech – 4 tips for parents · 1. Encourage your child to focus on communicating their idea to their audience. · 2. Practise the
Speech Writing Outline and Format for Students
After the introduction, the speaker transitions to the body of the speech. This is where the speaker will spend the most amount of time. The
How to Make a Good Speech for School (with Pictures)
Use short sentences, and avoid words your audience won't understand. Avoid long, meandering sentences and overcomplicated arguments. Unlike when writing an
Original Speech Writing
Students should write their speech down and identify the tone they are trying to achieve. They should also highlight or circle any words they are going to
Public Speaking Tips For Kids
Beginning: Brief, capture the attention of the audience and establish the subject and purpose of the speech. Don't just restate the topic. Add
12 Speech writing lesson ideas
Finding Speech Topics for Students · Parramatta Library Catalogue · How to Teach Students to OWN that Speech | Teacher Off Duty · How To Speech Assignments Sample
Giving a Speech Lesson Plan for Elementary School
Most likely, some students will respond that speeches make them nervous. ... Tell students that they will be writing a speech about a specific topic, and they
Speech Writing and Performing
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