How to Help Young Students Get Comfortable With Public Speaking

In my role, I have the wonderful opportunity to see students present in front of a public audience, and I’m even more fortunate to be able to help guide them in how to do it. I’m also often tasked to speak in front of public audiences myself, and I firmly believe that public speaking is a vital skill that can help shape a child’s communication abilities and can unlock avenues for success later on in life.

The data is clear: According to a study on the fear of public speaking, around 75 percent of adults have a fear of public speaking. However, as reported in an article in Forbes, an estimated 70 percent of employed Americans believe that presentation skills are critical to their success at work. Public speaking helps equip students with a skill that they can utilize in elementary school, middle grades, high school, and beyond. Let’s dive in and see how to make this happen in your school or district.

Understand the Challenges

There are common fears that some might hold regarding introducing public speaking to elementary school students.

Making mistakes. Elementary school students are still growing in their reading and cognitive comprehension, so it typically does take longer to coach them on public speaking. If an educator has a finite amount of time to get through a unit, activity, or exercise, a public speaking or public presentation element may be pushed to the wayside in favor of another activity or assessment.

Younger students’ limited vocabulary. Younger students do tend to have more limited vocabulary because they are still developing their vocabulary skill sets. This may deter some educators from introducing students to public speaking before they have been introduced to more advanced vocabulary. On the positive side, giving students public speaking assignments is an excellent time to begin to introduce them to higher-level vocabulary.

In an exercise that I use with elementary students, I select a “word of the week” that can be incorporated into instruction and daily conversation. One week the word was awry, which essentially means “amiss.” We ended up having a fire drill in the middle of a lesson, and a student commented, “Ms. Thompson, your plan went awry!” It was a correct use of the word and helped introduce that student to a new word.

Fear of embarrassment in front of their peers. From the student lens, this is the number one piece of feedback that I receive. They want to be able to present in front of their peers and a public audience and generally do enjoy it when they have proper coaching, but the are afraid of being mocked or ridiculed.

Offer Support and Activities

The first step in encouraging public speaking in elementary school is to foster a supportive and positive atmosphere. Teachers and the school community (including families) should emphasize that mistakes are a natural part of learning and that making mistakes when you speak in front of a live audience is natural. Encouraging students to be kind to themselves and to their peers helps to reinforce the idea that everyone is on a journey to improve. Celebrating small achievements, such as completing a speech or overcoming nerves, helps build a sense of accomplishment and boosts confidence.

Here are some activities to help with this.

Storytelling exercises. For younger students, starting with small, manageable tasks can help reduce fear of speaking in public. As a suggestion, begin with activities such as sharing stories or talking about their favorite book or toy in front of the class. A sample prompt might be “What is your favorite season and why? You have two minutes to share.” This can be done in pairs or small groups, which can help feel less intimidating than speaking in front of the entire class. As time goes on, gradually increase the audience size and complexity of the speaking tasks as students become more comfortable.

Show-and-tell presentations. Show-and-tell is particularly popular in the younger grades (usually prekindergarten through second grade) but can extend all the way up to upper elementary. By sharing personal items or stories, students learn how to express themselves and appreciate diversity, creating a supportive classroom environment that values individual interests and experiences. Show-and-tell also promotes active listening in the students who are not sharing directly in that moment. I typically advise students to come up with one or two questions to ask the sharer at the end of their presentation, and I advise the sharer to pick five people with questions so that they can answer them.

Role-playing and drama activities. Role-playing in the classroom and drama activities, such as reader’s theater, can absolutely help introduce students to public speaking and help build confidence. Through imaginative scenarios, students practice problem-solving and critical thinking, which makes learning engaging and memorable while building students’ confidence in expressing their thoughts and emotions. They can also often experiment with different voices and personas.

Encourage Practice and Reflection

For feedback, focus on being constructive and specific. I like to start with positive comments to highlight strengths, such as clarity, engagement, or effective use of visuals such as a multimedia presentation (using PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, or Canva, for example), pictures, or video (i.e., “Your presentation was extremely engaging, and your use of visuals helped the audience understand your message!”). Then, address areas for improvement, offering clear, actionable suggestions—such as varying tone or enhancing body language. I also help encourage self-reflection by asking students questions about their experience and what they felt went well or could be improved for next time.

Throughout, I maintain a supportive tone, emphasizing growth and effort, and help students set goals for future presentations. This helps them understand that feedback is a tool for development, not just evaluation, which helps foster a growth mindset.

Also, at the end of the public speaking event, whether through certificates, awards, or simply verbal praise, acknowledging the students’ hard work helps reinforce the value of their progress. Celebrating these milestones fosters a positive attitude toward public speaking and motivates students to continue improving.

By implementing these strategies, you can help young students build a strong foundation in public speaking. Public speaking isn’t just about speaking; it’s about sharing ideas, building connections, and expressing oneself—skills that are invaluable for life.