In teaching formal presentation, students were expected to integrate what they had learned during the fluency training phase: speech structure, opening, closing, inviting question, using realia, and picture description into their formal presentations. Two types of speeches were addressed at this stage: persuasive and informative speeches.
Persuasive Speech Teaching Procedure
In the presentation skills training phase, the teacher introduced the structure of slides during the first period. The teacher showed many examples of slides so that students understood the purposes and elements of a good presentation slide layout. The teacher also introduced the principles of making presentation slides: “Keep it simple and logical.” The teacher reminded students to interact with the audience when delivering their presentations, and also introduced interactive tips such as asking questions, demonstrating, singing, displaying objects, and so on. After students gained basic knowledge about making their presentation slides, the teacher introduced the concept of aesthetics in slides. To make texture of presentation slides attractive, the teacher taught students to arrange graphic configuration, color matching, and font collocation.
In the second period, the teacher introduced persuasive speech to students. The
had to promote these products to the audience and persuaded them to buy. The teacher introduced Google Forms to students regarding how to design some questions to collect opinions from the target audience. The teacher reminded students to consider doing interviews, shooting videos, and displaying realia to attest their products’ advantages.
Students did persuasive speeches practice in groups, arranging the data collected from questionnaire, interviews, and literature to compose a complete briefing. Next class, students had to come to the stage to do a ten-minute presentation in groups while receiving peer evaluations.
Teacher’s and Colleagues’ Observations
Students were highly motivated to design their questionnaire and send it to friends.
Most students understood how to plan their persuasive speeches. They decided to present drawbacks of the product first and then to present advantages later. Moreover, students constructed their speeches with “the Rule of Three” and compared and contrasted based on information they collected (TJ9, CO9). Students also planned to add some interesting openers to attract the audience’s attention. They designed an interesting psychological test, questions for interaction, and also did a real butter stick and a thumb wrestling ring for displaying realia (TJ, CO9). Students practiced delivering their persuasive speeches with dramatic intonation and came up with interesting slogans for their products. They presented their speeches using clear speech structures, which showed that they had analyzed their interviews and questionnaire.
Students also made tables to compare and contrast their products. For non-verbal delivery, most students had eye contact with the audience, used gestures to facilitate their presentations, and used proper facial expressions (TJ9, CO9). One teaching colleague also wrote “Students have made impressive progress” on her observation sheet. The teacher applied “Sandwich Feedback” to create a positive and supportive
suggestions (CO9). However, some students still had difficulty organizing their speeches, delivering fluent speeches, and having proper non-verbal delivery.
Students’ Feedback
Judging from students’ learning journals, the teacher found that most students felt that they had great improvement in formal presentations. One student mentioned that
“At first, I was so tired of this course because it took me a lot of time and effort to write and memorize scripts, memorize scripts, look up words, practice speaking English, and deliver presentations. But I felt I improved a lot during the persuasive speech session because I knew how to compose scripts, how to make an interactive and catchy presentations, and how to ease anxiety on the stage” (SJ9- SE). However, according to students’ learning journals and peer evaluation sheets, some students were still struggling to speak English on the stage. They easily forgot what they wanted to say when promoting their products (SJ9). Some students also mentioned that they had problems constructing their presentations. One student said that “I was nervous so the part I was responsible for was not smooth” (SJ9-SF). It was obvious that some students needed extra help.
Reflection and Adjustments
Adequate guidance helps individual students improve their weakness. Based on students’ learning journals and classroom observations, most students performed their speeches well and were making apparent progress in speaking English. In the first cycle of presentation skills training, the teacher discovered the importance of giving adequate guidance to lower-achieving students. The teacher gave lower-achieving students who needed extra assistance individual help and guidance based on their needs.
Differentiated teaching should be put into practice when conducting the English
Informative Speech Teaching Procedure
The last task for students to practice formal speeches was the informative speech.
This was a four-week long activity for students to compose their final presentations on a topic worth sharing to provide information to the audience. The teacher reminded students that they had to apply what they had learned over the semester to their informative speeches. Students had to deliver a ten to fifteen-minute presentation in groups. They had two weeks to discuss the topics and prepared their presentations while the teacher monitored the progress of those who were in need. The teacher invited these students to read their scripts, gave support regarding speech structures, adjusted their non-verbal delivery (eye contact, facial expression, posture, and so on), corrected their pronunciation and intonation, and built up their confidence in speaking.
The teacher asked all groups to rehearse their informative speeches with other groups and give suggestions accordingly. After several practice, students attended the Presentation Conference held at National Lan Yang Girls’ Senior High School and delivered their informative speeches to teachers and students from other schools. The teacher listed concepts of speaking skills on the sheet (see Appendix R) and distributed it and reflection sheets (see Appendix S) for students to listen to students’ presentations from other schools and take notes.
Teacher’s and Colleagues’ Observations
Most students prepared their final presentations to the best of their ability because they knew they would be giving their presentations formally. Students discussed their topics and allocated jobs. Topics ranged from talking about the process of learning to swim, drawing, finding a relationship, cooking, riding a bicycle, and playing the guitar (TJ10, CO10). During discussions about presenting, it was evident that students were
information, and deliberate on how to add some facilitated elements to make their presentations clear and not vacuous (TJ10). Students also helped each other by correcting partners’ mispronunciations and giving feedback (CO10).
This was a good opportunity for students to attend a formal conference in which they could demonstrate what they had learned in the English speaking/presentation course. Students were randomly assigned to different venues to deliver their speeches.
Although most students said that they were nervous and anxious beforehand, they still succeeded in giving their presentations to the audience, and most appeared confident in delivering their presentations when on stage (TJ10, CO10). After completing their presentations, the judges asked some questions and gave some comments based on their informative speeches, which students had to respond to in English. They were generally excited about listening to peers’ presentations from other schools, taking notes and reflecting on their learning process (TJ10).
Students’ Feedback
One student said that “It was amazing for me to attain a milestone of delivering a formal presentation to the public” (SJ10-SA). Most students found that they felt more confident in making a brief yet informative speech (SJ10). When preparing the informative speech, most students mentioned that they became more prudent and dealt with their speaking anxiety with composure (SJ10). One student mentioned that she amended her scripts many times and removed content she deemed inappropriate (SJ10-SE). Communicating with students from other schools, some of whom were excellent speakers, was an unforgettable experience. One student said “Other schools’
presentations impressed me a lot. They connected their presentations with theories, provided statistics, and interacted with the audience” (SJ10-SC).
Reflection
Providing a formal platform for students helps them display their learning outcome.
It was essential for students to have a formal platform to show their learning outcome, especially for speaking proficiency. As result of this formal conference, the teacher saw students’ undefeated attitudes toward confronting their speaking anxiety in front of teachers and students from other schools. The teacher merely had to support students’
efforts to accomplish this task. Most students said that they were so nervous but they felt they conquered stage fright and gave their presentations confidently to the audience.
Most students felt that it was a precious opportunity to present their presentations at a formal conference.