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The Diction HouseWorkshops in schools

Diction Decoded

Six days. One week. In order.

Foundation to fluency. Every day is anchored by one immersive activity and produces a scored deliverable, so progress is provable rather than anecdotal.

How it runs

Shape
Six days, one weekConsecutive days rather than spread across six weeks.
Length
75–90 minutes a dayOne session per day, built around a single signature activity.
For
Grades 9 to 12Activities differentiate in real time across two tiers, 9–10 and 11–12.
The school provides
Hall, projector, soundProjector, microphone and sound system, a podium, and A4 sheets.
Day 1notice

The Broken Page

Grammar and language awareness

What am I doing wrong?

The activity

Students receive a deliberately flawed passage and find the grammatical, structural, vocabulary, punctuation and clarity problems in it — before anyone teaches them the rule.

What it is for

Build linguistic consciousness. Students learn to recognise what is wrong, what is unclear, what is unnecessary, and why a correction is better.

They leave with

  • Corrected Broken Page
  • Quick-Reference Sheet
  • Rewritten professional paragraph

Covered

  • Tense, articles, prepositions, voice, subject–verb agreement
  • Modifiers, punctuation, parallelism, redundancy
  • Clarity, flow, transitions, tone
Day 2choose

Words in Bloom

Vocabulary, expression and reading

What is the right word, expression or information?

The activity

Students pick the most appropriate word from several alternatives and defend the choice on meaning, intensity, context, connotation and register.

What it is for

Shift students from “good vocabulary means difficult words” to “good vocabulary means precise words”.

They leave with

  • Phraseological Reference Sheet
  • Jargon Decoder
  • Read/Recall Framework

Covered

  • Precision vocabulary, synonyms, connotation, register, collocation
  • Figures of speech, idioms and practical phrase banks
  • Jargon decoding and simplifying complex terminology
Day 3respond

The Quest for Inquisitiveness

Questioning, listening and composure

How do I understand before reacting?

The activity

Students face unexpected questions, ambiguity, disagreement, criticism and “I don’t know” moments — assessed on how they respond, not merely what they answer.

What it is for

Build the habit of listen, understand, clarify, think, then respond — rather than react.

They leave with

  • Difficult Conversation Response Sheet
  • Clarification Phrase Bank
  • Composure Protocol Card

Covered

  • Fact versus interpretation versus assumption
  • Comprehension, recall and articulation
  • Effective questioning and inquiry
  • Saying no, apologising, handling criticism and uncertainty
  • Composure Protocol: pause, breathe, listen, clarify, structure, answer
Day 4influence

The Command Room

Expression, persuasion and presence

How do I express, persuade and negotiate?

The activity

Students practise saying less, saying more, and moving someone — through concise explanation, storytelling, persuasion and negotiation.

What it is for

Teach students to recognise when to be concise, when to elaborate, and how to persuade or negotiate without force.

They leave with

  • Persuasion & Negotiation Framework
  • Body Language Observation Sheet
  • Environment-Readiness Guide

Covered

  • Concise versus expressive communication
  • Persuasion: problem, position, reason, evidence, benefit, action
  • Negotiation: position, interest, options, trade-off, agreement
  • Body language, expression, posture, presence and grooming
Day 5present

The Spotlight

Voice, writing and etiquette

How do I sound, write and behave appropriately?

The activity

Students deliver the same script across different contexts, record themselves, diagnose their own delivery, and record it again.

What it is for

Develop clear spoken delivery, practical written communication and professional etiquette.

They leave with

  • Written Communication Format Guide
  • Situation Response Bank
  • Etiquette & Professional Readiness Checklist

Covered

  • Phonetics, articulation, pronunciation and sound distinctions
  • Stress, intonation, pace, pauses and fillers
  • Formal emails, applications, requests, complaints, essays and bios
  • Social, professional, digital, public and dining etiquette
Day 6perform

The Final Delivery

Interview, group discussion and integrated performance

Can I do all of this when it actually matters?

The activity

Three real-world stations — Interview, Group Discussion and The Big Idea — with deliberate pressure applied through interruptions, challenges and unexpected questions.

What it is for

Integrate everything from the first five days and test whether it transfers into realistic, high-pressure situations.

They leave with

  • Personal Communication Audit
  • Before-and-After Communication Profile

Covered

  • Interview: answering, listening, structure, confidence, composure
  • Group discussion: contributing, questioning, disagreeing, synthesising
  • Two to three minutes of persuasive public speaking
  • Pressure handling through the Composure Protocol

How it is measured

Improvement you can see, not improvement we assert.

Communication is hard to measure because it looks subjective. Day one establishes where each student actually starts. Day six puts the whole skill set under pressure across interview, group discussion and public speaking. In between, every day produces something written down, so the school can see the change rather than take our word for it.

Not ready for a week?

Start with a single hour.

Beyond Words runs for one session — clarity, confidence, control — for a full assembly or a single class. Most schools do that first and decide about the week afterwards.

See Beyond WordsBook a session