Blair Cadden
Welcome To Blair's Page
Blair Cadden is a Boston-based director, theatre-maker and teaching artist. She holds a BA in Theatre from Wofford College and an MFA in Directing from Boston University. Blair is originally from Charleston, SC, where she was the co-founding Artistic Director of the theatre company 5th Wall Productions. Blair has taught acting and public speaking to students of all ages, from kindergarteners to young adults, at Lexington Children's Theatre, Spartanburg Youth Theatre, Boston University, and more. Whether it sparks a lifelong love of theatre, or simply brings more confidence and creativity to their everyday lives, Blair is so excited to share her experience and passion with the young people here at WhizKid.me!
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my Classes
class plan
Public Speaking - Summer Semester
A-List Actors - Summer Semester
Public Speaking - Summer Semester
Week | Session Topic/Theme | Class Structure Students will do & learn: | Materials needed |
1 | Acceptance Speeches June 5 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will practice delivering acceptance speeches for an imaginary award of their own invention. After discussing the purpose of an acceptance speech and important things to include, students will each have a turn to express gratitude, share their experience, and offer advice to others as they accept their own award. Closing: Review and recap – What is the purpose of an acceptance speech? What are some important things to include in a speech of this kind? | |
2 | Back to Basics June 12 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will discuss the fundamentals of good speaking technique – good posture, open and confident body language, and clear and expressive voice. Students will practice each of these elements through a variety of exercises before putting them all together for a short speech to tell the class about themselves. Closing: Review and recap – What are some of the most important things to keep in mind when public speaking? | |
3 | Physical Expression June 19 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will discover how posture, gesture, and physical expression can help us look and feel more confident, and help make our speeches more interesting and engaging. Students will practice adding physical expression to a series of short speeches from familiar sources (nursery rhymes, poems, commercials, etc). Closing: Review and recap – Why is the body an important tool for public speaking? How can we make ourselves appear more confident and expressive? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil. |
4 | Show and Tell: Visual Helpers for Speeches June 26 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice and movement Content: Together, we will discuss and brainstorm visual tools (pictures, props, charts, illustrations) that can be used along with a speech to help our listeners follow along and understand. Students will then prepare a short instructional “how-to” speech, choosing 3 visual tools to help communicate the information. Closing: Review and recap – What did we learn? How did your classmates’ pictures help you understand more about their topic? | 3 pages of blank paper. Markers, colored pencils, or crayons to draw with. |
5 | Expressive Speaking: Storytelling July 10 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will discuss the importance of physical and vocal expressiveness when speaking. They will then practice expressive speaking through a series of exercises before putting it all together to retell a familiar fairytale to the class, using as much expression as possible. Closing: Review and recap – What did we learn? What tools did we find for making our speech exciting and engaging? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
6 | Speaking with Enthusiasm July 17 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: No matter the subject, a speaker should always appear enthusiastic in order to engage their audience. Students will be assigned a “boring” location. Using lots of vocal and physical expression, they will deliver a speech to convince their listeners that this is an exciting place they must visit! Closing: Review and recap – What did you see or hear a classmate do that helped show their enthusiasm? Why is it important to be enthusiastic when we speak? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
7 | Speech to Persuade July 24 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Together, we will discuss strong tactics for persuasive speeches: what makes a speaker convincing? Students will then use those tactics in a short speech that aims to persuade or convince our classmates to do something positive. (Like try your favorite hobby, volunteer for a cause you care about, etc.) Closing: Review and recap – What are good tactics for a convincing speech? What are things to avoid? What did your classmates say in their speeches that was convincing? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
8 | Debate July 31 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will be put into two groups to engage in a debate over a playful topic. Each group will work together to create a convincing speech with specific reasons and examples to support their side. After hearing both sides, students will also practice thinking quickly on their feet to respond to the other group’s speech. Closing: Review and recap – What makes for a convincing argument? What should we do and not do when having a debate? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
9 | Job Interview August 7 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will imagine that they are being interviewed for a fun job. During this mock interview, they will have a chance to practice confidence when they describe their skills and talents, as well as thinking quickly on their feet when they answer questions from the instructor as “interviewer”. Closing: Review and recap – Why is it important to speak with confidence? What can help us feel and appear confident when speaking? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
10 | Speech to Teach – Biography August 14 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will discuss how to deliver an effective educational speech, including tips for speaking clearly, using visual helpers, and organizing information clearly. Then, they will put these skills to practice when they deliver a short educational speech to teach the class about a historical or fictional character they know well. Closing: Review and recap – What did a classmate say that helped you understand more about their topic? What helps make an educational speech more effective? | Paper and markers, crayons, or colored pencils to draw with. |
11 | Speech to Teach – Location August 21 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will review techniques and tips for delivering an effective educational speech. Then, they will continue to build on these skills when they deliver a short speech to teach the class about a place they know personally (your town, your neighborhood) or a place they’ve learned about in school. Closing: How can we make an educational speech more clear for our audience? | Paper and markers, crayons, or colored pencils to draw with. |
12 | Speech to Teach: Q&A August 28 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for diction, projection, and movement Content: Students will practice remaining confident and thinking on their feet during a question and answer session. Each student will give a brief intro to a topic they know well, then answer questions from classmates about that subject. Closing: What is challenging about answering questions in the moment? How can we stay calm and confident even when we don’t know what questions to expect? | Suggested: paper and pen or pencil |
A-List Actors - Summer Semester
Week | Session Topic/Theme | Class Structure Students will do & learn: | Materials needed |
1 | Auditions June 7 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will learn the basics of auditioning for a play or movie. We will then practice with a mock audition, where each student will get the chance to practice making strong choices while performing a short monologue. Closing: Review and recap – What are auditions? How do you prepare for one? | |
2 | Reading a Script: Who, What, When, Where? June 14 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will practice analyzing a script for its basic “given circumstances”–the who, what, when, and where. Together, we will read a short scene and then answer these questions using both the text and our own imagination. Then, we will read the scene again and see how this information has changed the choices we make as actors. Closing: Review and recap – What information should actors be looking for when they first read a script? Why is this information important? | |
3 | Reading a Script: Character June 21 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will go deeper into reading and analyzing a script, this time with special attention to the characters. Together, we will read a short scene and identify key information about each character. Then, we will read the scene a second time and explore how this information has changed our performance of the scene. Closing: Recap and review – What kind of character information should actors look for when they read a script? Why is this information important? | |
4 | Reading a Script: Objective, Obstacle, Tactic June 28 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will read and analyze a scene to discover each character’s wants (objective), the obstacles in their way, and the tactics they use to overcome those obstacles. We will read a scene together and uncover these details, then read again to see how that knowledge affects our performance. Closing: Review and recap – What are objectives, obstacles, and tactics? Why is this information important? | |
5 | Physical Acting: Becoming a Character July 12 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will explore all the different aspects of movement that can be used to transform into different characters. They will experiment with movement through a series of exercises, then put it all together to perform as animal and human characters. | Set up for class in a space where you have plenty of room to move. |
6 | Physical Acting: Going Further July 19 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will explore how actors can use their bodies not just to show realistic behavior, but also as a tool for emotional expression. We will explore different ways of using our bodies expressively, including some simple choreography. Closing: Review and recap – What are some instances where actors might need to use their body in a less realistic, more expressive way? How can this add to a story? | Set up for class in a space where you have plenty of room to move. |
7 | Putting it Together: Acting out a Story July 26 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will identify the key circumstances, characters and events in a familiar fairy-tale story, then use all of their acting tools to perform the story as guided by the instructor as narrator. Closing: Review and recap–what information did we need to know about our story in order to act it out? What pieces of information helped you the most? | |
8 | Working as an Ensemble August 2 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: One of the best things about acting is that we usually get to do it as an ensemble, or a team! Today, we will use collaborative exercises to focus on teamwork, listening, and collaborating with a group to tell a story together. Closing: Recap and review – Why is it important for actors to work together as an ensemble? What are useful skills to keep in mind when working with others to tell a story? | |
9 | Improvisation 1 August 9 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will explore or review and build on their improvisation skills. Through exercises and games, they will practice the art of saying “yes and” to tell a story completely off-the-cuff. Closing: Review and recap – What is improv? What are some tips and tricks that can help us work together to improvise a story? | |
10 | Improvisation 2 August 16 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will review and build on their improvisation skills. After reviewing the fundamentals with a few improv games, students will then go one step further to create their own scenes from provided prompts. Closing: Review and recap – What did you find tricky about performing this way? What helped you work together to create a scene? | |
11 | Creating the World of the Story: Scenery August 23 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will discuss scenery–what it is and what it can add to a story. Then, they will create and share a scene design for a particular kind of play or story (fairy tale, sci-fi, etc). Conclusion: What is scenery? What can it tell us about the world of the play? | Paper and drawing materials |
12 | Creating the World of the Story: Props and Costumes August 30 | Intro: Introduce ourselves to our classmates. Warm-ups for voice, body, and imagination. Content: Students will discuss props and costumes — what they are and what they can add to a story. Students will use their imaginations to turn regular household objects into props to be used by different kinds of characters, then finish by designing a costume for an assigned character. Closing: Review and recap – What are props? Costumes? How do they add to a performance? | One or two random household objects Paper and drawing materials |
Using The Class Plan
Please Note: Both Age Groups (if applicable) will follow the same class plan structure and content. The content delivery will be tailored to the age group.