Public Speaking class

This is a great class to supplement what we learn in Vanguard, on a different day or in the master class level, whichever your group decides:

Thanks, Julie, for putting all this together!

"I thought I would send this outline for a public speaking class to all of you since you will probably want to discuss having it as a journeyman class or a vanguard class or a mini class or nothing or whatever. :)

This is the format that I thought I would follow each time (depending upon what direction you want it to go)

Class:

Opening Warm Up Speaking (tongue twisters, jokes, newscaster (current events), weatherman, etc. 5-7 minutes for everyone to have a turn sharing something)

Small Instruction from me 10 minutes (prep for today's speaking...why's, how's, what's etc)

Time to prepare for speech...this will vary depending upon the topic given and how much time they need to prepare for it.  If it is one to be prepared in class time then preparation time will be 5-15 minutes.  If it is to be prepared at home before they come then no time to prepare is needed.

Speech's from youth/Critique from mentor (Kathy Mellor's method...ask them how they felt, what they liked, didn't like about their speech, give positive criticism, give one thing to work on next time...if they want it )  time?   usually it ends up being about 5 minutes per person unless they have a really long speech then it could go up to 10 per person.

Debrief the class:  what do you learn from yourself, what did you learn from watching others, what things will you do different next time, what things are you pleased with.  5 minutes

So in my calculations it looks like if we had 6 people taking the class then we would need an hour.  If we had less than 6 then I would need to find additional things to do to fill the hour...although I don't think that would be hard.  If we had more than 6 people then we could have a problem or we could just cut down on our prep time and the speeches would end up being shorter as a result...less time to prepare equals less time in front of people

So here is my outline of topics for class times if you decide you want it to be a journeyman class:

Class 1:   Getting to know you 

        What, Where Why public speaking

         Speeches:  Introduce a Speaker

                           Tell us about something you love

Class 2:   Preparing in your Mind part 1 and 2

        Speeches:   Method 1  You must see this movie forward

                           Method 2 You must see this movie  backward

Class 3:  Preparing in your mind part  3

         Speeches:   Method 3 You must read this book   why's

                            Telling a story

Class 4:  What is he looking at?

        Speeches:  Why you should or shouldn't do your chores

Class 5:  Story Time

        Speeches:   Your favorite Nursery Rhyme, Bedtime Story, etc.

Class 6:  Wipe that Smirk off your Face

        Speeches:  Sell me something from your room

Class 7:  So, Sorry, what was that you said?

        Speeches:  Instructions...tell me how to make something

Class 8:  Poke along little doggy

         Speeches:    lifes little mysteries

Class 9:  Mumble, Mumble, Mumble

         Speeches:   Your favorite subject (tell me about something your learning)

Class 10: Bueller, Bueller?

          Speeches:  Silly words,,,why is it called....toe jam, silly putty, ear wax etc. 

Class 11:  Good Pauses

          Speeches  Someone you admire

Class 12:  The King of Beasts (roar)

          Speeches:   to text or not to text that is the question

Class 13:  Prepared Speeches:   Brainstorming...they pick

           Practice Speeches  Eating Dessert First, uses of duck tape,  

Class 14:  Prepared Speeches:  Introduction and Transition to Body

            Practice Speeches :  prepositional phrases 

Class 15:  Body of the Speech

               Prepared Speeches   Introduction and Transition

Class 16   Prepared Speeches:   Transition to Conclusion and Conclusion

                Prepared Speeches  intro, transition, body

Class 17   Extemporous Speeches

                Studying the Greats  Gordon B Hinckley

                Prepared Speeches  intro, transition, body, transition, conclusion

Class 18    Informational Speeches..an event from history

                 Studying the Greats   Abraham Lincoln

                 Critiquing each other....extemoporous speeches

                 

   

Class 19    Persuasive Speeches...lifestyle change

                 Studying the Greats   JFK

                 Critiquing each other...an event from history

Class 20    WOW me...Using a Theme 

                 Studying the Greats  Obama

                  Critiquing Each Other...lifestyle change

Class 21    Wow me...Using a Theme

                 Studying the greats  Presidential Debating

If you wanted to do it for Vanguard during class time you could squeeze it into an hour a month, 15 minutes of instruction and then only have 6 or so (volunteers) give a speech each month.  It would give them less practice and no time to study the greats or go indepth into styles and proceedures but it could be incorporated into the Thursday classes.  I think the least amount of time you would want to go would be 45 minutes.  It takes that much time just for them to get their courage up, formulate coherent thoughts, and then give the speech and get feedback. If you did it once a month it would give them 7 instruction times:  5 Improptu and 2 Prepared  

If you wanted to do it as a mini class (6 weeks class) it would be similar to incorporating it into the Thursday classes.  It would need atleast 45 minutes a week and then you would have 4 Improptu and 2 Prepared.

Whatever you decide to do would be fine.  It is something I wanted to teach my daughter and thought that it might be beneficial to offer it through Vanguard if  it is something you think would be worthwhile for the youth.

Another thing I thought might be great would be to have clips each week showing a speech from a general authority and critique what things we liked or didn't (can you do that? :) ) about their talks.  It would add the spiritual dimension that is the best arena for public speaking (in my opinion).  It is a great way to help prepare for a mission or future callings."

Master Class suggested book ideas

The Real Thomas Jefferson
The Real George Washington
1984 (preview for appropriateness for age level or editing)

Up from Slavery

War and Peace

Count of Monte Cristo

Aristotle

Locke

Plato

Bastiat

Adam Smith "Wealth of Nations"

Les Miserables

Jane Eyre

Do Hard Things

The Fourth Turning

Left to Tell

To Destroy you is no Loss

Wild Swans

Cellist of Sarajevo

The Great Books list (Marx, Machievelli: The Prince)

The Apology

The Illiad

The Abolition of Man

Alas, Babylon

Please feel free to include your ideas for more books in the reply section :)!

Possible outline for a month for a smaller group/Master class

I am currently doing Vanguard with just my two "scholar phasers."  It is both interesting and challenging, but I think it fits right in with the model suggested for a superb leadership education in "TJEd for Teens":
--Small class size :)
-- Individual mentoring
--Mission-tailored classes and subjects
--Personally driven
The line that stuck out to me this time in reviewing it with my youth was that "leadership comes more naturally to those who have had a chief hand in their own education." (pg 3)

My daughter is 15 turning 16 and my son is 14 1/2, just for context...

We just looked again through the list of 100 books in the "TJEd for Teens," as my daughter and I decided we both want to finish that list as part of our scholar phase.  However, there were some books we hadn't finished yet, so we outlined which books we wanted to finish up from the 13 and 14 year old list, which will take us through the end of the year.  We paired up the books with the monthly themes I have in my house (they coincide with the themes suggested for a school year study in Vanguard, with more during the summer).  Voila!

So, here's the game plan for the month:
Each week we have what I have called "Core and Crust" (see article about the Core and Crust of Leadership, link on this blog).  We rotate who leads this segment and it includes the following:
1-Devotional
2-Lead a discussion on a chapter (or two) of a Leadership skill book (the ones we have picked to do this year are "TJEd for Teens" and "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens"; we will move onto "One-Minute Manager" after that if we run out of weeks).  I always encourage my kids to make this a fun experience to teach, including object lessons, media, and games/activities
3-Review poem for the month, as well as a poem from the "Best Loved Poems of the American People," as recommended on the "TJEd for Teens" list
4-Latin class (always by me)
5-Synergy of the Mind challenge that (ideally) goes along with the topic of discussion
-Week 1: Leadership-Article/Scripture and Biography
-Week 2: Geo-conquest...we each do a "prezi" or powerpoint focusing on a particular continent that month.  We then come up with questions for our Geo-challenge game the fourth week.  We also each prepare a cultural dish from that continent for dinner that night. (Our teams for the Geo-challenge game change up each month, with Dad and my 11-year old also participating.)
-Week 3: Apprentice/Journeyman-level Book Discussion
-Week 4: Geo-Challenge and then Master class following with Master book discussion and project sharing.

We have science on Tuesdays with Dad, with science and math classics integrated into our reading schedule, history on Thursdays covering the time period of the year, and art on Fridays that complement the theme for the month, so our lenses are not all incorporated on one day to make it a little simpler with me being the only mentor and lots of little kids underfoot.

Hopefully we will have more outlines of how groups incorporate these concepts to give people ideas on how to run their own group, with their own, unique situation.

For instance, our "Core and Crust" classes include poetry and Latin, both things that my kids really like.  We also chose not to attack the Leadership skill books in one book discussion, as it is harder for all of us to grasp the varied concepts in them by reading and discussing them all at once.  Others might have different needs for their scholars or want to focus on different areas during their own "Core and Crust" topics.

Thinking back, it was more of a Master class, structured to include the monthly themes, "core class" elements, and geographical/historical monthly focus.

Play your garbage!

An amazing group that shows what synergy + action can do in any situation...

Talk about application of true principles!  This is the type of project our youth could do in a master-level, synergistic environment.