Public speaking—and especially impromptu speaking—often ranks among adults’ top fears. Impromptu speaking with Bananagrams is one way I attempt to “lower the stakes” of on-the-fly speaking. To start this activity, students are placed into groups to practice first with a smaller audience. Everyone in the group draws a random Bananagrams letter tile. Using whatever word comes to mind first (a noun, verb, or adjective), they must give an impromptu speech to their small group, inspired by that single letter. Each round adds more letters until students can form a 5-letter word. As the letters change, the topics change. After practicing in this way, groups rejoin the entire class, starting fresh with a new letter tile. This activity can be expanded in many ways, thanks to the tiles, which make this activity flexible and adaptable. Ultimately, this activity aims to make students more comfortable with impromptu speaking; the single letter gives them some control over the impromptu topic before moving on to a fully written prompt.
- Subject:
- Business and Communication
- Communication
- Material Type:
- Activity/Lab
- Author:
- Markie Scheidegger
- Date Added:
- 04/03/2024
