What skills do we need to connect authentically with diverse audiences, maintain a powerful unrehearsed presence, and become effective communicators in a wide variety of public speaking settings?
A solid foundation in public speaking is essential for educators, principals, and school officials who serve as the public voice of leadership, guidance, and inspiration within school communities. Whether delivering a lesson, leading a staff meeting, addressing families, or representing their school in public forums, these professionals are often called upon to communicate with clarity, authority, and empathy.
Strong public speaking skills allow education leaders to convey complex ideas with confidence, respond to unexpected challenges with composure, and build trust across diverse audiences—students, parents, colleagues, and the broader community alike. Beyond performance, public speaking is a tool for connection. For educators and school leaders, the ability to speak with authenticity and presence creates a bridge between intention and impact. It allows values to be embodied, vision to be shared, and difficult conversations to be approached with nuance, intention, and care. A strong communicative presence can shift a school culture, inspire collective action, and deepen relationships at every level of the educational system. In our current social climate, where voices can easily be drowned out, the ability to speak meaningfully—and be heard—is not just a professional asset, but a vital leadership skill.
Participants will engage in interactive group exercises and practice techniques designed to reframe responses to stress, structure spontaneous speech, increase clarity and control, anticipate audience resistance, incorporate cadence, nuance, pitch, and tone in speaking styles, and conclude with strength. This workshop series will culminate in individual presentations and facilitator feedback.
Participants will also:
- Prepare for speaking in high-stakes scenarios, embrace individual communication and speaking styles, and manage responses to stress.
- Define presence by identifying how a compelling speaker keeps an audience interested and curious, thereby encouraging change.
- Practice warm-up exercises designed to release unique vocal freedom, which will serve to build and sustain a safely supported voice and access each participant’s vocal range.
- Practice presenting and scoring speaker notes by incorporating successful acting techniques for focused content and controlled delivery.
- Improvise and navigate challenging Q&A sessions with interactive exercises using bridging phrases to maintain control.
- Work with active listening and concluding with strength to prevent stacking and redundant responses.
- Explore "THEM not YOU," a student/stakeholder-centered approach.
- Present to the group and receive individualized feedback from facilitators.