So many children grow up with this massive fear of public speaking, that they don’t want to go in front of a crowd because they are scared of speaking in public. But if we can get them into public speaking early, build up their confidence as a public speaker, then as they grow into their teenage years, as they go into adulthood, they are going to be confident. Preparing the kids for public speaking at a very young age is easy and advantageous as kids take to speaking readily because they haven’t learned to be embarrassed yet. We know that the benefits of public speaking are huge, it helps you in advancing your career, to be seen as a thought leader and help you in so many other ways. Public speaking is extremely important as we go into adulthood, so it's a great idea to teach our kids more about being effective public speaking. In this article I am going to discuss 7 ways you can teach public speaking to kids.
All the parents who want to see their kids as prolific speakers in the future, it is the right time to start working on making them great speakers in the time to come.These tips will help make kids more confident, help them grow in their skills as public speakers and presenters.
1. Start from Home
Home is where we gather grace. It is rightly said that a child’s first school is the home. Everything the child learns in the initial stages of childhood is what he sees and experiences in the house. A child gets familiar with the atmosphere in the house most easily. Similarly, a child trusts the patents explicitly and this gives the parents a power to develop any habit in a child, they want the child to inculcate. Such supreme power held by parents can be used in a productive way, to prepare the kids for public speaking from the very early childhood. Whenever there is a gathering in form of a function, family reunion or just relatives and friends coming to meet, you should ask the small children in the house to perform in front of the guests. Let them express themselves in front of new faces. Motivate them to speak in front of people and other family members. Reciting a poem, singing a song, or even just speaking to the guests will help them open up in front of the people they might not even be familiar with. By performing in front of new people who will happily listen to them, would bring joy to the kids and motivate them to interact more.
2. Greetings
Values and ethics are moral requirements for being a good human. Greeting people is considered polite and shows that you respect the person in front of you as a human being. Greeting people at every chance also is the easiest way to communicate and to start a conversation. Hello, thank you, welcome, good morning, etc. might seem words so small but they have the potential to change the course of a conversation for a positive change. It is rightly said that the habits developed in the childhood stay for a lifetime. Respect, humbleness and values can be passed on by the parents to the kids in the childhood. Kids learn from what they say. Parents are their role model, they try to follow their every action. So, next time if you are having a conversation with anyone, from the people who help you maintain the house to friends, family, colleagues or anybody for that matter in front of your kids, try to be more alert and humble. Keep using polite words in your day to day life, specially when talking to the kids. The more they hear, the more they learn. Indian culture inculcates a very good habit of greeting the elders with a ‘Namastey’ in the beginning of conversation as a means to show respect. Let the kids pick up phone calls and learn to start a phone conversation by greeting first.
3. Interaction
The more a person interacts with other people, the more versatile he becomes. Interaction leads to learning. Try to create opportunities for the kids to interact with as many people as possible, specially with other kids of the same age. Organising birthday parties, get together, day outs and various activities involving a big number of kids, gives exposure to kids. As important it is to open up and overcome the fear of speaking in front of new people, it is equally important to learn how to convince and deal with people of the same age group. Also, it a more difficult task to convince others of the same age. Enthusiastically, encourage your kids to take part in evening outdoor activities. Let the kids experience every aspect of childhood, fights too! During a fight they try to take a stand. They learn how do defend themselves, answer others and stand for oneself.
4. Participation is a must
There are a lot of activities that are being organised in the schools primarily for the kids to participate and develop their skills, and develop as an all rounder. Encourage and support your child to actively participate with a primary aim to learn and give their best at all times. The activities and competitions are held in the school to help the children develop important soft skills such as leadership, creativity, persuasiveness and organization. Motivate your kids to participate in debates, group discussions and oratory competitions so they can develop the skill of public speaking and prepare themselves for the future.
5. Curious little minds
If your child asks you questions, then patiently try to solve their queries.Curious minds are the future inventors.The young generation is said to be the future of tomorrow. Many a times the constant questioning from the kids is not entertained by the parents. Also, the kids get scolded sometimes for asking too much.Scolding them would instill in them a fear and they might stop asking altogether. Deal with kids with patience. Curious mind if satisfied, has a very far and wide approach. Let the kids present themselves in front of you and try to satisfy their little curious minds to the utmost level.Their curiosity will lead to creative thinking which would eventually help them in public speaking. Spontaneity cannot be taught, it is a skill learnt over time. A creative mind together with knowledge is the right mixture for a skilled public speaker.
6. Appreciation
Your appreciation matters the most. Every child looks up to his/her parents for praise and approval. Kids are not mature enough to define good and bad for themselves until they learn how to differentiate.What they are taught is what they believe in. It is the responsibility of their parents and teachers, as their mentors and guides to make them look at the positive side of the coin in every situation. Every time your child does something appreciable, reward him.There will be circumstances whose results might not be in your child’s favour, but in those moments it is essential to support him and help him move forward with double fervour. Make your child feel special and let him know that you acknowledge and appreciate his efforts.Your support will empower them and help in building up their confidence.
7. Reading and melody methodology
Books are man’s best friends. They seek nothing in return. All the great leaders and speakers are also readers. Reading books builds up imaginative power. Reading story books at night before going to bed can not only help in increasing the imaginative power of a child but also bring peaceful slumber.To be a good speaker, one has to be a good listener first. Bedtime stories read out to kids helps in developing their listening skills. On alternating days read out some stories to your child and the remaining days, ask your kids to read out the stories aloud and then explain what they learnt from it.
Melody methodology is also a form of listening and learning activity. It is easier for the kids to learn anything in the form of a song or a poem.Try implementing melody methodology when it is proving to be difficult for the kids to learn something new.
8. Becoming a learner
Know why the teachers are experts in their field? It is rightly said that knowledge and wealth multiply when distributed and spread among the people.Teachers are a treasure of knowledge and by preaching and spreading their hard earned experience, they make growth in their already acquired understanding. Parents too should apply this technique with their kids. Give them a chance to teach you and make you understand what they know. From time to time, sit with them and ask them to teach you something on a particular topic. Let the kids put efforts in making you understand. Question them and let them try to convince you with their answers.This activity will help them learn how to convince an audience.Try not to succumb to their wishes easily and grant them what they want in the first chance.The more efforts they put in trying to convince you, the more they move forward in learning how to grab the attention of their audience and make them easily understand what they want to present.
- Kashish Goel
Source: https://mindgrad.com/free-reads/f/public-speaking-for-kids
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