Recently, I read some comments on Twitter about speaking in the presentational mode and it got me thinking. The commentary was that we don't use presentational speaking in real life and I think this is untrue. I use presentational speaking on a regular basis and I don't mean in my role as teacher. Presentational communication is the creation of communication prepared for an audience and rehearsed. There is opportunity for editing and revision before the presentation. It is one-way communication that requires interpretation by others without negotiation of meaning.
When I need to speak to my principal about an idea that I have, I plan ahead for that conversation which will eventually be interpersonal. But I know that my introduction is on my terms and I start out in presentational mode. Before we talk, I get those thoughts together, I think about the vocabulary that I want to include (identifying some of the buzz words that can draw his attention), I think about the structure of my introduction. I play a couple different scenarios out in my head first. I muster up my courage and go for it. This same thing happens when I have to talk to my spouse, my children, my doctor and when I call customer service. They all turn into interpersonal, but start out in presentational form. I saw Joshua Cabral (wlclassroom) give a presentation and pointed out a similar idea that stuck with me. When preparing to walk into a store, it's in our nature to plan our statement ahead. However, since our presentational mode tends to be higher than our interpersonal mode, we unconsciously send a message to our audience that we can converse at a higher level and they respond at that level. The interaction may quickly crumble in this case. But that does support my idea that we do use presentational mode frequently.
So, in the classroom, presentational mode needs to be a skill that we address. I think we frequently do, but don't give ourselves credit for it. It doesn't have to be up and in front of the class. It's simply defined as communicating to an audience that's not up for negotiation. That can be to a small group or even to a classmate. Students have to have this opportunity to focus on form. Examples that I can think of:
- share and pair
- give one to get one
- describe your picture/interpretation to your group
- create a voki
My colleagues and I offer a daily prompt for students to respond to for their "speaking points" and we've discussed which category to put this in now that we've changed our grading practices. Our students attack this prompt in different forms and we see it play out differently per the student. It's neat to see it happen. Some students write down their answers and memorize it (we don't let them read it). Some write down a couple words that they want to include and they glance at the paper when needed. Some don't even read the prompt until we are in proximity and just go for it. We respond differently to the students based on their individual personalities, readiness and the statement. Sometimes I can ask a follow-up question, turning the conversation to interpersonal. Sometimes, I give a statement to show I'm listening. Sometimes I can say something that is connected to make them smile or laugh and provide them with another interpretive opportunity. So all these scenarios make the grading category be a legitimate conversation. For the record, we've decided to put it in the presentational category.
