How To Become A Speech Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a speech instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

David McMahan Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a speech instructor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.59 an hour? That's $69,875 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a speech instructor?

David McMahan Ph.D.

Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies, Franklin and Marshall College

Keep open to possibilities beyond the narrow range of what your diploma lists as your major or minor. Whatever job you get trained for today, in 10-20 years, it may be very different. Or it may not exist. Focus on obtaining and maintaining flexibility, critical thinking, creativity, and passion for learning. Being an interesting person is as vital as any credential.

ScoreSpeech InstructorUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $69,875

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.33%

Black or African American 7.02%

Hispanic or Latino 10.01%

Unknown 4.91%

White 66.45%

Gender

female 58.64%

male 41.36%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

5.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a speech instructor

Explore speech instructor education requirements

Most common speech instructor degrees

Bachelor's

52.8 %

Master's

36.7 %

Associate

5.0 %

Start to develop specific speech instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Drama	15.94%
Classroom Environment	15.35%
Course Objectives	15.18%
Syllabus	14.44%
Public Speaking	8.32%

Complete relevant speech instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New speech instructors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a speech instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real speech instructor resumes.

Research speech instructor duties and responsibilities

Utilize blackboard management system to encourage online discussions and manage grades.
Design course material, teach public speaking, drama, speech presentation, and effective communication skills.
Create course syllabus, develop course content & curriculum online.
Counsele parents on how to cope with speech and language disorders.

Prepare your speech instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your speech instructor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a speech instructor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable speech instructor resume templates

Build a professional speech instructor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your speech instructor resume.