Public Speaking Praise
65 Ways to Say Good For You
Public speaking praise is an essential part of speechmastery. Note that most of these point to the action and not the person. This is key to successful public speaking praise. It is best to praise the action and not the person. This was written for the student in the classroom setting. It will need to be adapted for professional settings and public speaking. BY EDWARD S. KUBANY EVERYONE KNOWS that a little praise goes a long way in any classroom. But "a little praise" really needs to be something more than the same few phrases repeated over and over ad nauseum. Your students need more than the traditional "Good," "Very good" and "Fine" if encouragement is in the cards. Here are some additional possibilities: That's really nice Thank you very much Wow! That's great I like the way you're working Keep up the good work Everyone's working so hard That's quite an improvement Much better Keep it up It's a pleasure to teach when you work like this Good job What neat work You really outdid yourself today This kind of work pleases me very much Congratulations. You only missed _____ That's right! Good for you Terrific I bet your Mom and Dad would be proud to see the job you did on this Beautiful I'm very proud of the way you worked (are working) today Excellent work I appreciate your help Very good. Why don't you show the class? Thank you for (sitting down, being quiet, getting right to work, etc.) Marvelous Groovy Right on For sure Sharp That looks like it's going to be a great report I like the way Tom is working My goodness, how impressive! You're on the right track now That's "A" work John is in line Mary is waiting quietly Dickie got right down to work Ann is paying attention It looks like you put a lot of work into this That's clever Very creative Very interesting Good thinking That's an interesting way of looking at it Now you've figured it out Clifford has it That's the right answer Now you've got the hang of it Exactly right Super Superior work That's a good point That's a very good observation That certainly is one way of looking at it That's an interesting point of view Thank you for raising your hand, Charles. What is it? Sherrie is really going to town You've got it now Out of sight Nice going Far out You make it look easy That's coming along nicely I like the way Bill (the class) has settled down
Dr. Edward S. Kubany can be contacted at:
Behavior Therapy Clinic 4211 Waialae Ave. Suite 206 Honolulu, HI 96816 808-735-2494
This article was first published in September 1972, in Teacher, 90(1), pg. 47. He and his publisher have placed the article in the public domain.
Last updated 2 March 1999
Can you think of other ways to use public speaking praise. How about for employees, colleagues and others.
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