The economic environment in 2009 and the push towards defining New Zealand as an academic destination for international students is affecting class dynamics and sizes in many tertiary institutions. This provides tertiary educators with an opportunity to re-evaluate our teaching styles and to introduce new methods to encourage learning. Many business degree and diploma programmes have a compulsory communication module which includes a presentation or seminar. Other modules also include presentations which are assessed. However, because of curriculum constraints, little time is spent developing speech skills. At best, students are encouraged to share information during classes as part of learning and are given clear guidelines about the presentation assessment. I would suggest that this ad hoc approach does not necessarily develop the skills and confidence in those who need it most. International students who struggle with pronunciation and intonation are particularly vulnerable in these assessments. In this paper I describe my experience of teaching speech skills to an oral communication class of international and domestic students by ignoring "presentation" mode, and using choral verse, nursery rhymes and bubbles to develop speech skills and build confidence before moving into more formal assessment practice.