Discussions

Your Name and Title: Erik Palmer, Author (Well Spoken: Teaching Speaking to All Students, Stenhouse, 2011), Consultant

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Denver, Colorado, USA

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): All educators

Short Session Description (one line):

Because all attempts to connect globally involve oral communication and demand effective speaking skills in order to succeed, this session will give all teachers a proven, multiple-trait framework for understanding and teaching effective oral communication.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

Oral communication is the predominant mode of communication, the number one skill desired by employers (NACE, 2011), increased in importance in the 21st century (video calling, webinars, podcasts, YouTube), and part of the Common Core State Standards being adopted in the United States.  As classrooms begin to extend beyond the school walls and connect around the world, oral communication is on display like never before in history. 

It is absurd to think that we can foster connecting and collaborating globally without strong verbal language skills. Whether the intent of the communication is to create awareness or persuade to action, the communication will be more effective if delivered well.  The competition for our attention is immense in a digital world overflowing with social media, video, podcasts, websites, and blogs.  Only the strongest communications have a chance of gaining and sustaining attention.  We cannot inspire global citizenship with poorly delivered messages.  Many great ideas and initiatives have been hurt by poor presentation skills.

All teachers have students speaking in their classes, yet few teachers specifically teach speaking. Indeed, few have ever been given instruction about how to teach speaking. This session offers a multiple-trait framework with a 20 year history of success, enabling participants to understand the components of all effective oral communication. Participants will become familiar with practical lesson ideas and activities that can be added to the speaking activities they already have in their classes to make those more purposeful and effective. They will be introduced to web tools that showcase speaking and engage students, tools that can be used to connect across borders.  Participants will become competent teachers of speaking in order  to improve all oral communication: one-on-one, small group, digital, and large presentations. Importantly for our purposes with this conference, participants will be able to ensure that the messages of cultural awareness and acceptance don't get diminished by poor verbal skill.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: www.erikpalmer.net; www.pvlegs.net