Putting a speech training program into practice: Its implementation and effects on elementary school children’s public speaking skills and levels of speech anxiety

Mutual benefits for research and practice: Randomized controlled trials in the Hector Children's Academy Program

This article describes how a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were implemented in the Hector Children's Academy Talent Development Program with the goal of generating mutual benefits for research and practice. The Hector Children's Academy Program, founded in 2010 and located in one of the largest states in Germany, Baden-Württemberg, is a statewide enrichment program for talented primary school students, with a focus on STEMM topics. The program is financed by a private foundation, supervised by the Ministry of Education, and offered by 69 local sites that are hosted by local schools. About 15,000 primary school students (Grades 1-4) attend enrichment courses (more than 23,000 course participations) offered by the Hector Children's Academy Program every year. A unique element of the Hector Children's Academy Program is the role of empirical research in course development. The Hector Core Courses-offered by all local sites-undergo a strict quality assurance process in which RCTs are used to test their effectiveness with regard to central outcomes. After describing the Hector Children's Academy Program, we explain how the Hector Core Courses were developed and incorporated into the program, summarize key findings from the RCTs, and discuss mutual benefits for research and practice.

Interventions That Target or Affect Voice or Speech Production During Public Speaking: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVES

Public speaking (PS) is frequently necessary in many professional, educational, and personal settings. Mastering this communication skill is particularly important in today's society. Training techniques for PS have been described in the literature. Given that PS anxiety affects performance, especially voice characteristics and speech fluency, the purpose of this scoping review is to examine, map, and narratively summarize the available evidence on PS interventions that target or affect voice or speech.

METHODS

An extensive literature search was conducted in three bibliographic databases: Medline ALL/Ovid, PsycINFO/Ovid, and Eric/Ovid. Of the 850 studies identified, 22 met the eligibility criteria, and one was added from the reference lists of the included studies.

RESULTS

A total of 23 studies were included. The interventions identified aim to improve speaking skills either by explicitly targeting the voice or speech (direct intervention, n = 15) or by targeting the cognitive, behavioral, psychological, or physical environment impacting the speaker's production (indirect intervention, n = 8).

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review provides the first published methodological summary of the characteristics of existing PS interventions that target or affect voice and speech. Heterogeneous characteristics were observed. Further studies are needed to determine which interventions are most effective.