Public speaking is a challenge for children and adults alike. We all have to face stage fear at some point in life, but encouraging your child to participate in public speaking can help them overcome the fear of public speaking from a young age.
As parents, there are many ways you can help your child get over the fear of public speaking. Read on to know seven effective methods that you can use to help your child feel more confident in public speaking.
1. Watch Short Movies in English
Find fun ways to help your child learn new words in the English language. Watching short English movies can introduce your child to new words and phrases in the English language. Movies help children understand the pronunciations and connotations of words better than other methods such as reading or music.
Make movie night a fun activity in your household and find English movies with stories that may interest your children. As they slowly begin to pick up new words, you will see an improvement in their English speaking and overcoming fear of public speaking.
2. Drama Classes
Theatre and drama classes offer children exposure to the performing arts. It gives them a chance to go on-stage and face their stage fear. Drama classes also teach children how to strengthen their self-expression through voice modulation and group activities. Children who are shy and hesitant to speak in front of an audience will find a safe space to get over their fear of talking in public.
3. Find a Stress Free Environment for English Speaking Practice
In the beginning, to help your child get comfortable in speaking to an audience, try to find stress-free and informal situations for them to practice their English speaking. Start by encouraging them to speak in front of familiar people and gently push them to leave behind public speaking fears. Informal conversations in English will also help your children to get fluent in English speaking. Improving English speaking skills is the first step towards better public speaking for kids.
4. Allow Your Child to Make Mistakes
Do not correct every mistake your child makes when speaking English. If a child is frequently interrupted with corrections, they lose confidence. Parents mustn't pressurize children by showing anger or disappointment in their mistakes. Allow them to make grammatical errors as they learn to communicate their thoughts and ideas in English. Slowly, as their confidence builds, you will notice their mistakes melting away to give way to fluency and good communication.
5. Model Right Behavior
Children learn what they watch their parents do. Parents hold the power to inspire their children and motivate them to get over their fear of public speaking. Take up public speaking yourself and practice in front of your children. If your child watches you strengthen your public speaking skills with practice and perseverance, they will indeed be encouraged to do so themselves.
6. Work with Your Child to Fine-tune their Delivery & Offer Encouraging Words at the End
Help your children practice public speaking at home with focus. Note down areas for improvement and discuss them in the end, rather than interrupting your child in between. Sit at a distance from your child as they practice to check if they are speaking loud enough. Think about points like body language and eye-contact to help them fine-tune their public speaking skills.
7. Enroll Your Child in a Public Speaking Class
At PlanetSpark, we offer online public speaking classes for children along with other courses. Our classes are held virtually for convenience and our experts work with children brilliantly to help make the fear of the public disappear.
