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Public Speaking for Children: What’s the right time to learn?

The author, Manoj Vasudevan is the World champion of Public Speaking and the next level leadership expert.

Recently a friend asked me “My son is 12 years old. What’s the right time for him to learn public speaking skills? Isn’t it too early to start?”

This is what I said to her. There are 7 things you need to know about public speaking.

1. The earlier you start, the easier it gets

J R Oppenheimer (the celebrated American theoretical physicist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley) spoke at societies in New York City when he was just 12 years old. His father provided him early exposure to public speaking and that helped Oppenheimer in his enviously high levels of self-confidence, innovation and leadership in his celebrated adult life.

2. Lays the foundation before the building is built

Children in their tweens and teens are starting on a journey of self-discovery. They are in constant search of an identity and for a safe place for them in the world. These are times when they start to feel judged by peers, parents and tutors. That’s when the feelings of inadequacy sets in – IF – that is not proactively offset with a boost in self-esteem and self-image.

The earlier you start public speaking, the earlier they feel confident to face strangers and strange situations that the future holds for them.

3. Assists in academics

These days most primary and secondary schools require their students to deliver presentations. As you might have noticed, teachers usually assign the opportunities to present mainly to the most outgoing, expressive and confident of students. Those who do not have a demonstrated skill in presentations are mercilessly left behind. This even affects their academic grades. If you have read academic reports, it sometime reads like this “Peter is an intelligent student, it would have been great if he could speak up in class”

However, let us not just pass the blame to the teachers! Aren’t we wired to be impressed by those who can express themselves better? Those children who can’t express themselves effectively are unfortunately left behind.

Unfair? Not really. If you can’t speak up, you won’t be heard.

4. Seize opportunities to lead

Leadership opportunities in schools are almost always provided to those children who have the ability to speak, lead and persuade other children. Children who cannot measure up to these leadership expectations would be left caught in their “leadership-gap”. This gap widens with time, unless there is a positive intervention. That’s why so many intellectually outstanding children do not make it to leadership roles in later life. Just because no one ever told them that’s important! No one guided them and they lose out on opportunities to lead. (Hint: Have you ever worked for a dumb boss? You get the idea.)

5. Speak up and stand above peers

Since most people have a fear of public speaking, the person who can speak, lead and persuade is looked upto. They get noticed. They get envied. They get respected. A great morale boost for children as they prepare for adulthood. This gives them an “elevated sense of social dominance” over peers. This boosts their confidence and future leadership opportunities. (Hint: If you can lead, people give you opportunities to lead.)

Motivational speaker and thought leader Les Brown told it best. He once said “Develop your communication skills – because once you open your mouth you tell the world who you are – you can really begin to climb the ladder of success and do things that will literally amaze you!”

6. Confidence begets confidence

Confidence begets confidence. Every time you stand up to speak, you get a mild boost in your level of self-confidence. When you are more self-confident, you are more ready to speak again. Soon this “cyclic-ritual” of speaking in front of an audience turbo-charges your confidence and speaking becomes something you eagerly look forward to.

7. The right time to learn any life-skill is N-O-W!

The right time to learn swimming is before you fall in the deep sea. Public speaking is an essential life skill every child needs to learn. You see, not everyone gets the opportunity to learn public speaking. If you ever get the right opportunity to pick up this invaluable life-skill from the right person, just don’t wait for the right time!

That would be one of the best investment for your child’s future and he/she will be grateful for your timely guidance.

Do you feel that more confidence could have helped you in your career or profession?

Do you feel a boost in your confidence at a younger age could have helped you to be better prepared for life today?

(This article first appeared in Thought Expressions)

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Junior Public Speaking & Confidence Building Workshop designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

About Manoj Vasudevan

Manoj Vasudevan is the World Champion of Public Speaking. He was crowned from a pool of 33,000 speakers from 142 at Vancouver, Canada in 2017. Manoj is the co-Author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller in public speaking - 'World Class Speaking in Action' and the author of the best sellers 'Mastering Leadership the Mousetrap Way' and 'Leadership Lessons from the Mousetrap'. He is the CEO of Thought Expressions and a Director at As Many Minds. Manoj is a next level leadership coach, helping executives and entrepreneurs boost their leadership skills and go to the next level in their career. He is a keynote speaker on leadership at large International conferences. As a world Class Public Speaking Coach and Leadership Coach, Manoj has coached school going children to CEOs in Public Speaking and Leadership development. He is the architect of As Many Minds' public speaking and leadership courses for children. Three time Champion of the coveted District Humorous, Evaluation and International Speech. Founder of the Leadership Lessons from the Mouse Trap, Accelerated Speaking Program(ASP). Among Top 25 Stand-up Comedians at the International Comedy Festival, Hong Kong. Champion of PA Humorous Speech Competition, Singapore. Included in the PA Hall of Fame of Humorous Speakers. A seasoned consultant with 20 years experience in strategy, management and technology consulting.

Public Speaking for Children: Top 9 Myths

Posted by Sindu Sreebhavan on

May 1, 2015

Whether your child is in primary school or secondary school, whether in local school or international school, one thing is certain: they will be called upon to do presentations in front of others. In fact, effective public speaking for children is a topic being studied by many experts. Effective public speaking is a crucial skill that is often overlooked in the formative years of a child. However, there are many myths of public speaking that hinder the development of this skill in children.

Many parents are concerned that their children are losing out opportunities at school, in internships, university admission interviews, job interviews and many other important junctions in their lives because the kids are not able to convey the messages effectively. However, this is a skill that can influence the self-awareness of a child. So, parents are taking initiatives to impart this important skill to their children.

If you are interested in developing public speaking skill in your child, it is important for you to understand the myths around it. Knowing the right areas to focus on will help you in preparing your child to take on many challenges in their lives.

1. “That child is a good communicator because he/she talks a lot”.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. Talking a lot doesn’t mean effective communication.

Unlike popular belief, extroverts have no advantage over introverts when it comes to speaking. Like the way you learned to read and write, effective speaking means you acquire the skill set and practice it.

2. “My child is a horrible communicator. He/She doesn’t talk much”.

The first rule of public speaking is that ‘lot’ does not mean ‘effective’. In this knowledge economy, people do not have the time and patience to listen and understand. Our busy lives have significantly reduced our attention spans. As a whole, we listen less than we used to. So, if your child is able to speak effectively and concisely within a short time, he/she is a winner. The important words here are ‘effective’, ‘effective’ and ‘effective’.

3. “Let them focus on academics now, communication come later”.

It is true that your child can pick up communication skills at any stage in his/her life. Communication is a life skill that requires regular practice. However, when you procrastinate it, your child is losing out on many opportunities in life. Your child is losing the window of opportunity to make it a second nature. Lack of ability to communicate effectively invariably affects the confidence of the child. Imagine the boost in confidence and the increase in opportunities your child would get when he/she could convey their ideas better and persuade and inspire others.

What is the right time for your child to learn public speaking? This is what an expert has to say about this.

4. “Public speaking is all about Speaking”.

There are many school and social situations where your child would need to present and speak. The audience response to a speech depends on many things other than the ‘actual speaking’. This includes delivery, body language, eye contact, the speech craft, engagement with the audience, confident demeanor and managing the fear among others.

5. “Public speaking is only for a few people who are gifted in it”.

Surveys show that public speaking is the No. 1 fear among a vast majority of people. The truth is, even the greatest orators became great only with practice. Give your child the opportunities to cultivate and practice the skill so that your child could also express his/her ideas to be successful in the field they choose to pursue.

6. “People will notice my child when he/she works hard”.

Competency is not to be underestimated and it can never be replaced. However, people do not have the time to go around and unearth talented people. Public speaking skills enable your child communicate the talents and ideas they have.

After 13 year old Evelyn (name changed for this article) got trained on public speaking skills, she changed from a timid, relatively unknown teenager to a confident student leader. Her teachers and peers started noticing her and hence she stumbled upon opportunities after opportunities. Her parents say her progress was something they could only dream about earlier. According to them, the boost in confidence she got from her public speaking skills reflected in her academic skills as well. She got promoted from standard stream to express stream at school and got a scholarship.

7. “Public Speaking = Show n Tell”.

Many kids learn and do ‘Show n tell’. At a very young age, show n tell helps kids to build up the confidence to stand up and say a few sentences about a ‘prop’ in front of a small audience. However, public speaking skills go much beyond gathering that initial confidence. Public speaking involves many strategies and frameworks that will help your child to speak express themselves well without the help of a ‘prop’.

8. “My child does not want to be a public speaker. She/He has other plans about the future”.

The truth is, we all speak in public. Public speaking is much more standing in front of 200 people. Public speaking happens when you go to that shop and tries to struck up a conversation with the salesman. It happens when you speak to the officer at the airline terminal hoping for an upgrade. It happens when you speak about your ideas for the group project, a family vacation or when you go for an intern interview. Isn’t it useful if you know how to effectively handle these situations?

9. “My child is a great public speaker because he/she has already attended a public speaking class”.

Public speaking is a life skill. Like in the case of other life skills, the best way to master it is to practice. If your child has attended a public speaking class where they have picked up strategies and frameworks and they know how to use that, it is great. Find opportunities for them to practice the skills. It could be a family function, an opportunity at their school or a community event. Does your child’s coach provide ongoing practice opportunities that will enable your child to practice the skills until it become their second nature?

Would you like to improve your child’s public speaking skills? Read some tips on public speaking here. You can find more tips from experts here.

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Public Speaking Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Junior Champs Leadership Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Junior Champs Leadership Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Growth Mindset Camp

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

Junior Public Speaking & Confidence Building Workshop designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Public Speaking Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp

The Kidz Parade Magazine

Are you looking for a special present for an adorable child? Why don’t you give a present that will leave a lifetime positive impact? When you give The Kidz Parade Edutainment Magazine as a present, you are opening the door to a world of Creativity and Communication.

About Sindu Sreebhavan

Sindu Sreebhavan is the founder of As Many Minds Minds Pte Ltd and the founding Chief Editor of The Kidz Parade Edutainment magazine, Asia's premium publication for cultivating creativity and creative writing in children. Sindu is also the founder and the Chairperson of International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF). Sindu is the author of 'Infinite Possibilities' and the lead co-author of Amazon bestseller 'Breakthrough'. With a passion to infuse innovation in education and inject growth mindset and innovative mindset in people and organisations, Sindu writes, speaks and consults on innovation and creativity in business and education. She says innovation does not start with invention, it starts with a mindset. “The best gift you can give a child is the power of Confidence, Creativity and Communication” is her tagline. She is passionate about educating educators, parents and children about youth development, youth leadership, education innovation and 21st century education. She supports children, parents, schools and several organisations in these areas.

Bullying: 10 Things Every Parent Needs To Know To Protect Their Child

Posted by Sindu Sreebhavan on

April 30, 2015

“They dumped a can of insects on me… and I thought they were my friends”, 17 year old Tanya (name changed for this article) told me bravely while I shuddered on hearing that. She was a survivor of bullying. Today she is a confident teenager who is active in debating, theatre and writing. But, not many people know about the baggage she carries from the days she got badly bullied – the panic attacks. Surveys show 1 out of 3 children in the age group 7-14 get bullied and it can be very scary. Many parents wonder what can they do to protect their child from bullying.

Bullying could leave kids with short term and long term side effects. It could be physical or psychological. It could happen at any age from kindergarteners to adults. So, something has to be done about it! Here, there are 10 tips that you can utilize to protect and support your child in the fight against bullying.

1. Keep your communication channels open

Many studies have come up with the finding that more than anything else, kids are looking for someone to talk to when they get bullied. Signe Whitson, the author of the 8 Keys to End Bullying: Strategies for Parents & Schools and Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young Girls Ages 5-11 to Cope with Bullying says “Encourage your child to tell trustworthy adults about any instances of bully behavior, either in his own life or that he sees occurring with a peer.”

Does your child feel comfortable enough to share excerpts from their life with you? When your child is able to share their mistakes and shortcomings with you without being criticized, you are helping them to develop their trust in you. Develop this trust as early as you can so that they will let you be in their life when they most need you.

2. Involve your child in finding a solution to the situation

Even after suffering bullying for a few years, Tanya’s parents did not know what she was going through. “I have a very supportive family. I talked to them after getting bullied for the first time, they went to school and spoke with the teachers about it. This is what many parents do. But, in my case, it backfired. The bullies retaliated and took revenge on me. I was young and I was scared. To protect myself from further retaliation by the bullies, I hid every such incident from my family thereafter.”

Your child is not always looking for your direct involvement in the event of bullying. Many a times, what they need is your tips and unconditional support in handling the situation. Discuss your plan with your child, incorporate their suggestions and tackle it together. Your support will give them the strength to handle the situation with confidence. This will develop their self-confidence to handle similar situations in the future.

3. Help your child feel proud of their strengths

I spoke to a group of 10-11 year old boys about their observations on bullying, during a workshop. They said they see bullying more on a verbal level than on a physical level when it starts. Usually it starts in the form of teasing. The topics of ridicule vary from appearance, learning difficulties, speaking styles, unique strengths and many more.

In Tanya’s case, the bullying had started when her friends came to know about her learning difficulty.

Diversity is becoming the way of life. People come from different backgrounds with various skills and abilities. Being able to understand and respect people different from themselves will pave your child’s way towards acceptance by others.

Rather than your child feeling embarrassed about their shortcomings and loosing confidence, focus on boosting your child’s confidence by giving opportunities to showcase and excel in their talents. With this you are not only protecting your child from bullying, you are also empowering them to protect themselves.

4. When friends become bullies, what can you do to protect your child from bullying?

Many a times, you will come across friends turning bullies. This is what happened to Jay (name changed for this article); even he didn’t realize he was getting bullied. It started with his friend Nate (name changed for this article) pushing him into a swimming pool one day. Jay insisted to his parents that his friend did it unintentionally. Over the years, many such incidents happened which, Jay convinced his parents, were not intentional bulling. Finally, one day when Nate teamed up with another bully and kicked Jay, Jay realized how his good heartedness was taken for granted.

Teach your child what real friendship is. If your child needs to make unreasonable sacrifices or suffer insensitive ridicules from their friends, perhaps it is not a friendship worth investing in.

5. When the bullied becomes the bully

If your child is a survivor of bullying, there are two things that you need to check:

Your child continues to remain safe and confident
Your child is not bullying anyone.

Tanya told me she had developed a tendency to bully others once she learned how to stand up to the bullies. She said, “I am not sure why I started doing that. Perhaps I wanted to show my ex-bullies that I am strong and bold and they can’t touch me any more.” Luckily in her case, she realized her mistake at a very early stage and was able to nip it successfully.

In another bullying incident I witnessed, the mom of the bully could not believe her son had bullied. She said, “My son always used to be at the receiving end of bullying. I don’t believe he can bully others.”

When you instil confidence in your bullied child, ensure that they are developing confidence not arrogance. This is essential in protecting your child from bullying as well as protecting them from becoming bullies.

6. Does your child show bullying tendencies?

Many children may not understand some of their actions are bullying in nature. If your child is showing bullying tendencies, make them understand the effects of their behavior.

Bullying is all about power. Some kids turn to bullying or hang around with bullies to avoid being victims themselves. Bullies feel the world treat them unfairly. So they need help as well.

One mom told me it is better for her child to bully than be bullied. Bullying is not a childhood behavioural pattern that vanishes once the child gets into adulthood. If you do not nip bullying in the bud, it turns into other serious forms of aggression as the child grows up.

If you see your child speaking or behaving in a negative way, your child needs to explicitly hear from you it is unacceptable.

7. Not all disagreements are bullying

Children are developing their social skills during their school years. Give them opportunities to express their viewpoints. Let them understand it is ok to have a opinion different from others. The difference between disagreements and disputes is in the way opinions are expressed.

Help your child to develop their communication skills. This will prepare them to express their viewpoints effectively and to respond to other people’s viewpoints in the right way. Teaching effective communication skills are a major part of protecting your child from bullying.

However, if you observe repeated harassment, physical or psychological in nature, it is bullying.

8. Help your child’s school address bullying effectively

Encourage your school to develop policies regarding bullying. Work with your child’s school to support your child with protection against retaliation.

9. Get professional help if needed

Tanya’s parents came to know about her problems at a late stage. At that stage, they took her to a counselor and later relocated to another city. If you think your child is in a very difficult situation, get professional help.

10. Report to law enforcement officials, if you suspect something serious is going on

We have read and heard about many unfortunate incidents related to bullying. If you think the mental or physical harassment your child is facing is criminal in nature, do not hesitate to contact the law enforcement officials. After all, there is nothing worthier than your child’s life. So, protect your child from bullying.

Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.

Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!

Public Speaking Camp designed by the World Champion of Public Speaking

You might also be interested in Testimonials Confidence Hub Junior Champs Leadership Camp Growth Mindset Camp Thinkers Unlimited Design Thinking Camp