Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
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EnglishDrama and spoken performance30 min★★★ difficulty

Giving short speeches and presentations

A short speech is harder than a long one. You have to decide what matters, say it clearly, and stop — and an audience notices immediately when you have not decided.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Give short speeches and presentations, expressing their own ideas and keeping to the point

Key learning points

  • • One idea, clearly chosen
  • • Structure the audience can follow
  • • Delivery under pressure
  • • Visuals and time

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

speechespresentationsexpressingkeepingclearly

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Giving short speeches and presentations

An English teaching video on this topic from CPD College. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Give short speeches and presentations, expressing their own ideas and keeping to the point

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already be able to plan a paragraph with a clear point.

Recap: Rehearsing and performing script and poetry
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Signposting
Phrases telling the audience where the talk is going.
Rule of three
Grouping ideas in threes for rhythm and memorability.
Filler
An unnecessary sound or phrase such as 'um' or 'like'.
Delivery
How the speech is spoken and physically presented.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Shaping the content

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

One idea, clearly chosen

A three-minute talk supports one main idea with two or three examples. Write your central sentence first and cut anything that does not serve it. Audiences remember a single well-supported point far better than five rushed ones, and a talk that tries to cover everything usually communicates nothing.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Structure the audience can follow

Listeners cannot re-read, so structure must be audible. Signpost: 'I want to make three points; the first is...'. Open with something concrete — a fact, a short story, a question — rather than a title slide, and close by returning to the opening image, which makes the talk feel complete rather than simply stopped.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

A three-minute talk should support...

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

Signposting helps because listeners...

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Delivering it well

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Delivery under pressure

Speak more slowly than feels natural and pause at the end of each point instead of filling the gap. Look at three points in the room rather than at your notes, and use cue cards with keywords, not full sentences, because reading a script aloud flattens the voice. Nerves show less than speakers assume.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Visuals and time

Slides support, never duplicate: one image or a few words, never paragraphs you then read out. Rehearse aloud with a timer, since a talk always runs longer spoken than read. Finishing slightly early is professional; overrunning is the most common and most avoidable presentation error.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

Instead of filling a pause with 'um', you should...

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

Cue cards should contain...

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often try to cover too much. One idea with strong examples is more memorable.
  • People often read slides aloud. Slides should support the speech, not repeat it.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Giving short speeches and presentations

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The rule of three refers to...

  2. 2. A strong opening uses...

  3. 3. Rehearsing aloud with a timer matters because talks...

  4. 4. Effective slides contain...

  5. 5. Looking at three points in the room helps...

  6. 6. Overrunning is a problem because it...

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
  2. How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
  3. Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

  • Reading response

    Reading

    Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.

    20 minutes' reading

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

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