Games for Oral Communication Class

In this document youll find several games that can be used in an Oral Communications
class. These games are designed to help students build confidence in their speaking skills,
develop improvisational skills, and expand their imaginations. This document also contains 1
worksheet, transition cards, and a word bank of 100+ nouns that can be used for any number of
games.

Contents:
Pressing the Ctrl button and then clicking on the titles will jump you to that part of the document.
The Imaginary Animal
The Imaginary Animal Worksheet
Transition Cards Game
Transition Cards
Dont Stop the Story
Introduce Your Friend
Match the Ending
Two Truths and a Lie
Talk About a Funny Picture
Noun List

The Imaginary Animal:

Instructions:
Put your students into groups of 3 or 4. Then announce that everyone has 10 minutes to
create their own imaginary animal. Every student should have a piece of paper, or a worksheet
(provided below) that they can describe their animal on. After 10 minutes or so, the students
must present their animal to their small group. Set both a minimum time limit and a maximum
time limit (2 to 4 minutes, for example) for each short presentation. Each student should have
enough material about their animal to be able to talk for the minimum amount of time. Their
classmates will judge the best performance out of the group (who was best prepared, most
energetic and excited about their animal, etc.). Winning students will get a prize, or maybe just a
round of applause from the class. If you desire, students can present their animals for the entire
class as well.

The Imaginary Animal

Instructions:
Imagine your own animal, and tell your group about
it. First, youll need to come up with the details
about how it looks, how it behaves, and where it
lives. You have _____ minutes to write or imagine
all of those details.

Second, youll talk about your animal to your group. You must speak about it for no less
than _____ minutes, and no more than _____ minutes. As a group, vote for the person whose
animal was the most interesting, and for the person whose presentation was the best.

My animal is called a _______________.

Where does it live?

What does it eat?
What does it look like?
-how big is it?
-how heavy is it?
-what kind of appendages does it
have? Wings, legs, or arms?

-how many appendages?

-what colors is it?
How does it behave?
Is it a social animal?
When is it most active?
Does it have razor sharp talons?

Draw a little picture of your animal if you have time.

Transition Card Game

Instructions:
The entire class will sit in a circle. Each person is given a single card with a
picture on it. They must keep that card a secret, dont let anybody see it.
The first person should be the teacher. The teacher will talk about the thing on
their card for 1 minute, and wrap up by showing the group the card. The second person
must find an interesting and clear way to transition from the previous topic, to their own.
Encourage the students to be funny and imaginative, but decisive and clear.
This activity practices and highlights the need for clear and interesting transitions
during a speech, and it also helps students become better at improvisation. They have 1
minute to come up with various ways to transition from the topic of the person before
them.
Cards are included below. You will need to print them and laminate them. You can
also make your own.

Transition Cards

Bead

Drawer

Cartoon

Gold

Cotton

Fahrenheit

Library

Psychiatrist

Wolf

Zipper

Angle

Basement

Eel

Fruit

Drug

 Mother-in-law

Motorcycle

Raven

Soldier

Cathedral

Clarinet

Family

Daisy

Drill

Handsaw

Mallet

Mice

 Spinach

Jacket

Base

Bomb

Pajamas

Kangaroo

Mitten

Fly

White

Lunch

Sweatshirt

Underwear

 Cauliflower

Continent

Dime

Feet

Kidney

Violet

Whip

Shell

Baby

Chest

Degree

Golf

 Millisecond

Shake

Tulip

Trip

Carol

Haircut

History

Mustard

Needle

Circle

Umbrella

Wall

 Sand

Blue

Meat

Captain

Quail

Quicksand

Shorts

Signature

Waste

Bulldozer

Elephant

Evening

 Frog

Stinger

Uncle

Camera

Bell

Calculus

Club

Keyboard

Cattle

Wing

Cheetah

Crocodile

 Lamp

Karate

Dont Stop the Story

Instructions:
Students sit or stand in a circle. Get a student to volunteer to start the story. It can
be about anything (as long as it is appropriate). Each student is to say a few sentences of
the story. Put a cap on the number of sentences each student is allowed to say, so that no
one speaks too long.
After the first student speaks, the second student must continue the story in any
way that they choose. They may not start a new story though. They must use the same
characters (they can introduce new characters), and begin where the last person left off.
The last person in the group is responsible for wrapping up the story cleanly.
Variations:
Put the students in groups, and explain that every person must say 5 sentences.
Instead of ending the story though with the last person, the story continues. However,
each student must say 4 sentences in the second round. In the 3rd round each student
must say 3 sentences. In the 4th round, 2 sentences. In the 5th and final round, the
students can only say 1 sentence each, and the last person must conclude the story
cleanly.

Introduce Your Friend

Instructions:
Each student introduces the person to their right. They tell the group their name,
and then they must tell that students life story (keeping it short, perhaps just a minute or
2). However, the life story must be fictional. It must be completely made up.

Match the Ending

Instructions:
Each student is given a phrase that they must end a story with. They can either
write a short story, or tell it (depending on what works best for your class). They must
end the story with your phrase though.

Two Truths and a Lie

Instructions:
Each student is to introduce themselves, and tell the group 3 things about them.
One of those things must be a lie. The group must guess which one is the lie.

Variation:
The students introduce themselves, and tell the group 3 things about them. Two of
those things are lies, and the group must guess which one is the truth.

Talk about a Funny Picture

Instructions:
This game is to practice impromptu speaking and improvisation. Have a group of
volunteers come up to the front, and stand in a line. One at a time, hand each student a
funny picture (pictures are included on the internet). The student must talk about that
picture for 1 minute. They can tell stories, or describe the picture. The goal is to be funny
or imaginative.

Noun List

Ive included a list of 100 + nouns. These can be used for all sorts of games and
activities. You can print these out to make cards, or assign students words to talk about.

Baboon

Paper

Book

Cup

Phone

Dictionary

Bear

Cable

Poster

Fuzz

Board

Cabinet

Coaster

Clock

School

Pen

Tree

Japan

Ear plugs

Fan

Hair

Table

Flag

Mop

Button

Calculator

Car

Bicycle

Stage

Friend

Lights

Microphone

Teacher

Coach

Shirts

Windows

Door

Hole punch

Tape

Fireworks

Lake

Boat

Park

Duck

Fish

BBQ

Vegetable

Sticks

Photograph

Castle

Mountain

River

House

Microwave

Oven

Bathroom

Dog

Cat

Parrot

Cage

Reindeer

Amusement Park

Road

Sign

Robot

Mice

Spaceship

Airplane

Lunch

Turtle

Magnet

Sticker

Computer

Radio

Ball

Desk

Wall

Roof

Cloud

Sun

Snow

Rain

Umbrella

Wheel

Stapler

Award

Office

Shoe

Key

Wallet

Glasses

Folder

Bottle

Palace

Flower

Star

Statue

Jungle

Stairs

Crowd

Market

Music

Scarf

Elephant

Insects

Tower

Space

Ink