As with any challenging skill, effective communication requires a lot of practice. In the book "Teaching Communication," Anita L. Vangelisti, John A. Daly and Gustav W. Friedrich maintain that the best communication classes are those in which students practice communicating, either through writing or talking, every day. The authors also suggests that this practice should include both formal and informal sessions. Formal sessions are those in which students might recite a speech from memory over and over again until they perform it perfectly. Informal sessions are those in which students might simply exchange messages to get used to the rhythm of day-to-day communication.
Author Carol Marrs writes that students should always reflect on their communication habits. She suggests that instructors videotape students delivering a speech so the students can watch and rewatch themselves on tape and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Marrs believes that by reflecting on both strengths and weaknesses of your communication, you can learn which habits to cultivate and which habits to break.
Just as practice can only help athletes to a limited extent before they need actual game-day experience, so too can classroom communication only help students so much before they need actual communication experiences in the real world. Faith and William Mullen, authors of the book "Teaching Communication Creatively," suggest that students arrange an informal, but “real world” speaking engagement somewhere familiar to the student, such as a church gathering or family function. They also recommend that students use class time to practice and prepare for this speech and then record the "real" speech so they can show it to their classmates.
Without feedback, students in a communication class have no idea how well or how poorly they were doing. Feedback should come both from other students in the class and from the instructor. Cheri J. Simonds and Pamela J. Cooper, authors of "Communication for the Classroom Teacher," advocate adopting a workshop model for communication classes, in which students present a speech or message and then listen as their classmates offer advice on how to improve upon the speech or message.