actions speak louder than words

When public speaking comes to mind most people tend to think of some famous person delivering a speech that they did not take the time to write. The famous person usually is living a life that isn’t relatable to their audience. So why should people listen to them? My first thought when signing up for the course was that I would have to somehow speak in front of large groups, which was one of my largest fears. With the service learning project I had to speak, but it was not in a way that I was not used to. Public speaking through the service learning project helps to reveal things that need change, but does not actually change them. In order for real change to take place the children have to be willing to be leaders.

 I was given an opportunity to help the youth to reveal the problems that exist in their lives in a creative form. It seems as if sometimes though our words did not have an impact. At times I saw and heard things that was occurring in these children’s lives that I would never want my own children to go through. A lot of the thoughts and behaviors of these children had already been influenced by their parents or being raised by the television instead of a human being. As an Education major it made me rethink the role I wanted to play in a child’s life. I used to be a ten year old child with many hopes and dreams. Many of these dreams I have already accomplished at the young age of eighteen, but at times it seems like all of the words of wisdom I hear go through one ear and out the other. I often make the same mistakes repeatedly and it’s not because I do not have or never had guidance, but because I feel like someone will always be around to help me succeed. As a teacher I want to speak words that will boost these children’s spirit, guide them to a successful future, and create independent leaders that will repeat the cycle.  The true art of public speaking is saying things and making them happen in reality.

–D’Andrea Green

Kids’ Voices: Effective and Insightful

        Public speaking is a very effective form of communication. It is essential in the promotion of change. If many of us were to constantly withhold our views of how things should be, the way we live our life would be restricted to the ideas of the few who have given their input of ideas. To speak up for what one think needs to be changed means to accept one’s call of duty. I think that the project at Lafayette Charter Academy was a great reinforcement of the aforementioned statements.

         The fifth graders at Lafayette showed everyone that opinions can be expressed in a number of ways (through comedy sketches, music, and parodies of reality and game shows). I learned that these comedic performances by the kids can in fact be considered a form of public speaking. Their issues are addressed in a manner that would undoubtedly strike intrigue into an audience, yet these issues were clear and explicit. This is what a public speaker would want the listener to receive: intrigue and insight. There is no doubting that the kids achieved this. Not only does this mean that this project demonstrated that public speaking can operate as a tool for social change, but it also empowered the fifth graders to apply this to their lives. It was a stepping stone for the speaking out against challenges that inevitably occur in their future. Since they are exposed to speaking up for change, they can more readily use their voices in order to bring about what they feel needs to be changed.

Finally Got It

Although I recognized prior to this service learning project that public speaking can be a tool for change, I’m certain that working with the kids of Lafayette reaffirmed this belief for me. This is mainly because, through working with the students, I became attentive to the fact that the younger generation is actually aware of man of the social, economic, and even environmental issues that plague society. Even more gratifying is that fact that these kids have opinions about which of these issues they want to see changed. Basically there are a lot more things the average fifth grader considers, and wants changed than you’d think. The problem is, however, that they aren’t asked or challenged to present their opinions on a daily basis if ever. As a result, since it’s not exactly their first priority, it goes unstated. During my time at the school, I saw the importance of instilling and encouraging the youth to actively engage in a public expression of their opinions (one way of which is through public speaking) in order to articulate and promote the change they want to see. I now feel that I have concrete evidence that speaking up for something can make a difference, no matter the size of the change. This is because I benefit from knowing, I personally felt inclined to do everything in my power to stop the environmental onslaught in our nation just because a few twelve year-olds to told me they cared about that—that they wanted it changed.

Many people might have had a harder time seeing the correlation between public speaking and catalyzing change as demonstrated in our project. I think this is just because our audience was so marginalized, restricted to just us (Xavier student), parents, faculty, and students. I think, however, if a larger group of people were able to see the video, and the Xavier students could see the positive reactions of an group of people outside of those who interact with the kids every day, they would better appreciate the weight that words carry.

Speak Change Live! Re-cap

Now that the project at Lafayette Academy is over, i have time to actually sit back and think about what we did and what impact we actually had on the children. In the introductions of the class i wondered how working with fifth graders to produce a tv show would connect to a public speaking class. In this project we worked with a group of fifth graders and each smaller group produced their own part of the tv show. The show came out great! I had my doubts toward the end because i didn’t think we had enough time to film and the kids weren’t always cooperating anymore. This project related to public speaking because i learned that you have to adapt the topic of what you are talking about to fit the audience. We had to talk about the things we had heard about in class and the things we learned from two cent, but we had to do it in a way that the fifth graders could understand. Public speaking was used as a tool for change throughout this project. Our theme was “speak up for change”. We taught the kids that there are many forms of speaking up for change, and thats how we related the project to them. Overall i think the kids had fun and got the message we were trying to portray to them. I think they also enjoyed seeing themselves on a tv show and i know that my group will definitely miss us xavier students.

Speak Change Live!

At the beginning of the semester I thought to myself , “Why are we doing a tv show with fifth graders. I know it’s to help get their ideas across about what they want to change, but what does this have to do with my speech class?” I never realized that a tool for used for change could be so informal. I always assumed that you had to give a formal speech in order for change to happen. I guess it never dawned on me that things such as television shows do promote change, but in a way that is not “boring”. The project at Lafayette worked exactly the same way. I think that our project was more than just public speaking. I think it was more about using public interaction to help them promote change by using public speaking. Working with the kids to help them decide what they wanted to put in their skit was a part of that interaction. What they wanted to change was their idea. We just helped them in deciding what was most important to them. Sure it wasn’t anything big, but we were helping them to realize that they can speak up for change no matter how small it is. The skits that they created was the public speaking part because they are broadcasting their ideas to their friends and family; even though it wasn’t in a f0rmal speech way. Their ideas for change were heard even though the way it came across was funny. This project helped me realize that anything can be used as a tool for change as long as someone else is exposed to it.

A Tool for Change

I was always a shy and soft-spoken child, so coming into this speech course I was a little hesistant about how I would achieve in public speaking for the first time.  In th ebeginnning i thought, now waht in the world can do to help some little kids speak up for change.  After finally finishing our sevice learning project at Lafayette Charter School, I can see the corrolation between public speaking and a mode for change.  They may hav ehad miniscule alterations, but others were very monumental and insightful.  God gave us all voices and minds in order to express our opinions and individuality.  What better manner to express oneself than creatively and using your voice to promote awareness or begin change.  I learned there are many different ways we can speak up for change as groups did through music, games, reality shows, and comedy.  The way your ideas are expressed are very significant because the more relatable, the better and greater the influence will be.  The skits we did with the children were excellent ways to speak up for change, since children are not as capable as older people to speak coherently and eloquently.  They were able to voice their concerns and opinions in a way they knew best, by having fun.  Sometimes they simplest way is the best way to express oneself.

Speak Change Live! summary

Through the Speak Up for Change experience I have learned that public speaking definitely can be used as a tool for change and there were many aspects of this assignment that showed what speaking could do. For instance, the kids that my group had to work with showed a vast improvement in the way that they responded to us, their leaders. At the beginning of the program, I had a lot of trouble getting their attention, but by the time I left they showed that even in frustrating circumstances, they were willing to cooperate. Though my group was already versed in the news and happenings in their environment (as surprising as that was to me), the effects of the world around them was brought into focus when they really thought about and wrote down some of their speak up change ideas. Of course some of the ideas were goofy, but some made a them think. One such idea came from a member of the comedy sketch class. He wrote about how he would change Lafayettes rules for grading, turning all grades to A’s. He got a laugh out of his classmates, but when I asked him how he would feel if he was a hard worker in class, while someone else was a slacker and they both got the same grade. He realized that he s.u.f.c. needed a slight editing after that. The television show was a learning process that I believe both sides enjoyed.