Learning from the greats: watching speakers to grow skills

Why observation matters

One of the most powerful ways to improve our own speaking skills is to watch those who do it well. Videoed TED Talks, public speaking competitions, and other events: public meetings of varying sorts, conferences, weddings, funerals, prize givings..., give us front-row seats to a range of speaking styles, strategies, and standout moments.

Playing videos of the best of speakers to your classes will show them what can be achieved. To help your students get the most from what they watch you’ll find several activity suggestions below as well as a Competent Speaker Checklist to use alongside them.

The checklist, varying aspects of voice and vocal delivery, body language, message delivery, plus content and credibility, is in a printable pdf.

Where to start, what to watch

Here are three sources of excellent speech examples:

• The Most Popular TED Talks of All Time – These talks are viral for all the right reasons: their charisma, clarity, and storytelling gold.

• Motivational TED Talks for Teens and Tweens – These combine age-relevant inspiration with authentic delivery. (There is some duplication of speakers and speeches between these two TED Talk links but, enough difference to justify giving you both.)

• Public speaking competitions – A 2024 showcase of 6 passionate, polished and winning Hamilton College (US) student speakers.

Different speakers - different styles

Listening and watching differing styles of delivering content will encourage your students to experiment to find what best suits them. These six speakers are inspirational, each in their own way.

• Julian Treasure – How to speak so people want to listen – a TED Global speech on using the voice effectively with a ‘mere’ 65,033,458 plays!
  The page comes with an exceedingly useful speech transcript so you can read the words he’s saying as he’s saying them. Plus, each significant section of the transcript has its own timestamp link taking you to that point in the video. For example, at 04:08 Julian begins his introduction to a series of voice tools – tips and exercises to improve the sound of our voices. The timestamp links are useful to quickly move to whatever section you want your students to focus on.

• Sarah Kay – For poetic language and emotive delivery, try listening to If I should have a daughter... Sarah is an US based award-winning spoken word poet and the founder and co-director of Project VOICE, an educational organization that provides workshops on the performance and writing of poetry. Her speech also has a transcript with jump links.

• Tim Urban – Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator —This speech of Tim’s is a favorite of mine. It’s wonderfully humorous in an honest self-deprecating way, is tightly structured and has delightfully whimsical creative visuals. If you or your students are at all prone to procrastination, this is a must view. It too, has a transcript with links.

• Simon Sinek – Simon is an expert on leadership and how a leader who makes an impact has the capacity to inspire. His delivery style is calm and confident. This speech: How good leaders make you feel safe has a transcript with links. It opens with a moving story.

• Brené Brown – Dr Brene Brown studies courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy. Her TED Talk, The power of vulnerability is one of the most viewed in the world. Watch and you’ll know why. It’s warm, relatable storytelling. And, yes, there’s a transcript.

• Greta Thunberg – The young Swedish climate activist’s speech presentation is unapologetically passionate and authentic. Her speech: The disarming case to act right now on climate change has been played 6,511,718 times. It comes with a transcript.

And now here’s the activities.

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Whole class work

Choose a speech for the class to watch.

After watching, ask:

• What did you notice first?

• What worked for you as an audience member?

• What didn’t?

• How did the speaker connect with their audience?

• What technique would you like to try yourself?

Shorts – snippet analysis

Choose a short segment (2–4 mins) from a speech focusing on skills you want to highlight. For instance, to look at the use of humor play the part of Tim Urban’s TED Talk about the “Instant Gratification Monkey” which begins at the 03.47 mark.

Then ask:

• What is your initial impression?

• What specific skills stands out—voice, use of humor, use of pauses, storytelling, body language, use of visual aids?

• Could you imagine yourself using any of those skills?

Group work

Speech reviews

• Split your class into groups of 3-4 and assign them each a speech to work with.

• Have them watch the speech and complete the Competent Speaker Checklist.

• One person from each group reports back to the class with a summary of their observations, including whether or not they recommend their fellow students to view the speech they watched, and why.

Solo work - declamation

‘Declamation’ is the practice of delivering someone else’s speech. It’s a superb exercise for learning more about rhythm, tone, and the persuasive power of language. (Find out more about it here: Declamation speech resources for students and teachers)

Ask your students to:

• Choose a 1–2-minute piece from any of the speakers’ speeches in the source links.

• Discuss what worked – identify, with examples, which specific aspects stood out.

• Use the transcript of the speech they’ve selected and copy and paste the extract they’ve chosen into a separate document. They’ll use that to rehearse with.

• Present their prepared piece to the class.

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Download the Competent Speaker Checklist to use with the activities

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Like some of the other activities I’ve recently highlighted e.g., timelining, visualization exercises, this is part of the bundle of materials I am preparing to help students find the strength they need to stand and speak with confidence in front of others.

If you have suggestions for activities, you’d like to see please tell me. Your input is most welcome.

That’s it for this week. I hope it’s useful for you.
Thank you for being here. ❤️
Susan

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