Summary
Student voice should include literal oral communication, a teachable skill that schools often neglect but can develop through specific speaking lessons.
Key takeaways
- The phrase “student voice” is often used to mean choice, opinion, or writing style, but it should also include its most literal sense: the ability to speak out loud effectively.
- Oral communication is a teachable skill rather than a fixed trait, so like writing or math, speaking can be improved through specific, explicit lessons rather than left to natural ability.
- Simply requiring students to present is not the same as teaching them to communicate well, since skills like using inflection to convey meaning can be taught directly and practiced.
Student voice is a hot topic. When you see “student voice” used by educators, it might mean choice or options as in “give students voice instead of directing their learning.” Sometimes it means opinion as in “we need to value student voice and make them feel comfortable expressing their ideas.” Sometimes it means literary style as in “Hemingway has a unique voice in his writing, and we want students to develop their voice as well.” I’m not arguing with any of those; I think we should give students choices, we should value their opinions, and we should let them have their own style. But we should also give them the gift of being able to verbalize well, because when you see the word voice used by everyone else on the planet, it means sounds from the mouth.
How can so many people talk about giving students voice without thinking about oral communication? That’s the original and most important voice! How do we advocate for ourselves? How do we express our opinions? How do we interact socially and professionally? Overwhelmingly by speaking. We say things out loud. Often, that speaking is face-to-face, but increasingly digital tools are used which expand the reach and importance of verbal communication.
We have reasons for doing less than we need to do to develop student voice. I have heard all of these:
- Speaking is not on the state assessment. I focus on the skills being tested.
- Students already know how to talk. They do it all the time.
- Speaking is innate. Some kids are good at it and others aren’t. That’s just how it is.
- I have activities where I make students speak so I don’t ignore student voice.
- I have never been trained about how to teach speaking skills. My school has no materials, and we have never had PD about oral communication.
My responses:
- The state assessments will be over when schooling ends, but for all their lives students will appreciate being able to be confident, competent speakers.
- Talking is not the same as speaking effectively.
- Some students are better at math, some are better at reading, some are better at drawing, and yes, some are better at speaking. Those innate predispositions shouldn’t stop us from helping students in areas where they struggle. We teach because we believe that all children can grow even in areas more difficult for them.
- Making students speak is not the same as teaching them how to communicate well. Making students do a book report in front of the class without first teaching them how to speak effectively is cruel.
- As for not knowing how to teach speaking, let me give you some help.
How to teach speaking in the classroom
You can help students become effective speakers more easily than you might think. Just as there are specific lessons to improve writing (punctuation, capitalization, word choice, sentence structure…) and to improve math (common denominator, order of operations…) and to improve reading (setting, metaphor, plot line…) there are specific lessons that improve speaking.
I’ll give you one example. You may have noticed that student presentations are more rote than engaging. We can teach students how to make their delivery much livelier and more interesting.
Lesson one: To demonstrate the importance of adding inflection, let students practice with phrases where the meaning can change depending on how it is said.
Don't hang your backpack on that hook! (Oh oh, Mom is really mad!)
Don't hang your backpack on that hook. (It's only for coats?)
Don't hang your backpack on that hook. (I should hang it on the other hook?)
Lesson two: Have students watch a short video of a speaker who demonstrates excellent inflection.
I would recommend A Pep Talk from Kid President to You or the last couple of minutes of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. Ask: How did Kid President make the words “And it hurt, man…Rocks, Thorns, and Glass” come alive? Where else did he add lots of life to his words? How did Martin Luther King, Jr. use added inflection to make his speech inspiring and powerful? Why was it effective?
Lesson three: Give a small practice speech where adding life makes a huge difference. Have different students speak encouraging each one to add lots of feeling.
One time, we had a squirrel in our house. When we opened the door to let our dog out, it ran right in. Everything got crazy! The squirrel was running all over! My brother was yelling, “Do something! Do something! Get that thing out of here.” He jumped on a chair and stood there crying his eyes out. My sister was chasing the squirrel with a broom from room to room. “Open all the doors!” she yelled to me. “I did already!” I yelled back. Finally, it ran out. After a minute or so, my sister started laughing. “That was interesting,” she said with a chuckle.
Those activities might take 60 minutes of instructional time, and every student will learn about one of the keys to effective speaking. All students will understand ways to improve, and all will take one step toward becoming more engaging communicators.
Bottom line: do not ignore the most common and most important definition of voice. I believe we want students to have an effective voice. Give them the gift of being confident, competent speakers.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
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Blog contributor Erik Palmer is an author on HMH's K-12 Into Reading and Into Literature programs.
Frequently asked questions
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Why is teaching oral communication often overlooked in schools?
Oral communication may receive less explicit instructional attention than reading and writing, in part because classroom speaking is often treated as something students develop naturally through participation. Yet oral-language knowledge supports literacy, learning, and students’ ability to communicate ideas, so purposeful instruction and structured practice are valuable.
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What is the difference between talking and speaking effectively?
In this context, “talking” refers to everyday conversation, while effective speaking refers to intentionally organizing and delivering ideas for a specific audience and purpose. Students can talk fluently yet still need instruction to present ideas clearly and persuasively in academic and professional settings.
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How can teachers teach inflection to students?
Inflection can be taught through simple, targeted practice. Teachers can have students say the same sentence in different ways to show how emphasis changes meaning, then analyze skilled speakers who use inflection well, and finally deliver a short practice passage while adding expression. A brief sequence like this makes an abstract skill concrete and learnable.
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Is speaking ability something students are simply born with?
Not entirely. Students differ in their initial comfort and experience with speaking, but effective speaking includes teachable skills such as organization, clarity, pacing, emphasis, and audience awareness. Treating it as fixed leaves many students without support they could benefit from. Explicit instruction helps all students grow as more confident, capable communicators.
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Why isn’t requiring presentations enough to build speaking skills?
Assigning presentations without first teaching how to speak well asks students to perform a skill they were never taught. Without modeling, criteria, feedback, and structured practice, presentations may assess speaking more than they teach it. Effective instruction teaches the components of strong delivery first, then gives students structured practice, so presentations become opportunities to apply skills rather than sink-or-swim tests.
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