Skip to main content

Unlocking Confident Speaking Skills: 20 Quality Classroom Activities to Help Students Speak With Confidence.

Unlocking Confident Speaking Skills:

20 Quality Classroom Activities to Help Students Speak with Confidence

Helping students develop confident speaking skills is one of the most important goals in any language classroom. Confidence grows when students feel supported, engaged, and empowered to express their ideas without fear of mistakes. Here are 20 effective, student-friendly, classroom-tested activities that build fluency, reduce anxiety, and encourage natural communication.

1. Two-Minute Talks

Give students a simple topic (e.g., “My weekend” or “My favourite food”). They speak for two minutes without stopping. This builds fluency and reduces hesitation.

2. The Confidence Circle

Students stand in a circle. One student says something they are confident about (“I can cook very well”). The next student must repeat it and add their own. Encourages positivity and memory.

3. Mystery Object

Show a hidden object inside a bag. Students ask yes/no questions to guess what it is. Great for practising questioning and interaction.

4. Think–Pair–Share

Students think about a question, then discuss in pairs, and finally share with the class. This scaffolding reduces pressure and builds confidence.

5. Role-Play Cards

Give students short role-play situations (ordering food, returning a product, complaining politely). They act them out in pairs or groups.

6. Picture Storytelling

Show a sequence of pictures. Students collaborate to create a story. Helps creativity and narrative skills.

7. The Speed Chat

Students rotate every 1–2 minutes to new partners to answer quick questions. Fast, fun, and excellent for building spontaneity.

8. Debate Corners

Choose a statement (“Cats are better than dogs”). Students stand in a corner that matches their opinion and explain why.

9. Question Ball

Throw a soft ball around the room. Whoever catches it answers a question written on the ball. Helps reduce speaking anxiety.

10. The Expert Chair

A student sits in an “expert” chair and answers questions about a topic they know (music, gaming, cooking). Builds confidence through personal knowledge.

11. Sound-Off Warm-Ups

Before speaking tasks, students practise tongue twisters, stress patterns, and intonation drills to loosen up and gain vocal confidence.

12. Opinion Lines

Create a physical line in the classroom: “Strongly agree → Strongly disagree.” Read statements, and students stand where they feel and explain.

13. Dialogue Building

Give students key phrases and vocabulary. They must build a short dialogue using all the expressions. Encourages accuracy and creativity.

14. Interview a Classmate

Students create 5–7 questions and interview a partner, then present their partner’s answers to the class. Builds conversation and summarizing skills.

15. The Story Cube Challenge

Using story dice or digital story cube apps, students roll to get random images and create short stories. Great for imagination and fluency.

16. Problem-Solving Missions

Give groups a real-life problem (lost passport, natural disaster, mystery puzzle). They must discuss and solve it together.

17. “Describe and Draw” Game

One student describes a picture while the partner draws it. Teaches clarity, listening, and descriptive language.

18. Conversation Cards

Cards with curated conversation starters (“What’s a moment you will never forget?”). Ideal for deeper, more meaningful speech.

19. Back-to-Back Role Play

Students sit back-to-back and must communicate without seeing each other. Useful for practising clarity and active listening.

20. Presentation Mini-Projects

Short, low-pressure presentations (1–3 minutes) on personal topics, hobbies, or favourite places. With repetition, students gain long-term confidence.

Final Tips for Teachers

  • Create a supportive, mistake-friendly environment.
  • Encourage students to speak often, even for short moments.
  • Celebrate progress, not perfection.
  • Provide sentence starters, vocabulary lists, or models when needed.
  • Rotate partners to build variety and social confidence.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 50 Most Important Idioms for Achieving a B2 to C2 Level of English.

  Due to the complexities of English, nobody, native or second language learner can honestly brag about having a proficient level of the language without a solid knowledge of Idioms .  Every day, in almost every conversation, native speakers will use idioms more than someone who is new to the language, simply because they are more familiar with them and know the context in which they should be used. Therefore, this means that when you, the second language learner uses an idiom in the correct context, that you have a more proficient level of English and therefore you sound more like a native speaker. Below is a list of 50 of the most important general idioms necessary for traveling the B2 to C2 language learning journey . With these idioms, you will be able to listen and speak more like a native speaker, therefore, enhancing your ability to communicate effectively. Study tips for how to learn idioms. The 60 most important phrasal verbs for achieving a B2 to C2 level of English....
9 comments
Read more

11 Strategies For Achieving and Maintaining a B2 to C2 Level of English

  As an Advanced Level English Teacher , one of the most common questions that I am asked by students is how to maintain, and/or improve their level of proficiency in the language. Today, more than at any other period in history, a single language has solidified itself into a position of undeniable relevance in our ever-changing globalized world. Be it for matters relating to government, commerce, education, or for the resolution of global issues , English has taken the lead in almost every facet of life and international affairs. This phenomenon, which has developed progressively over many years, has been responsible for a transformation in the way that English as a second language is now perceived in most parts of the world. Governments have found the necessity to embrace English on all levels, schools have attached new importance to its teaching, new institutes continue to spring up on almost a daily basis and universities are now making it a mandatory part of a student's gradu...
7 comments
Read more

ONLINE GAME TIME: 17 Online Games for Learning English

ONLINE GAME TIME  25 Online Games  for Teaching English Today, with a multitude of teachers and their students moving to online classes, interactivity and creativity take on a new whole emphasis. For online classes to be successful, they must be interactive and student-focused in a way that is totally foreign to that which was experienced in the physical classroom. No matter the demographics of the students, they can build up their skills, no matter their age or proficiency, through game-based learning . The Internet, in its infinite providence, does not disappoint when it comes to hosting effective resources for teaching and reviewing the core components of the English language.  In this article, I have outlined a few particularly useful games, or more accurately in most cases, suites of games that are guaranteed to add fun, creativity, and interactivity into any English class. Good luck and good game-time to you and your students. GameZone : Dozen...
79 comments
Read more