PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR CHILDREN

Public speaking is a process of delivering your message to an audience or general public. This is a great way for children to improve on their communication skills, as it is one of the most important skills to learn. As they grow older, public speaking is a vital skill to have in the working world.

There are many benefits of public speaking and here some of it:

• A great self-esteem booster
• Ability to influence and persuade others more effectively
• Facilitates creative thinking
• Expands their social connections and be more comfortable with and around people
• Enhances their personal relationships
• Builds character and sharpens critical life skills

There are two ways that parents can do to impart public speaking skills to children. Firstly is by practice and secondly is by giving positive feedbacks.

Practice        

As the famous idiom says, “practice makes perfect”, this is something that parents should teach their children to live by from a very young age. Before mastering the art of public speaking, there are a few techniques that parents can teach their kids. For example, teach them breathing techniques before they speak. A simple breathing exercise can help calm a kid down. Another technique is by allowing your child to participate in a conversation. Start off with something small like getting them to speak in front of a camera before facing a large group of audience. Besides that, get them to share their thoughts and opinions with you on stories that they have recently watched, heard or read. Teach them to communicate openly and maintain eye contact with them. Through these methods, we can help them find and develop their voices.

Positive Feedback

Encourage them to keep trying by constantly giving positive feedback. Be a good support system for your kids whenever they need you. Public speaking skills can be acquired naturally if done repeatedly. Another method is by including positive comments when giving your kids constructive criticisms. For example: “You did an excellent job and you were so good at it. Perhaps try tweaking this a little next time but overall you still nailed your presentation.” What parents are doing here is starting and ending the overall feedback on a positive note.

 All in all, parents should not turn their back on their kids’ public speaking skills as it is an extremely important and beneficial skill to develop. Try to make this an enjoyable process. When done right, it helps boost their confidence and facilitates better communicate skills which will come in handy in their future career.