10 free word games

- to develop public speaking fluency, spontaneity and confidence while having fun!

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These free word games deliver imagination stretchers on steroids. If you've never interviewed a
red cabbage or wondered what it was like to passionately campaign to save the lesser-spotted-three
footed-teddy-bear from extinction, now's your chance!

The 10 activities I've listed, I used in my own teaching. They were picked up readily and enjoyed
by children from approximately 12 years old and up and have been equally successful with adults.

You'll find yourself, and your students, laughing aloud while experiencing the joy of spontaneity
and fluency in speech. Played well and safely, word games build public speaking confidence
through fun.
Ready, steady, go!

You can jump straight to a game by clicking on its name:

1. One Minute Speeches

2. Advanced One Minute Speeches
3. Take Over Topic
4. Definitions
5. Expert Interviews
6. Advertizing
7. My Favorite Things
8. Story Circles
9. Read In The Style Of
10. Pass The Tennis Ball

Or read the start-up guidelines if you've not used activities like this before with your class or public
speaking group.

What do you need to start with?

1. Some willing people: You can play these games in small groups of 3-5 or larger. The
optimum number is about 15. Any more than 20 and some activities become too
cumbersome to manage.
2. Some ground rules: Why rules? You are asking people to take risks. You don't want them
annihilated by mockery or a derisive comment their first time out.
My ground rules are simple:
- No personal put downs of any sort (gesture or comment).
- Work to the best of your ability.
- Recognize the effort being made by other players.
3. Some space: an ordinary living room or classroom is fine. You don't need a stage.
4. Some courage: If you've not played improvisational drama games before the initial
challenge for players to "get-over-themselves" and "get-on-with-it" is quite big. Once
they've made the leap and safely landed on the other side, they'll wonder what all the fuss
was about. Players will grow as a speakers as well as having fun. The benefits far outstrip
the risk!

How do you begin?

Start with explaining the games: why you're playing them and what they are.
Put the ground rules in place. If you're working with children sort out the consequences of
breaking them ahead of the event. Is it time out? An apology to the person whose feeling were
hurt?

Try the easier free word games first to develop trust and confidence.

Feed-back sessions

I find these an invaluable teaching tool. They provided opportunity for myself and students to
comment on the positive aspects of a game as well as its challenges. If you make them quick and
focused between activities, you'll find people readily taking up and applying their insights in the
next exercise.

1. One Minute Speeches

To play you need:

 a stop watch
 topics written out on small pieces of paper.
Examples: matchboxes, cars, princesses, travel, school, lessons, poetry, growing
vegetables, children, books, pop stars, heroes, computers, writing... (Anything at all that
you can reasonably expect the group you're preparing the exercise for to know about. Try
not to be too prescriptive about how the subject is to be treated. Leaving the interpretation
open gives the speaker more freedom.)
 a group of 5 or more people. One person is the timekeeper and subject giver, the remainder
are speakers.

Method:

Put all the topic papers in an open container face down.

The subject giver names the player. They choose a piece of paper from the container. Once they
have read the topic they give the topic paper to the subject giver who says: 'You have one minute
on XXXX (name of subject on paper) starting from now.' The timer begins timing.

The goal for the speaker is to fill the minute. If they do, award 10 points. If they reach 50 seconds
award 8 points. If they get through 30 seconds award 5 points. There are no points for stalling out
before 30 seconds is up.

Go through at least 3 rounds. Keep the tally of scores public. The winner is the person with the
most points at the end of the rounds.

Get all 3 versions of One Minute Speeches now!

The foundation (1), advanced (2) and take over topic version (3) of One Minute Speeches are
available in a downloadable pdf format.

For $5.95 you get full instructions for each game variation PLUS 4 themed printable topic
collections (368 topics).

Click for more info & to check out a preview

2. Advanced One Minute Speeches

The set-up is exactly the same as One Minute Speeches but now add further requirements.

The speeches must be delivered without undue: hesitation, deviation or repetition.

Be clear before you begin what the definitions of each of those are.
For example:

1. Hesitation is stopping for more that a count of 2 seconds.

2. Deviation is skewing the subject off topic completely. If the topic is animals and speaker
is talking about birds, they are off topic.
3. Repetition is either a repeat of material or words, other than the topic starter. (Take care
not to set the bar too high. Go for verbs or adjectives first and then add more degrees of
complication as your players gain confidence.)

For each infringement the subject giver, who keeps tally, will deduct a point from the final score.

3. Take Over Topic

This is another advanced variation on One Minute Speeches played with groups of 10 or more.

The set up is the same. You need a stop watch and prepared topics on bits of paper. (You can ask
the players to provide their own topics before you start. Have them write them down and put them
into the container for picking out later.)

Method:

 Divide your group into two teams and give them a speaking order ie, speaker 1, speaker 2
and so on.
 Nominate a team to start
 Speaker 1 takes a topic. The stop watch is started and they begin.

The opposing team listens hard for opportunities to take-over the speech.
They are when the speaker deviates, hesitates or repeats himself. To take-over, they must call the
challenge.

Example:
The speaker's topic is tennis but he is talking about soccer. The called challenge is deviation. The
time keeper stops the watch.
The challenger explains the call.
The timekeeper judges whether or not it is fair.
If it is, the challenger takes over, the stop watch is set again for the
remaining time and now the starting speaker's team may challenge.
If the challenge is unsuccessful, the original speaker continues.

The goal for the speaker is to survive the minute. If they do so, they get ten points. If they don't,
whichever team is speaking last gets 5 points.

A full game is when you have gone through all the speakers from either side. It's fun, often raucous
and quite absurd. Enjoy it!
Note: This game adapts well to specific subject areas. Set up a theme and make all your topics
sub-themes.
Example:
Transport: cars, buses, trains, planes, bicycles, public transport, cars in the future, petrol costs,
environmental concerns, car fashions...

4. Definitions

The key to playing this free word game well is assuming authority while spouting complete
baloney. It's terrific!

Each player takes a turn at receiving a nonsense word from the neighbor on their right. This word
they must provide a plausible definition for. When they have completed their definition they then
give another nonsense word to the player on their left.

To encourage inventiveness and creativity ask for the history of the word and its country of origin,
whether it is a noun, verb, adjective etc, what it means and an example of it in use.

To play you need a group of 5 or more. Sit your players in a circle. Nominate a player to begin.
They then give their word to their right-hand neighbor to begin the round of definitions.

5. Expert Interviews

This is a paired activity. One person is the expert and the other the interviewer.

I've played it with many pairs working simultaneously as well as one pair at a time with the
remainder of the group as audience. Either way it's good. The positives for everybody working all
at once is that it can break down excessive shyness and the benefits for playing a pair at a time is
everybody witnessing the process and learning from it.

Method:
Prepare ahead a list of 'expert' topics. Have fun with them without making them too obtuse with
the result no-one gets them.
Examples: a cabbage expert, a save the sand fly expert, a maker of noises for the SFX department,
the hamburger tasting specialist...

Pair the players off. Have them decide which is expert and which is interviewer. The interviewer
then collects the expert's topic from you. Their opening question or introduction lets the expert
know his area.

Example:
'We're extremely fortunate today to have with us in the studio, Isaac Flugelhorn. Isaac is a well
known, respected and published expert on the benefits of teaching children to read underwater.
Isaac, I'd like to begin to by asking when you first realized your vocation?'

The game ends when the interviewer brings it to a close.

The goal for the expert is to 'live' into their expertise realistically and wholeheartedly regardless of
how ridiculous the topic is or how little knowledge they have on the subject.

The goal for the interviewer is to draw out the expert by asking open ended questions.

Swap the roles over so everybody has a turn at both.

Variation

My life as a XXXX (insert an object: door hinge, hammer, potato, egg, park bench, side-show
clown ...)

This variation can be played as a monologue or as a pair with one person being the interviewer.
Again the goal is to fully accept and live into the topic.

6. Advertizing
This exercise is wonderful for developing small group confidence, creativity and trust.

Devise a series of ideas to sell.

Topic Suggestions:
National I Love You Day, Free Punctuation Packs (available with an extra 10 exclamation marks
or 15 sets of speech marks), Eternal Sunshine, Snow Kits for Sunny Places, Instant Fame ...

Split your group into small groups of 2-5 people and assign the topic for each.
Tell them they have approx. 20 minutes to put together an ad.

It must actively include all members of the group.

Encourage them to use song, dance, story telling, sound effects.

The ads are performed one at a time.

Be sure to include a feed back session at the end.

Variation: This can be done solo. Give topics and allow some planning time before performance.

7. My Favorite Things

This word game is great for developing flexibility of thinking.

Gather up a series of props: a long scarf, a wooden box, a length of rope, a bowl, a ruler, a plastic
funnel...(anything robust enough to be handled.) Place them in a covered box.

Divide your group into sets of 3-5 people.

Stand the first set up in front of the others.

Give the first person something out of the box. Whatever they get is their favorite thing. They must
tell and demonstrate how their item is used and explain why they like it so much.

Encourage lateral thinking.

The scarf could have saved lives when it was used as a rope to pull people back from the edge of
a crevasse. It reminds the person holding it how valuable life is.
Or perhaps it once belonged to famous person who they admire.
Or maybe it is not a scarf at all but a long length of invisible encoded information that will save
the world. It assumes the look of a scarf as a protection.

Whatever the object pulled out by the first member of the group will be passed to the remaining
members. They each have a turn explaining their favorite thing. Each explanation must vary from
the preceding ones.

Once they've finished,stand the next group up. Choose a different prop and begin again.

Encourage fast thinking and trust. It's better to go with the first idea rather than freeze and wait for
another one to arrive. If someone does freeze, don't let them stand in silence. Pass to the next
person and give them another opportunity at the end. It helps to start with some one fairly confident
and free thinking. Their success will give the others courage to step out. Keep the props covered
to prevent pre-planning!

8. Story Circles

There are many variations on these. Start simply and build once confidence has been established.

Divide your group into sets of 5-8 members. The goal is keep the story moving along quickly.

Easy Starters

A word at a time
Aim for a complete story: opening, middle and end in 4 rounds. Each person adds one word at a
time.

Members have to help each other by making sure their word choices keep the story moving toward
the desired goal.
Two words at a time
Each player add two words before handing the story on

Follow the alphabet:

The first word begins with A, the second word with B, etc.

Slightly Harder Variations:

Add genre:
The story is now to be a fairy story, a ghost story, a love story, an action packed adventure.

Add in the style of:

It must be told in the style of a soap opera, a racing commentator, a news reader...

It must include the word 'XXXX' three times:

Example: wheelbarrow, rapacious, futile...

It must not include any words with the letter '?' in them
Insert the letter of your choice. (Don't make this too hard! E or A are really difficult to get around.)

9. Read in the Style of ...

This is a fun solo exercise!

You'll need a telephone book and a list of commonly known styles for people to imitate.

Suggestions for styles: preacher, rap star, president, disc jokey, news reader,sports commentator
...
Or you could go for emotional states: bored, happy, sad, enthusiastic, wary, angry, shy, snide,
loving ...

Stand each person up in turn, flip open the telephone book and whatever they find they are to read
in the style nominated.

Have them read for approx. 30 seconds before handing it to the next person. The key is
exaggeration - the more embodied the state or style the better!

10. Pass the Tennis Ball

This game encourages split second thinking! It sounds easy but actually requires real concentration
to play it well.

Sit your group in a circle. Have one person in the middle with their eyes closed.

Pass a tennis ball clockwise from player to player.

When the middle person calls 'Stop',and a letter ( A, B, C, ...) the person holding the tennis ball
has to name 6 words starting with that letter.

Meanwhile the ball keeps being passed round the circle.

The goal for the person naming the words to have all 6 done before the ball comes back to them.
If they haven't,they change places with the middle player. If they have the middle person closes
their eyes once more, the ball starts being passed and when they're ready they call 'Stop' and
another letter name.

Don't allow place names, first names or some of the tougher letters.(X for example!)

As your players get better increase the number of words required.

The reason for having the middle player's eyes closed as the ball is going round is so they won't
know who has got it when they call.

Summary comments
All of these word games actively encourage the development of confidence, creativity,
imagination, and speech skills.

You'll find once your students or group are comfortable with them, they'll begin asking to play
them again and again. Vary them. Increase the level of difficulty and make sure if you're using
groups or pairs you re-mix them for each activity.

Monitor the feedback carefully. Praise efforts made towards excellence as well as excellence itself.

If someone "freezes" or makes a "can't do, this is stupid" comment understand they are probably
feeling vulnerable and perhaps threatened. Leave them out with an option of returning but do not
buy into an argument over the rightness of the challenge or the validity of the game. Carry on
having fun. Make sure you praise any effort they subsequently make to enter into the spirit of the
games.

If a game falters through lack of understanding by most of its players or fear, stop it. There is no
sense in pushing something meant to be fun when it's not. If you can, simplify and start again.

Public Speaking Activities

5 fun speech exercises

These public speaking activities are designed to develop speech fluency and confidence and are
easily adaptable to groups of all ages and skill levels: from newcomers to advanced.

I've used them and know they work. You'll find that people become so involved with the fun and
enjoyment that they forget to be fearful!

1. Interview Introductions

Interview Introductions are a great way to break the ice with a new group of people. The exercise
has them finding out about each other and then introducing the person they interviewed to the
class.

As it's a lot less threatening or scary to talk about someone else rather than yourself, you'll find
people respond really positively as they're generally eager to represent the person they interviewed
well.

Instructions

 Divide your group into pairs.

 Each person interviews the other in turn. The information gained forms the basis of a brief
introduction speech they'll give to the whole group when the interviewing process is complete.
 Ask them to find out their partner's name, where they live/work, what hobbies they have, what
their favorite book, film, song...is, what they're most proud of (an achievement perhaps), what
they hope for from the class, something funny that happened in their childhood, where they go
for holidays, what they think about the latest local issue ...
  When the group comes back together the introductions begin:
"This is Mary from Taupo. When she's not working for the Social Welfare Department she's
collecting stamps. Her favorites are ..."

2. Image Starters

Gather up a collection of interesting images/photos from magazines or newspapers - enough for

your class to have one each and then a few spare.

Place them face down and have everybody pick one.

Using the image as a prompt, what can they share about it?

Questions to get started are:

 Where is this photo/image from?

(And the answer doesn't have to be true - merely plausible! Encourage imaginative creativity.)
 What's happening in this photo/picture?
 What feelings does the image evoke?
 Is there a season or time associated with it?
 What happened after or before the photo was taken?

3. For/Against

This public speaking activity encourages flexibility; the ability to see a topic from opposing sides.

A speaker has 30 seconds to talk 'for' a topic and then another 30 seconds to speak 'against' it.
Prepare and print out a selection of controversial speech topics. You'll need one per person.

Sample topics:

 money is the root of all evil

 a country gets the government it deserves
 'green' politics are just the current fashion
 pets in apartments should be banned
 marriage is essentially a business contract
 'Religion is the opiate of the masses' Karl Marx
 poverty is a state of mind
 euthanasia is unjustifiable
 global warming is media hype
 cloning animals should be banned
 animal testing is immoral

4. The Object of my Affection

Gather up a collection of small objects, for example: a toy car, a can of sardines, a hair ribbon, an
old black and white photographic portrait, a pair of baby shoes ....

Put all of them into a non-see through bag.

Each speaker puts their hand into the bag and pulls out an object. Whatever they get forms the
basis of their speech.

Ideas to kick-start the imagination:

 This ... {insert the name of whatever it is the speaker has in their hand} saved my life. It happened
like this...
 Whenever I see a ...{insert the name of whatever it is the speaker has in their hand} it reminds me
of the time I...
 I collect ...{insert the name of whatever it is the speaker has in their hand} and this one is the prize
of my collection. It used to belong to ...

5. Conducted Speech
This belongs in the group category of public speaking activities. It is noisy, effective and fun!

Select a tongue twister from this page of diction exercises eg. "Sister Susie is sewing shirts for
soldiers".

Divide your class into groups of four. Three in each group will be the speakers and the fourth, the
conductor.

The speakers repeat the tongue twister responding to the conductor's direction. He/she can make
them go faster or slower, louder or quieter.

The goal of the exercise is to practice articulation coupled with vocal variety ie. speech rate and
volume.

Swap the conductor role around to give everybody a turn.

Diction Exercises
- articulation drills to make sure they get your message

Why should you do diction exercises?

Because your speech content may be great, you may look fantastic but unless your audience can
UNDERSTAND what you're saying, your message is lost.
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Diction exercises will help you learn how to speak clearly. An athlete does warm-ups and stretches
before an event: a singer does likewise.

These drills are the speaker's warm-up equivalent. They prepare and train you to speak with ease.

The benefits of diction/articulation exercises or drills are:

 strengthening and stretching the muscles involved in speech

 bringing to your attention habitual speech patterns which may be less than perfect.

Good diction is NOT about changing your accent or making you 'talk posh'.
It is about clarity - making sure what you say is heard.

The most commonly known and used diction exercises are Tongue Twisters.

There are literally squillions of them, each focusing on either a single letter, or a letter combination.
Often they're complete nonsense - phrases and word combinations chosen purely for the way they
make you work to say them clearly.

Tongue twisters have long been an integral part of a public speaker's tool kit. As well as being fun,
they are extremely effective.
Diction Exercises: Tips & Tongue Twisters

Tips for beginners

 Start slowly and carefully.

 Make sure the start and end of each word is
crisp.
 Repeat the phrase, getting faster and faster
while maintaining clarity. If you trip over
words, stop and start again.
 As an additional exercise for improving your
tongue's flexibility and agility add "Mrs
Tongue Does Her Housework" to your
practice session. These stretches will help Are you turning people's ears off through
enormously. mispronunciation?

Get them tuned in.

Find out how to pronounce words properly.

Impromptu Speech
Impromptu Speech

An impromptu speech is given with little or no preparation, yet almost always with some advance
knowledge on the topic. When called to speak "off the cuff" on the "spur of the moment," is is
usually because the speaker is quite knowledgeable about the subject. For example, if called on to
speak in class, a student might give a short impromptu speech about a topic that was in the assigned
readings. Business meetings also use a "check in" to tell everyone else about a current project. In
small informal meetings, the audience will interrupt an impromptu speech and ask questions,
which helps guide the speech and the information that is presented. When campaigning, politicians
sometimes respond to reporters or voters almost anywhere and at any time.

Advantages

Remember that you are generally in control of the content you are presenting, so you can include
topics that you want to talk about. Additionally, you can use personal examples from experience
to support what you are saying. Since you are an authority on the topic, you want to speak with
conviction like you really mean it. Your delivery will naturally be more conversational and
spontaneous. Since you are not prepared with pages of notes, you are more likely to speak directly
to the audience just like if you were speaking to another person in a conversation.
Disadvantages

Since you are not well-prepared, you may have difficulty thinking of what to say or formulating
the ideas once you get up to speak. Although you are familiar with the topic, your speech may lack
details and supporting information. If the audience is passive and does not ask questions to guide
you, you may overlook some significant content. Hopefully, someone in the audience will ask
questions so you can fill in gaps. Additionally, impromptu speaking is rarely appropriate for
occasions which require more reasoned discourse with supporting ideas or more formal events.

Tips for the Speaker (Impromptu Preparation)

What do you do if you are asked to speak at the last minute? It is best to become familiar with
common organization patterns so you can apply them in any situation and then also consider what
you have been asked to speak about. Are you presenting your opinion? State your opinion, the
reasons why you support that opinion, and conclude. Is it something that happened? Retell the
event from beginning to end (first, next, then, etc.). Is it a demonstration? Explain each step in the
process from first to last.

 Make sure to plan an introduction and a conclusion. If possible, take a few moments to
think about what you want to say to introduce the topic and have some way of concluding.
 Make a few notes for yourself on a card, phone, or iPad. Or, text yourself a few single
words to remind yourself of the important ideas.
 Consider the simple three part outline of an Introduction, Body, and Conclusion, and fit
your ideas into that pattern.
 Do not try to remember a detailed outline for your entire speech; just remember the order
of important points.
 Be sure to stop when you have made your points.
 If you do not know what to say next, you can summarize and paraphrase what you have
just said, and then will probably be ready to move on to the next topic.
 Remember that, in most situations, you will know more about the subject than the audience.
Usually you will not be called up to speak impromptu about something you know nothing
about, so you have probably spoken about the general topic before or you probably have
knowledge to share with others.
 Talk like you mean it. In other words speak with conviction. You are explaining your ideas
or knowledge and you are an authority.
 Relax!