On the 4th of October Alan Devine came into our school and gave us a talk about how to public speak. He was with our class for the full day and returned the next day to talk to the other class. Alan Devine plays Louis from Fair City. He is very good at grabbing and keeping a listeners attention. We did various activities to make us more comfortable standing infront of a crowd. For example, we each pulled a joke out of a hat and we had to say it infront of the class. Alan used a hot seat that you would have to jump out of and have a strong walk to the centre of the classroom. He had 5 key components of public speaking;
1. Strong walk
2. Powerful stance
3. Eye contact
4. Gestures and facial expressions
5. "Granny Devine's Smile"
He told us to give the impression that we are confident infront of a crowd by having a powerful stance and smiling because it tells the audience to relax and makes us relax too. At the end of the day we were given a thing or a person and we had to describe that thing to the class without saying the word and they had to guess what it was. We also did an exercise where one person would have to stand in front of the class and make eye contact with each person for three seconds. They class would raise their hands one by one when they had been looked at. It was very awkward and uncomfortable being up there because it was completely silent and it felt very unnatural. We did this exercise to practice making eye contact with an audience because it is a very important part of public speaking.
Alan returned on Friday the 13th to hear our speech. We had to prepare a minute speech on whatever we wanted. I did mine on homelessness and it went well. There were some very funny ones and very interesting ones. I thought the course was good and it helped me build a skill that I will need in college and work.
1. Strong walk
2. Powerful stance
3. Eye contact
4. Gestures and facial expressions
5. "Granny Devine's Smile"
He told us to give the impression that we are confident infront of a crowd by having a powerful stance and smiling because it tells the audience to relax and makes us relax too. At the end of the day we were given a thing or a person and we had to describe that thing to the class without saying the word and they had to guess what it was. We also did an exercise where one person would have to stand in front of the class and make eye contact with each person for three seconds. They class would raise their hands one by one when they had been looked at. It was very awkward and uncomfortable being up there because it was completely silent and it felt very unnatural. We did this exercise to practice making eye contact with an audience because it is a very important part of public speaking.
Alan returned on Friday the 13th to hear our speech. We had to prepare a minute speech on whatever we wanted. I did mine on homelessness and it went well. There were some very funny ones and very interesting ones. I thought the course was good and it helped me build a skill that I will need in college and work.