How to help your child become a confident speaker?

Children often come off as too shy and timid in front of strangers, regardless of how mischievous they could be around family. There is a need to boost their confidence in order to make them influential and great speakers.

Being a confident speaker can help you in your professional as well as social lives. It is necessary to build these skills in your child in their formative years. They must learn the art of communication in order to stand out in a crowd full of people.

Being able to speak well can develop a child’s academic as well. They can score well in exams and develop self-esteem by speaking confidently among their peers.

Here are 10 ways in which you can help them become a confident speaker.

• Listen and talk to them

Well, the more you practice, the better you get at skills. The only practice required to develop communication skills is to listen and talk.

Accompany your child in this process. Help them become a confident speaker by speaking and listening to them. Be mindful of your words, grammar, and pronunciations, and speak clearly using small statements. This will help them listen and develop the skill of talking.

• Encourage them to participate in various competitions

This is inevitably one of the finest ways to train your child. Encourage them to participate in various elocution, speech, and poetry recitation competition.

At first, they might come off shy and will make minor mistakes, but as they get used to it, they will build confidence. This way, their public speaking art can be enhanced.

• Read to them and encourage them to read

Read to your kids. Let them listen to new words and help them understand the sentence structures. Encourage them to read small poems and tales. Also, encourage them to memorize a few rhymes. This will help them improve their pronunciation skills.

• Make videos

Record your child’s development. Let them learn from their own mistakes. Let them track their own progress.

Recording videos can also make the business a tad bit serious for your child. They can go back to it whenever required and rectify their own mistakes.

• Acknowledge their accomplishments 

In order to help your child become a confident speaker, praise him/her. Acknowledge their small accomplishment. Every time they pick up a new word or correct their own pronunciation, encourage them and let them know they are doing a good job.

This way, they will be focused on improving themselves, and this will boost their confidence.

• Teach them to manage their mistakes

Avoid nagging your child for making a minor mistake. Rather help them improve their own mistakes.

Give them some time and space to ponder upon the mistakes they tend to repeat. While you help them develop the art of public speaking, teach them to acknowledge their own mistakes and let them know that the audience is much more forgiving than they appear.

Do not let them be taken aback by the minor mistakes they make.

• Impart confidence 

Small words and gestures of affirmation, praise, and constant motivation can help your child build confidence. They will tend to match your energy levels, and thus try to be as free and confident in front of them as possible.

Impart confidence in your child. Set the vibe right to help them become confident speakers.

• Ask them general questions

Asking questions is a good way to keep a conversation moving. Ask questions and let them answer. This will help them open up more often and can build a sense of maturity in them.

They will learn to tackle questions and will know how to answer them wisely. Asking questions will also help them differentiate the tones used while speaking. They will be able to speak effectively, and this will enhance their speech delivery.

• Train them to speak over phones

Speaking over phones is a great way to develop the art of speaking to strangers. While your child is not able to see the person, they aren’t expected to be in a secure zone. This way, they will learn to analyze tones and will answer more confidently. This can also help them build some greeting skills.

• Pay attention to their delivery skills

Listen to your child. Pay attention to the way they deliver their sentences. Make sure they aren’t too authoritative or too timid. A soft, gentle voice with an affirmative tone should do the job.

Children are in their formative ages. They absorb all that they are exposed to. Teach them and guide them at the right time. This will help them become confident speakers.

Do visit some academies like the Orator Academy to get further tips and train your child in a professional manner.