SAY WORD?!

SAY WORD?! was built to introduce students to public speaking, and give them the tools to feel comfortable speaking in front of an audience and the ability to create original speaking content.

Students learn how to use FACIAL EXPRESSIONS and GESTURE during speaking. Students learn how to use IMPROVISATION as a brain storming technique. They practice how to work COLLABORATIVELY while building and acting out original scenarios. Students also WRITE and perform an ORIGINAL story. Students ACT in an original public service announcement with a film-maker.

Students learn how to PROJECT their voice, ENUNCIATE and speak with VOCAL CLARITY. Students practice IMPROMPTU SPEAKING--learning how to create material from the top-of- their head, CONFIDENCE raising their hand and active PARTICIPATION in exercises. Students practice LITERACY while writing original impromptu STORIES and TEAM-BUILDING while encouraging each other and PROBLEM SOLVING during exercises.

Students are also asked to describe the intent of a commercial--to persuade, convince, inform, to make people spend their money on a product, the commercial’s brevity, images of usefulness, fun, excitement, convincing people their getting a “deal,” the price, rarity, “limited time offer.” After a GROUP DISCUSSION about the powers of persuasion in a commercial students are invited to brainstorm creating their own commercial about everyday-found objects provided by the instructor. The students enjoy playing the persona of a convincing sales-agent and coming up with tag lines and jingles for the commercials. They also challenged their CREATIVITY by RE-IMAGINING the uses of everyday products. For example, a “pen” was sold as a secret agent spy pen that shoots lasers, a tiny bag was sold as being limitless, sunglasses had x-ray potential! Many students spontaneously and organically put themselves in groups to present their commercials with PARTNERS.