New
New
Talking about your work
I can talk confidently about my artwork, explaining my ideas, process, and intention.
Lesson 7 of 8
New
New
- Year 11
Talking about your work
I can talk confidently about my artwork, explaining my ideas, process, and intention.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Talking about artwork helps the artist and the audience understand ideas, process, and intention.
- Verbal explanations can occur in informal conversations or formal presentations.
- Reflecting on and discussing artwork helps develop critical thinking and clarity of expression.
- Linking materials, techniques, and artistic choices to ideas deepens understanding of the work.
Keywords
Engagement - how others interact with or understand your work
Promotion - communicating your work to showcase skills, creativity, and ideas
Common misconception
Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.
Artists might talk about their work for engagement and promotion, in a variety of contexts.
Task A: Select short, age-appropriate clips of artists talking about their work from trusted sources or major gallery websites. Check that the clips are no more than 3–5 minutes long to keep pupils engaged. Provide clear viewing questions in advance so pupils know what to listen for.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.
Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.
Q2.In what contexts might artists talk about their work?
In what contexts might artists talk about their work?
only when they are being examined at school
only when they are interviewed on TV
never - their work should “speak for itself”
Q3.In Renaissance workshops, artists often had to explain their ideas clearly to get approval for commissions.
In Renaissance workshops, artists often had to explain their ideas clearly to get approval for commissions.
Q4.Which strategies are good for talking clearly and confidently about your work?
Which strategies are good for talking clearly and confidently about your work?
Only talk about your work in galleries, never on social media.
Avoid questions from the audience to stay in control.
Q5.Why might talking about your work be useful for both you and your audience?
Why might talking about your work be useful for both you and your audience?
Q6.Which of these could help you prepare to talk confidently about your artwork?
Which of these could help you prepare to talk confidently about your artwork?
avoiding all questions so you don’t get nervous
memorising a script word-for-word without understanding it
