Fear of public speaking is the greatest fear of people everywhere. Fear of dying comes in second. Very conscious of that fact, I gently weaned my fourth grade students into standing comfortably before the class to present their book reports.
Some, however, needed a great deal more coaxing than others. “If you can’t talk to the class,” I told them, “talk to the plant.” Near my desk was a large, leafy, green silk plant. “Just read your report to him.”
“What’s his name?” one child dubiously asked the first year I tried this.
“Frank.”
The child took a deep, shaky breath. “Ok, Frank…” he began tentatively, “I read a book about some animals who traveled the world together…” And then he animatedly told the plant all about the book he’d read. No worries; piece of cake.
Once comfortable with reading book reports, I had my students develop short research papers, and even give mock political speeches in front of the class. By the end of the year, most students could face his or her peers without a flinch—and without Frank.
A few years later, when I was teaching high school juniors, the same shy boy was assigned to my English class. He came in the first day and tentatively looked around. His face suddenly broke into a huge grin. Approaching my plant, he “hugged” it, and said, “Frank, old friend, how ya doin’?”
Public speaking was not a problem for him that year.