public speaking for teens singapore Archives

Archive for public speaking for teens singapore

July 7, 2015

Fear of public speaking is common among children as well as adults. In a classroom full of children, gathering the courage to speak up is a daunting task for many. However, communicating effectively is not a nice to have skill anymore, it is an essential skill for today’s children as they are living in a fast paced world where no-one has the time to sit and listen to what others need.

Acquiring effective communication skills leads children to academic and social skills. Learning public speaking and communication skills help your child to overcome the fear and build up courage. When they speak up they become more self’-confident. Furthermore, effective communication skills increase your child’s influencing skills. If given proper attention in building up this crucial skill, you will see your child’s leadership skills boosting up.

Whatever the age of your child is, encouraging effective communication skills will help prepare them towards a successful adulthood.

1. Talk about their interests

Discussing about your child’s interests is the best way to keep them talking. It does not matter whether their interest is in online games, computers, sports or cartoons. When you show your enthusiasm to know more about their interests, they get encouraged to communicate more. This also has an added adavantage of them sharing more about their lives with you.

2. A pat in the back

Kids pay attention to their small achievements. My 11 year old comes to me for affirmation of every single event he considers his achievement. Most of the time, their achievements may not look like milestones to us. But, this is an opportunity where you could encourage them to speak more about their achievement. Ask them how they achieved that task, conquered that fear or solved that problem. This will not only help them to articulate better, but also to improve their self awareness.

3. Talk about current affairs

Current affairs and news are not directly related to us on a personal level in most cases. Discussions around current affairs will help your child to express their viewpoints without any inhibition. This is especially beneficial when you are talking to a timid child.

Recently, I had a discussion with my kids regarding drug abuse. The starting point was an article that carried photos of people before and after they started using drugs. This not only helped them express their viewpoints, but also created awareness and general knowledge.

4. Involve your child in decision making

The joy of of being valued can stir up confidence from unknown corners. Involve your child when you make decisions, they will feel empowered to contribute more. Their first lessons of brainstorming start here. As part of this, they will also learn how to consider varying viewpoints while making decisions.

5. Share a meal

Don’t we meet people over a meal to have nice conversations, both on a personal and professional level? Dinner tables are great places to make people loosen up and share their views. This is also an inexpensive way to get your kids talk without inhibitions. Many studies have also proved that eating together helps children to form better relationship with their parents. Do you use the ‘Non-judgemental dinner table rule’? That is, you don’t ask challenging questions like “Why did you do that?” for any topic that is brought on to the dinner table. This will encourage your child to open up more. Do you have a dinner table rule?

You can also introduce them to public speaking when they are ready. Once they get to know more about public speaking and the myths surrounding it, they will be more open to pick up and learn that skill.

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

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.

Confident Child: Top 3 things every parent needs to do to create a confidence boosting culture at home

Posted by Sindu Sreebhavan on

March 27, 2015

The discussion on whether confidence is nature or nurture has been around since a long time. When it comes to parenting, it always opens up many other questions. When a confident child find more opportunities, many parents wonder what can they do to make their child too more confident.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou.

Are today’s kids really keeping more and more to themselves? Are kids today really less confident than they used to be? Is technology keeping kids away from human interactions?

While it is easy to find conflicting arguments on these topics from various sources, there is no controversy in the fact that self-confidence is an important key to success. The more opportunities a child receives, to deal with people and manage situations, the better their self-confidence develops. Many parents wonder how they can set conditions at home so that their children acquire the skills to build their competence and boost their confidence.

The good news about self-confidence is that it is something that can be nurtured, nourished and boosted with right guidance and preparation. Here we have some tips you can follow on a day-to-day basis to boost your child’s confidence to prepare your child to take up the challenges of life. Select one activity from each of the below areas every day and observe how a confident child emerges and spreads their wings.

1. Ignite Curiosity

Children are born curious. Their curious minds are like sponges, they can absorb a lot of knowledge. They get immense confidence from the various ways they amass their knowledge. However, the aggressive demands of today’s school system put a detrimental effect to their curiosity. A major part of their curiosity diminishes as they progress through school. Only a few manage to keep the streaks of curiosity alive amidst the pressures of the school system. But, you can help them still be in touch with their curious self.

I. Do simple science experiments at home: This is a good way to make kids wonder about things around.

II. Discuss your family history with your child: What is more interesting than getting curious about one’s own self?

III. Ask them ‘What if…’ and ‘Do you know…’ questions.

2. Promote Creativity

According to a survey by IBM of over 1500 CEOs, Creativity is one of the most important skills required to be successful in the 21st century. Contrary to popular belief, creativity can be taught and nurtured. These are some easy to follow activities that you can do at home to engage your child’s creative confidence. When you acknowledge your child’s creativity, give opportunities to express that creativity and show willingness to discuss about it, you will see him/her developing into a confident child.

I. Make your own story: Make a story from a picture, with your child. To make the best out of it, set aside a family time slot for ‘When a picture tells a story’. You can refer to The Kidz Parade magazine (download 2 free issues here) for pictures of this category.

II. Allow your child to read for pleasure: Reading helps your child to visualize a situation. It helps in igniting creative sparks in them. They will feel tempted to discuss about their creativity. More communication could pave the way towards a more confident child.

III. Show enthusiasm to appreciate your child’s ideas: But, keep in mind that creativity is not just ideation. It is also about taking action to implement these ideas. Showing interest in their ideas and providing motivation in trying out some those ideas are the best encouragement you can provide to boost their creative confidence. An increased creative confidence could lead towards a more confident child.

IV. Brainstorm together on topics related to your family: What will you do on the weekend, should you you have a TV-free day, what should you cook for dinner… the topics are unlimited.

3. Provide Inspiration

People tend to look at inspirations as benchmarks and when you have benchmarks, you try to achieve as great or better than that. There are many ways you can develop the habit in your kids to look out for inspiration.

I. Encourage your child to express their viewpoints: Make opportunities for them to communicate their opinions about their experiences, observations and aspirations.

II. Teach your child to learn from mistakes: We have heard this many times. But, it never loses its magic touch. Discuss a time when you failed, but took up the challenge and succeeded.

III. Bring your child’s attention to the achievements of people they can relate to: Provide your child with opportunities to feel “If they can do it, I can also do it”. Inspiration need not always come from a famous person. Kids get more inspired by the achievements of their peers. Discuss with them how your peers inspire you.

IV. Provide them with opportunities to make changes in their society: You blame our academic system or their age or the human nature, but most children build limits to their ability to make a difference in this world. What if they start a club to stand for a cause they are passionate about? It could be as simple as a nature club they start at your home with their best friend.

The children will eventually grow up, figure out how to live their lives and they will spread their wings. How well they will spread their wings depends mainly on the unconditional love and the opportunities for confidence building they experience now.

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!