Events › Step Up and Speak

Public speaking for teens and tweens.

This short course, designed for ages 12-15, offers a chance for young people to voice their ideas in a safe, supportive, and fun setting. Through games, exercises, and short speech activities, participants will learn to be more confident and comfortable when giving presentations in middle school, high school, and beyond. We will explore empowering skills such as calming anxiety, projecting our voices, and using body language to help an audience connect with what we have to say.

Laura Shefler has been teaching and tutoring for more than 25 years in after school, and summer settings, including the UC Berkeley Academic Talent Development Program, where she has taught public speaking for the past 10 years. As a tutor she offers one-on-one and small-group instruction in all areas of language arts. A practicing artist who makes colorful collages, she also gives talks on art history for retirement community residents. She has a teaching credential and a master’s degree from UC Berkeley.

Library staff may take photos, videos, or audio recordings at our events. Please tell us if you do not wish to be photographed, video-recorded, or audio-recorded. We will always respect your requests!

An ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter or closed captioning can be provided for this program if requested at least seven (7) days in advance. For assistance, please contact your library or accessibility@aclibrary.org.