Page 72 - Teaching Principles and Methods Student Textbook short

Let’s walk, step by step, through the process of planning your presentation.

Step 1. Understand basic speech principles.

When you stand up before a group of people, there are some important principles you must heed if you
want your delivery to keep their attention and you want them to understand the passage of Scripture.

A. Dress.
Dress so that you don’t draw attention to yourself. You want to be in the
background and you want the lesson to be up front. People should not notice
anything that you are wearing as really standing out. Neither should your
dress be offensive in any way. Don’t wear your striped red and white pants
with your purple and green shirt! Save it for a costume party. The rule of
thumb is “Be conservative.”

B. Appearance. You should look groomed, have your hair combed, be shaved,
and be clean.

C. Eye Contact. You may be talking to a large group, but you want the students to feel like you are
carrying on a personal conversation with each person. You have to look throughout the room into
the eyes of each student as you share your lesson. Make sure, as you deliver your information, that
you touch every person in the room directly with eye contact as many times as possible. Don’t
concentrate on one area. Make sure you scan the entire room and include every person.

D. Speaking to your class. You might have some great material, but unless everyone in the class
can hear you clearly, they will never receive it. So this aspect of sharing your presentation is KEY to
success. Here are some areas to concentrate on when using your voice to glorify God in your lesson:

The Volume of your Voice
This is not a question of treating the voice like the volume control on the TV remote. Some
people have naturally soft voices and physically cannot bellow. Additionally, if the voice is
raised too much, tonal quality is lost. Instead of raising the voice it should be 'projected
out'. Support the voice with lots of breath - the further you want to project the voice out, the
more breath you need.

When talking to a class, it is important to never aim your talk to the front row or just to the
people nearest you, but to consciously project what you have to say to those furthest away. By
developing a strong voice, as opposed to a loud voice, you will be seen as someone positive.

Speak Clearly
Some people tend to speak through clenched teeth and with little movement of their
lips. It is this inability to open mouths and failure to make speech sounds with
precision that is the root cause of inaudibility. The sound is locked into the mouth
and not let out. To have good articulation it is important to unclench the jaw, open
the mouth and give full benefit to each sound you make, paying particular attention
to the ends of words. It is easier to understand what is being said when the audience
can see the words being formed on the lips, as well as hear them being spoken.

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