That's a great question. If you us let know what the age group of the children are, I'm sure we can come with some age-appropriate activities. If I can't, then perhaps someone else will kindly offer to help.
In essence what we want to do is help students to become more aware of the impact of their body language as they speak - How it can either complement their words, making them more effective or detract, making them less effective.
Most of the distracting movements speakers make arise out of anxiety. They are unconscious behaviors. Their range is vast: pacing randomly, face pulling, swapping from standing on one foot to stand on the other and then back again, hair twiddling, swaying, rattling papers, throat clearing, eye rolling, hand clutching and wringing, hands in pockets, jingling things in pockets, head scratching, tapping... and they all undermine a speaker’s message.
I’ve pulled together some exercises on body language I’ve used successfully. However, they do come with a caveat. ☺I’ve not taught children as young as eight. That aside, I think some of them could adapt quite well.
Understanding what body language is and what it does – how it adds to a story.
For example, The Three Little Pigs. What actions naturally arise from this part of the story?
"So, the wolf showed his teeth and said:
Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.
Well! he huffed, and he puffed. He puffed and he huffed. And he huffed, huffed, and he puffed, puffed; but he could not blow the house down. At last, he was so out of breath that he couldn't huff, and he couldn't puff any more. So, he stopped to rest and thought a bit."
Split your class into pairs and have them take turns to watch each other retell the story once with as much action as they can, and then with none. Which retelling was more effective? Why?
Presenting the best of the worst
This a game/activity I devised to take the sting out behaving randomly while speaking because you were nervous. It always has gone well with teens. I encourage the very biggest and best demonstration of whatever the behavior is.
To play it you will need a collection of extremely simple impromptu topics. Eg. What I had for the breakfast, How I got to school this morning, My favorite game, The best song ever is..., My favorite month of the year..., My favorite food is..., My favorite color is..., The best summertime activity is...
You will also need a list of the behaviors you are going to ask your students to demonstrate. Eg. stage wandering, hair twiddling, swaying, foot tapping, clothes clutching...
Explain the premise of the exercise – exploring the impact of nervous/anxiety driven behavior by deliberately exaggerating it. It’s both a fun and instructive exercise and failure is impossible!
Invite self-confident student to stand in front of the class. Given them a topic. Then give them a thing (or two) to do while they speak. Eg. ‘What I had for dinner last night’, plus ‘wandering, without any eye contact’.
“What I had (Two step to the left.), for dinner last night, (Three more to the front.) was cold pizza. Yeah, um. Cold parmesan topped pizza. (Two steps sideways while looking down.) I think it was a leftover from a few days ago (Stop still while looking up.) when Sally came over.”
Give the speaker about 30 seconds before stopping them. Any more quickly gets too much.
Cheer enthusiastically. Lead the clapping and thank them for their masterful display.
Now do a very quick feedback round. What impression did the speaker give the audience? Ask the speaker too. How did they feel they were coming across?
Then ask another student to step up. Give them a new topic and a new behavior.
After there’s been a few of these demonstrations what mostly happens is everybody is laughing, happy and relaxed.
Finding the places and reasons to move
This is a 2-part exercise done in pairs. It’s similar to the storytelling one but this time is done with a chunk of a speech students are preparing.
Part one is to deliver the chosen piece (1 -2 minutes worth, perhaps the introduction) with feet firmly anchored to the floor, and arms by sides. There is no movement.
After the piece has been delivered, the partner asks, were there places where you felt the urge to move? Where were they? How did you want to move? Why?
Part two is repeating the piece with the addition of movement as discussed.
Now the partner gives feedback focusing on the changes made and their impact. Do they work? Is more movement needed? Less? A different movement? Is the effectiveness of the piece improved? What impression does the speaker give now?
Once the two parts are complete the partners swap roles and repeat the exercise.
Lastly, help students become aware of their own breathing patterns. We know when we’re becoming anxious, we tend to hold our breath. Learning to recognize what that feels like and to do something about it before it turns into an unruly monster is a lesson that will last a lifetime.
You said "If you've been tethered to a lectern in the past moving away is going to make you feel exposed." Ooooh! That was me in my teaching/management job. I was never confident about speaking, and did that semi-hide.🫤 But your information is so helpful!
You are not alone in trying to semi-hide behind the lectern. It makes people feel safer which unfortunately, can be self-limiting. Once you find out it's OK to step out it is so freeing.
Thank you for this guidance.
You are welcome. I hope there's something there you can use.
Thank you for this useful info.
How do I introduce it to children?
That's a great question. If you us let know what the age group of the children are, I'm sure we can come with some age-appropriate activities. If I can't, then perhaps someone else will kindly offer to help.
Age 8 years to 15 years
In essence what we want to do is help students to become more aware of the impact of their body language as they speak - How it can either complement their words, making them more effective or detract, making them less effective.
Most of the distracting movements speakers make arise out of anxiety. They are unconscious behaviors. Their range is vast: pacing randomly, face pulling, swapping from standing on one foot to stand on the other and then back again, hair twiddling, swaying, rattling papers, throat clearing, eye rolling, hand clutching and wringing, hands in pockets, jingling things in pockets, head scratching, tapping... and they all undermine a speaker’s message.
I’ve pulled together some exercises on body language I’ve used successfully. However, they do come with a caveat. ☺I’ve not taught children as young as eight. That aside, I think some of them could adapt quite well.
Understanding what body language is and what it does – how it adds to a story.
Retell a well-known children’s fairy story. (Try this link as a source https://americanliterature.com/short-stories-for-children/
For example, The Three Little Pigs. What actions naturally arise from this part of the story?
"So, the wolf showed his teeth and said:
Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.
Well! he huffed, and he puffed. He puffed and he huffed. And he huffed, huffed, and he puffed, puffed; but he could not blow the house down. At last, he was so out of breath that he couldn't huff, and he couldn't puff any more. So, he stopped to rest and thought a bit."
Split your class into pairs and have them take turns to watch each other retell the story once with as much action as they can, and then with none. Which retelling was more effective? Why?
Presenting the best of the worst
This a game/activity I devised to take the sting out behaving randomly while speaking because you were nervous. It always has gone well with teens. I encourage the very biggest and best demonstration of whatever the behavior is.
To play it you will need a collection of extremely simple impromptu topics. Eg. What I had for the breakfast, How I got to school this morning, My favorite game, The best song ever is..., My favorite month of the year..., My favorite food is..., My favorite color is..., The best summertime activity is...
You will also need a list of the behaviors you are going to ask your students to demonstrate. Eg. stage wandering, hair twiddling, swaying, foot tapping, clothes clutching...
Explain the premise of the exercise – exploring the impact of nervous/anxiety driven behavior by deliberately exaggerating it. It’s both a fun and instructive exercise and failure is impossible!
Invite self-confident student to stand in front of the class. Given them a topic. Then give them a thing (or two) to do while they speak. Eg. ‘What I had for dinner last night’, plus ‘wandering, without any eye contact’.
“What I had (Two step to the left.), for dinner last night, (Three more to the front.) was cold pizza. Yeah, um. Cold parmesan topped pizza. (Two steps sideways while looking down.) I think it was a leftover from a few days ago (Stop still while looking up.) when Sally came over.”
Give the speaker about 30 seconds before stopping them. Any more quickly gets too much.
Cheer enthusiastically. Lead the clapping and thank them for their masterful display.
Now do a very quick feedback round. What impression did the speaker give the audience? Ask the speaker too. How did they feel they were coming across?
Then ask another student to step up. Give them a new topic and a new behavior.
After there’s been a few of these demonstrations what mostly happens is everybody is laughing, happy and relaxed.
Finding the places and reasons to move
This is a 2-part exercise done in pairs. It’s similar to the storytelling one but this time is done with a chunk of a speech students are preparing.
Part one is to deliver the chosen piece (1 -2 minutes worth, perhaps the introduction) with feet firmly anchored to the floor, and arms by sides. There is no movement.
After the piece has been delivered, the partner asks, were there places where you felt the urge to move? Where were they? How did you want to move? Why?
Part two is repeating the piece with the addition of movement as discussed.
Now the partner gives feedback focusing on the changes made and their impact. Do they work? Is more movement needed? Less? A different movement? Is the effectiveness of the piece improved? What impression does the speaker give now?
Once the two parts are complete the partners swap roles and repeat the exercise.
Lastly, help students become aware of their own breathing patterns. We know when we’re becoming anxious, we tend to hold our breath. Learning to recognize what that feels like and to do something about it before it turns into an unruly monster is a lesson that will last a lifetime.
Resources to help:
https://www.write-out-loud.com/overcoming-public-speaking-anxiety-breathing-exercises.html -Breathing exercises for public speaking anxiety and voice quality (These readily adaptable across age groups.)
https://www.write-out-loud.com/teach-yourself-body-language.html - Body language: its role in making a speech, exercises for effective use of body language and much more.
You said "If you've been tethered to a lectern in the past moving away is going to make you feel exposed." Ooooh! That was me in my teaching/management job. I was never confident about speaking, and did that semi-hide.🫤 But your information is so helpful!
You are not alone in trying to semi-hide behind the lectern. It makes people feel safer which unfortunately, can be self-limiting. Once you find out it's OK to step out it is so freeing.
A great reminder of what makes a speech or presentation truly effective.. purposeful movements. Thanks for sharing again and feel better soon. 👍☺️
Thank you! The sniffles are retreating albeit slowly.