Oral communication
The house of lies
Arley Cruthers
Suggested course level
Upper level undergraduate courses
Activity purpose
- Students will become comfortable with oral presentations
- Students will practice their oral presentation skills.
- I use it to show that if students can use their oral presentation skills to help them when they know nothing about the topic, think how well they will be able to do when they have prepared or know the topic well.
Materials required
- Handout, cut into individual strips
- Cup or envelope
- Timer
Activity instructions
- After demonstrating oral presentation techniques/strategies, introduce the game.
- Students will be asked to speak for 1 or 2 minutes about a topic they know nothing about.
- To begin, I always put myself in the hot seat by asking students to come up with a topic I know nothing about, then speaking for 2 minutes on the topic in front of everyone.
- Students will pair up and choose someone to go first.
- The first set of students will draw a slip of paper with a topic written on it from a cup/envelope.
- Remind students that since everyone will be talking, only their partner can hear them.
- Give students a few seconds to read their topic, invite everyone to take a deep breath, then set the timer for 1 minute (or 2 minutes) and tell students to start.
- After, switch partners and repeat the exercise.
Debrief questions / activities
- What was that experience like?
- How did you get through it?
- What techniques did you use?
Activity variations
- Have everyone go at the same time so no one can hear each other.
Additional resources / supplementary resources
Tags: oral presentations, oral communications, hands-on, individual, small group, whole class, confidence
