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Year 8

Delivering a persuasive speech about a new word

I can deliver a speech about adding a new word to the dictionary with confidence.

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New
New
Year 8

Delivering a persuasive speech about a new word

I can deliver a speech about adding a new word to the dictionary with confidence.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Body language and eye contact support the successful delivery of a speech.
  2. Pace, pitch and tone can help to emphasise important words.
  3. Gesture and posture can be used to engage the audience and to add emphasis to important points.
  4. Spoken language often needs to be slower than feels natural.
  5. Speeches are much more engaging when the speaker does not simply read off a page.

Common misconception

That students should constantly be changing the pitch of their voice when speaking.

Pitch is an effective tool when delivering speeches. It should be used to make a speech more engaging and shouldn't be used arbitrarily.

Keywords

  • Posture - Posture refers to the position in which you are sitting or standing.

  • Gesture - A gesture is a movement of the body, usually performed to express an idea or meaning.

  • Pitch - Pitch refers to the relative highness and lowness of voice when speaking.

  • Tone - A speech’s tone refers to its overall mood or feeling.

  • Pace - When given a speech, pace refers to the speed at which you are saying the words.

There are lots of great opportunities for spoken performance in this lesson. Consider the 'Just a minute' game as a warm-up where students speak for one minute on a random topic/idea/object without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'At the start of our speeches we should ____ our audience with an engaging opening? What 'h' word is missing here?
Correct Answer: hook, Hook
Q2.
A speech's tone refers to its
Correct answer: mood or feeling.
content and ideas.
style and delivery.
length and pace.
Q3.
Deliver a speech to your classmates on why you should be elected to the student council? What is the form, purpose and audience of this task?
Correct answer: Speech, to persuade, classmates
Speech, to inform, classmates
Article, to explain, classmates
Speech, to entertain, parents and teachers
Q4.
Match these devices to the correct speech openings.
Correct Answer:Direct address,Fellow students, welcome to my speech on climate change

Fellow students, welcome to my speech on climate change

Correct Answer:Rhetorical question,How can we stand idly by knowing our planet is in crisis?

How can we stand idly by knowing our planet is in crisis?

Correct Answer:Anecdote,I remember the white snow, blue skies and grey of the ocean.

I remember the white snow, blue skies and grey of the ocean.

Q5.
What is the correct definition of posture? Here it is used in a sentence: 'She maintained excellent posture while giving her presentation.'
Correct answer: the position in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting.
the body language someone has when delivering a speech.
the way a speaker makes the audience feel.
the words, phrases and language a speaker uses.
Q6.
What is the correct definition of the word 'gesture'? Here it is used in a sentence: 'She made a warm gesture as she welcomed the crowd'.
Correct answer: a movement of the body, usually performed to express an idea or meaning.
the position in which a person delivers speech.
anything non-verbal that a person does when speaking.
the general emotional state of a person giving a speech.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is being described here? A movement of the body, usually performed to express an idea or meaning.
Correct answer: Gesture
Rhetoric
Eye contact
Tone
Q2.
Tone generally refers to what in a speech?
Correct answer: Mood and feeling
Volume and speed
Quality and depth
Humour and seriousness
Q3.
The changes in the highness and lowness of your voice. What is being described here?
Correct Answer: Pitch, pitch, the pitch
Q4.
'The car pulls into the drive. We park. I can only be feeling one thing. Hometicipation.' The end to this speech uses lots of short sentences. What effect does this have?
Correct answer: It builds the tension to the reveal of the word.
It makes the audience more excited.
It is typical to structure anecdotes in this way.
It makes it more engaging as the sentence length is varied.
Q5.
Which of the statements best describes how eye contact should be used in a speech?
Correct answer: Varyingly, with your gaze surveying your audience in a general way.
Sparingly, barely looking at your audience at all.
Intensely, focusing in on just one member of the audience.
Rarely, you should mainly be looking at your notes.
Q6.
When delivering a speech my posture should be...
Correct answer: upright and confident.
relaxed and informal.
slouched and timid.
rigid and imposing.