WEEK 4: Public Service announcements,Stop the Drop!

Check out this research article, Why the Art of Public Speaking Should Be Taught Alongside Math and Literacy. "Speaking is a part of almost every classroom, but it can be easy to assume that students already know how to do things like challenge an idea or back up an argument with evidence. In reality, those oral communication skills must be explicitly taught like other core skills in school. And a well-spoken, confident young person will have occasion to use those communication skills throughout his or her life."

In our last week together we made Public Service Announcements in support of Jersey City's Anti-Littering campaign:

This was my final week with Summer Fun Camp in Jersey City. I am grateful to Christine Goodman, Executive Director of Art House, for entrusting me with this project. Please visit and support Art House and their innovative programming reppin' Jersey City. 

Here you'll see three different versions of a PSA we created in session. It is supportive of Jersey City's on-going anti-littering campaign. STOP the DROP! The videos were edited by Robyn Leigh Butler.

Enjoy!

WEEK 3 Say It Like You Mean It

Everybody say FACIAL EXPRESSION! 

We have muscles in our face that we must exercise. 
ALL THESE ELEMENTS...

• facial expressions 
• gestures 
• voice 
• speech (i.e. tone, rate, volume)
• body 
• words 

...must WORK TOGETHER when we give a speech. 

In the exercises practiced in the pictures above we worked on messages sent by our face WITHOUT the use of words. How can we communicate how we feel just by the look on our face? This can also inform Interpersonal Communication practice. We can tune in to the needs of our loved ones by picking up the subtle cues sent by their facial expressions. Emotions such as anger, loneliness, embarrassment, joy, surprise, or curiosity... 

So that's me! I'm giving everyone a BIRTHDAY PRESENT! The recipient has to show the audience how they feel about the gift. Then they must use the gift while the rest of us guess what it might be. The latter step helps students practice GESTURE; to use the body in a meaningful way, with intent, to demonstrate an action. Making pictures, images with our bodies; using our bodies to send a message. Gesture work is important because intent must replace the subconscious distracted body movement many of us succumb to---when standing in front of people or talking in general many shuffle their feet, play with their hair. We might pick at our clothes, stuff our hands in our pockets, pick our nails, look around aimlessly! It's natural and normal to do distracted type movements-- that's why it's important to PRACTICE gesture work to return our intent/focus on how we place our bodies within a speech. 

Let me see your best demonstration of--->
"I love going fishing!"
"I'm frustrated by this hula hoop!"
"I'm nervous about this puppy!"
"This robot present is scary!"

Inviting the audience to GUESS/read the emotion and the gift also incites active participation from the viewer. In this way, WE are ALL involved in the practice. 









We practice EYE CONTACT with a series of mirroring exercises. In this way, we relieve any apprehension or uncomfortably that comes with looking each other in the eye while we talk and listen--it's uncomfortable because we rarely do it--and we practice what it feels like to be dependent on a partner. The speaker and listener have a symbiotic relationship.  I ask, "What did you prefer? To be the leader or the follower? Did you like coming up with the movements or did you like following your partner?"  Here, being a follower does not have a negative connotation. It's important for us to be able to switch roles when necessary. Sometimes we'll have to lead and sometimes we will have to follow---to give someone else the opportunity to lead/be creative/take the stage. SHARE!



Here we have our speaker offering an ACTION story. While standing in NEUTRAL POSITION a speaker recounts an action store dramatized by a troupe---  

• Stand feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed, hands casually remain at your sides. (Resist the urge for stray hands...)

An improvised mic boom operator happened during this speech!



So they wanted to work "collaboratively" to present this speech. A human pyramid sprouted. I'm no one to stand in the way of acrobatic public address. 



Believe in your selfie!



Here we are doing "magic box". Our usual closing. Everyone "puts in" their favorite part of our time together. Inviting students to recount our workshop helps remind them and retain what they learned and practiced. It's also heartwarming. 



So, we wrote a story. Thinking creatively is a challenge. Impromptu speaking is intrinsically linked to creative thinking. With CONTINUOUS STORY we practice-- 

• creative thinking 
• brainstorming
• public speaking
• impromptu speaking and
• listening

We make-up a story by taking turns adding on several sentences to our developing story. The sentences have to be within reason and continue the plot of the story until we reach an organic end.  

Here's our story which we will perform next week. Note: I did not edit any of it. 

I'll just leave this right here...

"A Prince & a Princess by PS 11"

Once there was a castle with a princess that lived with a mother and father...
The only thing that she really wanted was a prince...
She got a rope. She opened up a window and threw the rope out. She tied it to an anvil and climbed down...
She found a prince behind the castle ringing the doorbell...
Together they both went up the castles stairs to the tippy top after the princess opened the door...
They talk with each other. They talk about each other's parents. They talk about how they want to get married...
The prince asks the princess' parents permission to get married to her...
The king and queen say they, "We have to think about it!"
There are wizards and witches out there in the world. They are worried about their daughter being captured...
They finally came up with a very important decision...
The decision is instead of just having one prince ask to marry their precious daughter--10 princes should should compete for their daughter's hand...
They will not fight with each other. Their challenge is who will make the princess happiest...
Right before the tournament a witch comes to kidnap the princess and put her in a dungeon...
The prince she first met at the castle will be cheating because he is working with the witch...
Back at the dungeon the witch is making a potion to kill the princess...
The witch wants the princess to be with the bad prince so they don't live happily ever after...
The witch accidentally put the wrong ingredient in the potion. The bad prince drank it...
The prince turned into a good heart...
It was too late. The witch still had the princess captured so she can take over the kingdom...
Since the princess' mother, the queen, is actually a good witch she had a string that would track everywhere the princess would go...
So when the string reached the witch the witch had a wand and when she accidentally hit the string with the wand the wand bounced and opened the dungeon door...
The princess snuck out of the dungeon and escaped to the castle with her mother by following the string...
She went back to live in the castle with her parents and the parents said, "If you live in the castle you will live safe. You have to stay here to be safe in the building we built. You can be a secret of ours..."
At night when all the servants are not at work and when everyone is asleep-she runs out and the prince takes her to a different place where he says she will be safe but she says, no...
"I don't want to be trapped on any land no matter how big because I want to be a real person, not just to stand in one place..."
She travels to any place at any time and if she has children she will take them with her wherever she goes...
"I'm going to live alone and I lived happily every after..."

THE END. 

WEEK 2 Freestylin'

In our sessions this week we opened as usual with our warm-ups. Then we went into IMPROMPTU SPEAKING. Being able to speak at length on a topic without any preparation. Creative thinking is the precursor to impromptu speaking. You have to feel free and open to MAKE THINGS UP. It takes confidence and practice to call upon that skill set. In order to help us grow our creative thinking we played two games, Two Truths and a Lie, and then we proceeded to make Commercials about random products. This pulls from their experience; they have a scaffold upon which to build.

Stand up, neutral position, and convincingly tell us three things about yourself. Two MUST be true, ONE must be a lie. The audience has to guess the lie! There was much laughter! The exercise forces us to talk in front of a crowd but also makes us use our imagination, making it up! Practice helps us limit those times when we feel "stuck." I went first.

"When I visited Japan, I hugged Godzilla.
While climbing Machu Picchu in Peru, I almost fell off a cliff trying to take a selfie.
I've never eaten anything green."

Which is the LIE?!




We practice essential EYE CONTACT in our sessions. We rarely look into each other's eyes anymore even while receiving basic services like thanking your waiter for filling your glass with water or accepting change from the cashier with an audible "thank you." We have to look into each other's eyes when we talk. 



I rummaged random objects from my purse. A notebook, a pen, a child's umbrella, a battery charger, a cell phone, sunglasses, an eraser, an eyeglass case, Tic-Tacs! Then, students were tasked with picking an object and creating a commercial for it. Organically, tiny groups developed to perform these commercials as a duo. All on their own. 



Everyone really wanted to have a Tic-Tac! I said, "No! These were found waaaay at the bottom of my bag!"

Here we see a trio!



I like these inspirational quotations found at many of the schools. Mantras!







In this session kids spontaneously turned themselves into a recording crew. They mimed and used make-shift props!  ---we have a boom operator, two camera guys, the person who runs slate and an interviewer. They did this on their own. THIS is being creative. 



The teacher left this note on the blackboard when school let out. It helped reinforce the idea that public speaking is a matter of PRACTICE.






This duo is secretly plotting their commercial.



Often time, I strongly encourage and expect the high school staff to participate. They'll have to go on college interviews and job interviews. This is essential for them. Sometimes, they are more nervous and reluctant than the younger kids! Teen angst! They are good sports though and many have lead by example. I call them "college bound." "Come on, college bound, you got next!"



Here I am leading facial warm-ups. "Massage, massage, massage your face!"




Here we are doing clown circle, name & gesture. Again, this is about on-the-spot creative thinking. I ask, "Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't know what to say? You felt stuck or shy? Or you didn't know what to write about?" This is about forcing us to use our imagination. We don't do that enough.





















Here, Mr. Walker, the team leader of this school group, offers his experience and thoughts on the importance of public speaking!

WEEK 1 Your Word is Your Bond!

10 schools are receiving the public speaking workshop: PS 6, PS 40, PS 11, PS 12, PS 9, PS 17, PS 22, PS 41, PS 27, and PS 23. 

I start by acknowledging, "Pubic speaking is the number one phobia! It's ok to be nervous. Everyone is. But we gotta do it anyway! You have to be able to express yourself, to talk FOR yourself in front of people so no one does it for you. It's your voice. A voice is an instrument and me must learn how to play it." You may ask me, "So, what's number 2?" Death. In America people are more scared of talking in front of people than dying. 

"Has anyone raised their hand to answer a question in class? Given a report in front of the school during a holiday? Presenting a book report or project? Been in a play? That's ALL public speaking." I start by giving the students tools they can use after our time together is finished. First we learn BODY MOVEMENT or GESTURE, POSTURE, VOCAL WARMUPS and FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. All these factors work in tandem with our WORDS and VOICE. 

We warm up our bodies to help blood circulation and speed up our heart rate which gives us more energy while speaking. Your energy must move your audience!

We learn how to stand in neutral position without swaying, no bent knees, tugging at our clothes or messing with our hands.  Head and chin up, shoulders, back, hands down, legs straight!

We practice warming up our voice to project, enunciate our words clearly so that we may be understood and exercise our mouths and tongues. We also learn how to breathe properly, from the diaphragm, to maintain breath over long sentences. I ask, "Why is enunciating important?" A student responds, "So people can understand what you're saying. If they can't hear you or understand you the message gets lost."

We warm up and massage our faces so that our expressions match the message. Our faces are great tools in communicating what and how we are feeling! For example, if you smile you'll begin to feel happier. Also, smiles are contagious. It's the easiest way to spread happiness to fellow citizens. 

Students are encouraged to do these warm-ups daily during their commute to camp!

One of our exercises was Firecracker Interview Questions.

I have a sheet with 30 numbered questions. "What's your favorite movie?" "Describe the qualities you like in a friend." "What annoys you?" "What would you save from your house?" Students must pick a random number. I ask the designated question. Students MUST speak for 1 minute. This sounds easier than it is. 1 minute is an awfully long time. We practice what a minute FEELS like. We organize our thoughts. I ask follow-up questions! I have a timer and give time-signals so they get a sense of budgeting their time. This is their first time up in front of the crowd! We applaud wildly! 





















One of our exercises was a theater improv game: FREEZE THEATER.

This improvisational, confidence-boosting game will challenge your child's ability to enter scenes smoothly and create continuing action.

What You Need:

• 3 or more kids or family members
• Sufficient floor space for active play
• Props such as pillows, chairs, books, and balls

What to Do:

1. Explain the concept of improvisational theater to the children. It is a type of acting that involves spontaneous action and dialogue. Tell them that the fundamental goal of freeze theater is to maintain the action, even if it seems silly. Remind them that freeze theater is not charades, so they can make noise and improvise lines during the scenes.
2. Select a volunteer to begin acting out a daily life action suggested by someone else. Simple actions, such as washing the car, brushing your teeth, waking up in the morning, or doing homework work well. She can also try more inventive actions, such as blowing out candles on a birthday cake, running through the sprinklers, or pushing a shopping cart with a bad wheel around a grocery store.
3. As the actor engages in the suggested action, the other participants watch the performance. At one point, an audience member will shout, "freeze!" The actor freezes in the current position. Either prompt the frozen actor for a line relevant to her current position, or have the child who shouted "freeze" join the scene and direct the current pose to a new activity.
4. The two actors continue until someone else yells, "freeze" and then taps one of the frozen actors on the shoulder. The actor will leave the scene as the person who froze the action joins it, assuming the same position. The new actor must provide a line or a new direction for the scene.

If you have a larger group, create a finale by having actors join the scene one by one until everyone is participating. Direct the final scene to culminate with a frenzy of action, such as a disco dance contest, an Olympic race, or clowns piling into a clown car.

The only thing it takes to be a great public speaker is PRACTICE. John Ritter, the late great comedian said, "Improv with an E is IMPROVE!"

About SAY WORD!

Art House Productions's Executive Director Christine Goodman and Jersey City's Recreation Department Director Kevin Williamson teamed-up to pilot a public speaking initiative offered to students participating in the city's Summer Fun program, a summer camp offered free to city residents serving children 7 to 13 years old. In the summer of 2016, the program serves 10 city public schools reaching 600 students! It has been rigorously documented that student achievement is at-risk of waning during the summer months. Literacy through the arts can help maintain student-focus and reinforce learned skills. The public speaking initiative helps support this necessary foundation. Furthermore, public speaking is more than an enrichment program; it is a life-skills program. Excellent oral and verbal communication skills are crucial to ANY person in professional and private life. In this course, impromptu speaking, interview skills, improvisation, critical and creative thinking will be developed. It is important for young people to learn and nurture how to speak in front of an audience, speak clearly and loudly, be able to think on their feet, speak from the-top-of-their head, and formulate and organize thoughts. These are life skills. This is an extension of creative thinking and the confidence preparedness brings. All it takes to be a great public speaker is practice. 

About the workshop facilitator:

Angela Kariotis is a nationally-celebrated performance artist however her theater and creative writing work burgeoned initially through public speaking first learned through the school activity--Forensics, commonly referred to as Speech & Debate. In Junior High and High School, Kariotis was a State champion in Forensics. She earned a scholarship to attend Seton Hall University competing for their Brownson Speech & Debate Team. The team travels to compete at tournaments hosted by Universities across the country. It was during her college experience that Kariotis became a national champion while competing at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournaments. While at Seton Hall she earned her degree in Communication. After a winning Senior year where she won 2nd place in the country Individual Sweepstakes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she was recruited by the University of Texas at Austin to be one of their speech team coaches. While there, UT-Austin's speech team won 1st Place in the nation in 2001 and 2002. The famed UT tower was lit orange and with a number 1- it was the first time in the school's history for a non-athletic program to receive the honor after winning a Championship. While at UT, she earned a masters in Performance Studies. Returning to New Jersey, Kariotis has coached her alma mater Seton Hall, high school students at UT's speech camp UTNIF, and Seton Hall's Metropolitan Forensics Institute. Angela is committed to serving communities who need the support the most. Born and raised in a working class immigrant family where English was a second language, Kariotis learned public speaking from a lone-committed teacher whom she honors to this day. Kariotis hopes to create a public speaking curriculum implemented in schools with trained instructors culminating in a final seasonal performance.

Below is an overview of some of the topics and techniques visited in the workshops:

Filming a PSA: Stop the Drop, an anti-littering campaign!

Students will learn how to write and film a 30 second Public Service Announcement. 

A class will create a PSA encouraging citizens to recycle as part of an anti-littering campaign. Students will write, cast, create a shooting script and film their PSA. 

Interview Skills: Can I Ask You Something???

We all love to talk about ourselves! Students will learn the StoryCorps model of conducting interviews. Students will interview each other and upload interviews to SoundCloud. Everyone, EVERYONE!, practices alone for their BIG interview using a hairbrush as a microphone! In this series students will learn the value of documenting everyday-people’s stories in this oral history project. They will learn how to listen to each other, answer questions thoroughly, and learn the art of the “follow-up” question. Hopefully students will learn more about each other and how much we each have in common! 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate: I Love to Argue! 

This is learning how to argue in a good way! Students will work in pairs. Each pair will receive a resolution to resolve appropriate to their age. Following the model of the National Forensic Association’s L-D Debate, each student will write a “for” and “against” for the resolution. The pairs will present their arguments to the class, and the class will vote to resolve the resolution. Example resolutions include, Should recess be extended? Should the school calendar abolish summer vacation? Should students wear uniforms?  Everybody loves to argue and everybody has an opinion. This experience hopes to shape debate skills by “listening” to the other side, teaching debate manners, and arguing BOTH sides of an issue to develop empathy, and a well-rounded, example-based opinion. 

Informative Speaking: Tell Me Something I Didn’t Know!

We feel most comfortable talking about what we KNOW about. Can you tell us how to play Minecraft? About My Little Pony Season 6? Show us how to make a friendship bracelet or how to make a great birthday card for someone we love? After creating their “expertise” list of topics, students will pick a subject with which they are very familiar. They will then draft their set of ideas into a speech with an opening statement, a preview, supporting points, demonstration, and conclusion. 

Impromptu Speaking: Making It Up As You Go Along!

Working as a group, improvisational acting techniques such as freeze theater are used to develop impromptu speaking skills. Speaking off-the-cuff or from-the-top-of-your-head is a valuable lifelong tool. Students will learn how to budget their time while developing a response. They will first practice how to collect their thoughts, sketch out main points,  and demonstrate the bravery necessary to speak without paper in their hand.