Free lesson plan · EasyPalmCards
Delivering a speech
Students learn the habits that make a speech easy to listen to: a steady pace, planned pauses, eye contact and clear volume. They practice the glance, look up, speak technique with note cards, then rehearse in timed groups of three with a speaker, a timekeeper and an observer.
- Level
- Ages 11–16 (secondary school), adaptable for upper primary and senior students
- Duration
- 50–60 minutes
- Paper
- US Letter or A4
Learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students can:
- Use the glance, look up, speak technique to deliver from note cards without reading.
- Control pace and use planned pauses to make key points land.
- Speak at a volume and clarity the whole room can hear.
- Rehearse to a time limit and give specific, kind feedback to a peer.
Materials
- Each student's own note cards from a previous lesson, or the sample speech below printed as cards on US Letter.
- A timer for each group: a phone, the class clock, or the free debate timer on the board.
- The student worksheet (it prints on its own page), one per student.
- Optional: the free speaking speed test to measure words per minute.
Sample speech: The invention nobody thanks
Written for this lesson. Read aloud, it takes about one to two minutes.
1 Put your hand up if you have used a zip today. Look around. That is almost all of us, and I bet nobody here has thanked a zip in their life.
2 Before zips, people did up their boots with a hook, one button at a time, every morning. Early zips jammed and rusted, and for years nobody wanted them. It took decades of small improvements before they became something we stop noticing.
3 That is why I think the zip is the most underrated invention around. The best inventions are not always the loud ones. They are the ones that work so well we forget they are there.
4 So tonight, when you take off your jacket, give your zip a moment of respect. Thank you.
Lesson sequence
- Starter5–8 min
Spot the problem
- Deliver the first paragraph of the sample speech badly on purpose: rush it, mumble, read with your head down, sway and say "um" a lot.
- Students list everything that made it hard to listen to. Group the list into pace, voice, eyes and body.
- Deliver it again well. Ask what you changed. This list becomes the success criteria for the lesson.
- Teach10 min
Four habits of a clear speaker
- Glance, look up, speak: look down at a keyword on the note card, look up at the audience, then say the sentence. Never speak while looking down.
- Pace: most clear speakers talk at around 130 to 150 words per minute. Nerves make people speed up, so aim to feel slightly slow.
- Pause: stop for a beat after a question, before a key point and before the last line. A pause sounds confident, not forgetful.
- Volume and stance: speak to the back wall, feet still and shoulder width apart, cards held at chest height so the face stays visible.
- Model5–8 min
Watch it done from cards
- Deliver the full sample speech from note cards with delivery marks, using the four habits.
- Students tally how many times you look up and where you pause. Discuss why the pauses were placed where they were.
- Show your cards on the board so students can see how little text you needed.
- Practice20 min
Rehearsal rounds in threes
- Put students in groups of three: speaker, timekeeper and observer. Rotate roles each round so everyone speaks three times.
- Round 1, pace: deliver the speech or the first minute of it. The timekeeper records the time; the observer notes if it felt rushed.
- Round 2, eyes: the observer tallies each look up and each time the speaker reads with their head down.
- Round 3, everything: put the habits together and aim for the target time. Students record each round on the worksheet.
- Plenary5–8 min
Show and reflect
- Two or three volunteers deliver to the class. The class gives one specific piece of praise linked to a habit.
- Students compare their Round 1 and Round 3 notes and write one thing that improved.
- Exit ticket: the habit I will focus on when I rehearse at home is…
Before and after
Paragraph two of the sample speech, first as a script card that invites reading, then as a card built for delivery.
Before zips, people did up their boots with a hook, one button at a time, every morning. Early zips jammed and rusted, and for years nobody wanted them. It took decades of small improvements before they became something we stop noticing.
2 · Before zips
- Boots, hook, one button at a time [SLOW DOWN]
- Early zips: jammed, rusted, nobody wanted
- Decades of small fixes [PAUSE]
- [LOOK UP] → "something we stop noticing"
Why it works: The script card has nowhere to look up from, so the speaker reads it. The delivery card gives a keyword for each sentence and tells the speaker where to slow down, where to pause and when to look at the audience.
Success criteria and peer feedback
Share these with students at the start of the lesson.
- I look up before I speak and keep eye contact for most of the speech.
- I speak at a steady pace and pause where I planned to.
- The whole room can hear me clearly.
- I use my note cards as prompts, not as a script.
- I finish within the time limit.
Peer feedback rubric
| Criterion | Not yet | Getting there | Got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eye contact | Mostly reading with head down. | Looks up often but speaks while looking down. | Glances down, looks up, then speaks, throughout. |
| Pace | Rushed or very uneven. | Steady in places, speeds up when nervous. | Steady and easy to follow from start to finish. |
| Pauses and emphasis | No pauses; every line sounds the same. | Some pauses, not always at key points. | Planned pauses that make key lines land. |
| Volume and clarity | Hard to hear past the front row. | Clear most of the time; drops at the ends of sentences. | Clear and audible to the back of the room. |
| Time | Well over or under the limit. | Close to the limit. | Within the time limit. |
Two stars and a wish
- Star: one habit the speaker did really well, with an example.
- Star: a moment that was easy to listen to, and why.
- Wish: one habit to focus on in the next round.
Extension and differentiation
Extension
- Students practice at home by recording themselves on a phone and watching it back once with the sound off, to check eye contact and stance.
- Run a short question time after each speech so students practise answering without cards.
- Use the speaking speed test to compare reading pace with speaking-from-cards pace.
- For debate units, rehearse rebuttals against the debate timer with warning bells.
Differentiation
- Support: nervous speakers can deliver to their group seated first, then standing, before speaking to the class.
- Support: shorten the target to the first minute, or let students deliver one card at a time with a break between.
- Stretch: add a planned change in volume or pitch on the most important line, and an unscripted example.
- EAL/D: give extra rehearsal time with a supportive partner and focus feedback on clarity and pausing rather than accent.
- Students who cannot present live can record a video delivery from their cards for assessment if your school allows it.
Student worksheet: rehearsal log
Name: Class:
Fill this in during the rehearsal rounds. Your observer can help with the tallies.
- I looked up before speaking each sentence.
- I paused after my opening question or line.
- I paused before my last line.
- I spoke loudly enough for the back of the room.
- My pace felt slightly slow to me (it usually sounds right to others).
- I kept my feet still and my cards at chest height.
- I finished within the time limit.
Rehearsal rounds
Write your time, the number of look ups your observer counted, and one thing to change for the next round.
Reflect
- What improved most between Round 1 and Round 3?
- Which habit is still hardest for you?
- When and where will I rehearse before the real speech?
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