Talking Outside Of The Classroom

Keeping up with the demonstration theme, one thing I think most students never consider is giving a demonstration speech outside of the classroom. I always tell my students that if they have a speech that needs to be delivered from a different location, that is fine. This is a throwback to years ago when a student who worked on the student paper wanted to bring us into the newspaper office to show us how the paper gets put together. I told her, as long as she could get in, and we could get there in a responsible amount of time, it was fine.

Since that time, I have had some students give demonstration speeches from the parking lot, the cafeteria, and the lobby of a building where a microwave was located. The advantage of giving a speech out of the classroom is, you can put yourself in the proper setting. So, if a student is giving a speech about changing a tire, it can be done outside in the parking lot.

The disadvantage is you are no longer in a structured environment, there is not lectern and you have to deal with background noise (and maybe a few strange looks from people passing by). Still, I think mot students never consider giving a speech outside the classroom and it is worth thinking about.