The Pipe Up Advantage
Most of us remember having to deliver that one or those two speeches per year in high school which was only enough to confirm that public speaking was not something we enjoyed. For many, it was a dreaded experience accompanied by unpleasant anxiety and physical symptoms. It certainly was not enough to prepare anyone for the work place or upper levels of education. Pipe Up for Teens offers an alternative public speaking experience for teens.
The Pipe Up for Teens program provides students with the time, support and ambiance that teens need to thrive in public speaking, an important life-skill.
Time – Pipe Up for Teens gives the students an opportunity to get on stage and speak each week in a classroom without a heavy homework load. Like riding a bike, no matter what a teacher tells you, at some point you will just need time to practice.
Support– Pipe Up for Teens promotes the support of each member by focusing on positive feedback. Unlike younger children, adolescents tend to be rather hard on themselves which chips away at their confidence. By focusing on the glass half-full and moving at their own pace, students build up ever-increasing skills and confidence.
Ambiance – Pipe Up for Teens classes have a relaxed and welcoming club atmosphere. This is the teens’ space. They are meant to have fun, celebrate each other’s wins and pitch in when a speaker is floundering. This is a place to be able to laugh at oneself and experiment with public speaking techniques. There is plenty of cheering, clapping and Warm Fuzzies. To this end, all students initial the Pipe Up Meeting Expectations Agreement before joining.
Throughout a year of meetings, the kids undergo a wonderful surge of confidence in public speaking that they will carry with them everywhere they go in life.
Students enrolled in the class by their parents express how they didn’t expect to have so much fun in the class. Many go on to join speech & debate teams. Others, who appreciate the minimal homework required by the program, remain in Pipe Up as senior members for the continued practice. These senior members become highly valued mentors in the program.
Our Program
Pipe Up For Teens is a website that provides the facilitator with an easy to use classroom management system and curriculum. The students are provided a speaking schedule and a simple to follow public speaking & leadership course.
At the home school co-op or other meeting place, classes are run in a club meeting format where every student may participate to the degree they are comfortable.
The meetings are student led. Students step easily into the leadership roles assigned at the start of the meeting because Pipe Up for Teens does the critical preparation work for them. Speeches are given very clear guidelines so the students can spend more time practicing than planning what to say.
The program is structured so that the students acquire an abundance of public speaking experience without a heavy homework load.
Home school parents may elect to record the program for high school credit or as an extracurricular club activity.
Second and third year members are encouraged to give speeches demonstrating mastery in other subjects they are studying from ancient history to mathematics. These speeches can count toward credit in their other subjects.
Continual practice ensures the best preparation for giving presentations at the college level.
Our Philosophy
Our Approach
Like swimming, public speaking is an important life-skill. Employers expect oral reports at staff meetings. Marketing involves giving presentations to clients. Milestones such as weddings are celebrated with toasts and reception speeches. The expectation to speak in public is inevitable.
Pipe Up for Teens is to a public speaker, as the swimming pool is to a swimmer: a place to overcome fear and practice and develop skills. Pipe Up for Teens is a community that gently coaxes novice speakers to play in the wading pool of Public Speaking.
Progressing through the program, the speaker takes on greater speaking roles and responsibilities which beget more confidence and vice versa. The fear of public speaking subsides and the student is free to exercise new techniques and skills. Before they know it, the teens are mentoring students new to the program. Come and dive in! Pipe Up for Teens makes Public Speaking fun!
Regular practice normalizes public speaking. Home school parents have the unique opportunity to train their students to be as comfortable when public speaking as they are when talking among friends and family. We encourage public speakers in our program to confidently be themselves. That diversity is what makes the meetings fun!
Course Benefits
Build Self-Confidence
Learn to Lead Meetings
Deliver Speeches
Speak Off-the-Cuff
Move at Your Own Pace
Polish Your Image
Develop Coaching Skills
Tame Fear of Public Speaking
Network with Teens
Work on Interviewing Skills
Cultivate Business Etiquette
Demonstrate Mastery of other Subjects Studied
Minimal Homework
Have Heaps of Fun
