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How to Speak Confidently in Public: Tips for Success
Confidence plays one of the most important roles in public speaking. Children and young adults who are trying to get into public speaking often face the hurdle of how to speak confidently in public.
Many kids deal with a fear of speaking in public because they do not know how to speak with confidence. They would try to avoid having an open conversation in class or hesitate in expressing their feelings to a large group of people.
Speaking with confidence in public will not only help your child to express themselves clearly, but it will also help them grow into confident adults.
We are going to tell you the importance of confidence in public speaking and let you know some tips on how to teach your child to speak with confidence.
Tips For Your Child To Speak Confidently In Public
It can be difficult, especially for children, to speak with confidence in public. Many children and young adults will be too scared or intimidated to just stand in front of a large group of people if they lack confidence.
They might have a breakdown either at the time of public speaking or right before it. This can prove to be unfavourable for them at the last moment.
Even after memorising the content thoroughly, the only thing that will pull them down is a lack of confidence. However, there are many ways to help them speak with confidence. Here are some tips on how to speak confidently in public and ace it:
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Managing the nerves
Feeling nervous or anxious right before public speaking is completely normal. Even experienced public speakers can find it difficult to manage their nerves while speaking in public.
And this fear can multiply tenfold for a child who is about to speak in front of a group of people.
Their mind will go blank, their hands will start sweating and a sense of immense dread can take over the body making it numb. Apart from these common symptoms, it can also become hard to control the voice and the body as they might start shaking or trembling.
It is important that your child overcome these fears of public speaking and be confident in what they are saying. The way to deal with this is to teach your kids some grounding techniques beforehand and practise these every once in a while.
You and your child will allow the audience to be completely engaged while the latter is speaking in front of them. Here are some nerve-managing techniques that you can teach your child to do before speaking in public to regain confidence:
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Start by exercising lightly:
The body and the mind are connected, that is why exercising can be effective in stabilising your child’s anxiety and fear.
Light exercising like stretching or jumping on the spot can help them in calming themselves down before a presentation. Taking brisk walks or doing a few knee bends will also work.
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Do mindful breathing:
Your child can absolutely learn how to manage their breaths to manage their nerves. Taking deep breaths is a great way to regain confidence. You should practise mindful breathing regularly with your child to prepare them for the nervousness that emerges before a presentation or speech.
It will help them relax their mind, which will further help them in focusing on public speaking.
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Water, the ultimate companion:
Drinking water to manage nerves and lessen the effects of nervousness should not be underestimated. Drinking a little water before the speech can help with dry mouth caused due to fear and anxiety.
It is also essential to ensure that a glass of water is within your child’s reach at the time of their presentation as well. While practising with them you should remind them to take a pause and drink water so they can put this into effect during the actual presentation.
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Listen to music:
Everyone has a different taste in music, and for many children, music can help calm them down. Listen to different kinds of music in front of your child, ranging from instrumental to folk, and notice them. Some music might lift up their moods or make them calmer than before.
Use this to their benefit at the time of public speaking. On their big day of speaking, make them listen to good music to manifest a positive mood and manage their nerves.
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Develop a confident mental image
Confidence can be lost in many ways right before public speaking. The mind will start remembering embarrassing scenarios, and it can be very easy for young adults to fall into negative mental imagery.
To prevent your child from feeling anxious, you should start by introducing them to free demo classes on public speaking offered by PlanetSpark.
Therefore, it is important to reinforce lost confidence. Constructing positive mental imagery of yourself right before stepping in front of the audience will not only help to boost confidence, it will also build a long-lasting first impression.
Here are some things that you can do to rebuild a confident mental image:
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Do the power pose:
Power pose is a term coined by Harvard psychologist, Amy Cuddy. It means expanding your arms and legs as far as possible. It can be done alone in an empty room, bathroom stall, or anywhere away from the eyes of people.
Expanding the body will have a positive effect on the mind which will further assist it to create a positive mental image rather than a negative one.
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Visualise the delivery:
One way to visualise the delivery is by imagining being confident in front of the audience and then acting accordingly. However, it can be difficult for some children to visualise as their minds can be clouded with negative scenarios.
To overcome this, it is crucial to remind yourself of successful communication or speaking experiences of the past.
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Practice!
Practice makes a child perfect- and confident! If your child is good with memorising the content that is given to him, then the only thing left to work on is their confidence. Public speaking practices can help a lot to reinforce and build confidence in children. Through practice, it will also be easy to determine the areas that your kid needs polishing on.
Here are 6 tips that work effectively to help children to speak confidently in public:
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The mirror will be their best friend:
Introducing your child to the mirror and encouraging them to practise in front of it will contribute to their personality development. As they start getting the hang of public speaking, they would know how to practise on their own.
Instruct your kid to stand straight and speak loudly in front of the mirror as much as possible.
After a while, you will notice that they will start correcting themselves including their posture, way of speaking gestures, and other small details. Watching themselves will also gradually reduce their reliance on the written material.
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Record them:
One way to make your child comfortable with feedback is to let them reflect on their own performance. This is an important exercise that you can do with your child while they are practising for a presentation.
Record your kid’s presentation and tell them to take a mental note of the nuances that they thought needed improvement. After the video is over, discuss these points with them and give valuable feedback.
This can be of great help in shaping the style of speaking and finding out where pauses are needed.
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Practise the first minute:
This tip can be used just before speaking in front of the audience. If the child has memorised the content thoroughly, it becomes easy for them to go back and forth inside their mind. Forward this tip to your child by telling them to practise the first minute of the speech, because the rest will automatically fall into place.
If your child can effectively display themselves as confident in the first minute, it will establish them in front of the audience and the people will want to listen to what's ahead in the presentation.
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Practice in a friendly environment:
If you notice your kid practising alone for their presentation, you should encourage them to do it in front of friends or family. Before going in front of an unfamiliar audience, practising in a safe environment can help in building confidence.
Allow the child to make mistakes and support them to keep speaking to let them overcome the fear of getting stuck. As their confidants, you can give valuable feedback to help them get going for the final presentation.
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Let’s get talking:
Development of public speaking skills can be done at home as much as it can be done inside a classroom. Lewis Caroll said - I believe has a world of his own. And parents should be committed to transmitting their child’s imagination through teaching them public speaking.
You would be amazed how much-scattered information is stored inside your child’s mind. Talk to them about random subjects or ask them thought-provoking questions like ‘why is the sun so bright’ or ‘where does chocolate come from.
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A moderate debating game:
As your child will grow, he/she will start formulating their opinions and views of the world around them. They might have strong ideas and it is important they are able to convey them.
‘No idea is a bad idea’ and children should be taught to abide by this confidently.
A ‘for and against’ debating game will encourage children to speak up and put across their point of view with confidence while creating a healthy environment. Your elder children will find this activity amusing when you will also take part in it seriously.
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Have a Confident Body Language
Public speaking is not just about speaking, it is also about how the speaker presents themselves in front of the audience. Apart from memorising the content thoroughly, working on body language can help your child speak with confidence.
Confident body language develops a long-lasting positive impact on the audience and is sure to bring out the X factor in your child.
There are many activities that can be done to help your child improve their body language and present themselves as confident speakers. Once they will learn how to present themselves through positive and confident body language, it will become easier for them to speak in front of a large audience.
Here are some aspects of body language and quick tips on how to master these while speaking in public:
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Maintain eye contact:
If a person can look someone in the eye while speaking, they come across as confident. You can teach your child how to maintain eye contact with one person by practising with them. But if your child is going to speak in front of a group of people, it is impossible then to maintain eye contact with everyone.
One tip that you can forward to your child in a way that they understand is to mentally divide the group into small groups. Focusing on each one separately while they are speaking will make it easy for them to maintain eye contact without getting confused.
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Style of a correct posture:
A speaker who is slouching may lose the interest of their audience even before speaking, and that is true for a child as well. People will invariably either focus on negative body language or lose their concentration completely.
That is why you need to teach your child the correct conduct of body language. Standing straight while relaxing the shoulders is important to display confidence and keep the audience engaged.
Crossing arms or sliding them inside the pockets are signs of arrogance and should be avoided.
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Display confidence with gestures:
Gestures refer to body movements. Incorporating head, arms, and hand gestures will help to put more emphasis on crucial points and present a confident persona.
Positive gestures include a firm handshake, eye contact, nodding head, using hands, and many others. These can be taught to children using various activities and by using them yourself.
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Smile:
The importance of a smiling face can not be underestimated, especially a child’s smile. Your child doesn’t necessarily have to grin, displaying a pleasant face with a slight smile will do the job. Smiling means that the speaker is confident in themselves and the audience.
When your child is more certain, focused, and confident he/she will be able to maintain a positive and pleasant expression, which will further convey assurance and composure.
You, as a parent, can start by displaying gratitude and appreciation towards your child through a smiling face.
There are many activities that can be done on a daily basis to teach your child positive body language. In fact, PlanetSpark offers different curriculums -that include body language as a subject- that your child can start with to gain confidence while speaking in public.
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10 Best Books for Building Confidence in Your Kids
A book will be your child’s most loyal friend. It will help your child in the development of their creative skills and imaginary prowess. Reading books will open more doors for your child inside their heads as well as the outside world.
New ideas, opinions, thoughts, and feelings will arise in your children as they start reading more storybooks.
Sometimes a child needs more than the words of their loved ones to help them build self-esteem and confidence. Introducing your child to the fantastical world of these 10 best adventure books is equivalent to planting the seeds of determination and certainty in them. You can start with writers like Lewis Caroll, Roald Dahl, and Eric Carle.
Strong and independent characters like Alice of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Pinocchio of ‘Pinocchio’ will inspire your children to embrace difficult skills like public speaking with confidence.
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Knowing the audience
Knowing the audience will help your child structure a suitable speaking style and tone for their speech. It is important to know the audience beforehand because it is going to allow them to build a sense of belongingness towards a group of strangers.
This sense of belonging will further assist them in coming across as confident, as they will gain an understanding of how to navigate the presentation or speech.
Teach your child to meet and greet people before going for the final presentation. This will secure their image as approachable and confident.
Knowing certain people beforehand will also help them to transform the image of public speaking from scary to something that can be done naturally with ease.
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Be prepared for mistakes
You might feel like your kid is drooling excessively or not speaking enough. Or they always have their head down while speaking. Then you will have to start working on their interpersonal communication skills.
While just getting started you will feel like your child is making a lot of mistakes. But remember that mistakes are a part of life and public speaking.
You shouldn’t let mistakes shatter your kid’s entire confidence. Like any other skill, the skill of speaking confidently in public takes its own time to unveil. Confidence will often help your kid to make fewer mistakes and correct them quickly even before the audience becomes aware of them.
There are ways to avoid mistakes completely, and here are some tips to keep in mind:
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Taking pause while speaking:
Keep in mind that interpersonal communication skills are not about how swiftly your child can remember two or more paragraphs. It is about how clearly they can express their thoughts and feelings. You don't want your child to speak while having no impact on the listeners.
While speaking It is not important to complete in one breath. Telling your child to pause and take a breath between some sentences can help them to recollect themselves and view their listener’s reactions.
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Speak slowly:
Taking interpersonal communication skills as a task rather than a practice will have a negative influence on the child’s development. Rushing your child to speak quickly is only going to damage their ability to convey something without any mistakes.
There is no need to rush during public speaking. It is important that your kid speak slowly. They need to realise that they are worthy of being heard and the listeners are present there to listen. Speaking slowly will let the child maintain their confidence at the same time.
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Close attention to the point:
Every form of communication has a central point. Diverting from the point can affect the communication skills of your child. They will not be able to effectively pass on their thoughts.
One way to avoid mistakes and develop interpersonal communication skills is to improve your child’s focus. With all the emotions and thoughts that can cloud the mind, it can become very easy to get distracted and lose focus.
Interpersonal communication skills should be practised regularly by your kid. It is not something that can be brushed under the carpet every once in a while.
Check out online platforms like PlanetSpark that offer a number of regular classes to develop your child’s confidence and speaking skills.
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On being loud and clear
Being loud and clear is an aspect of speaking confidently in public. It is one such thing that is easy to remember, but most speakers find it hard to implement because they are nervous. It is a simple and direct way to display confidence during public speaking.
Even with a mic, it can be difficult for your child to reach the audience if they are not loud and clear with their words. People often remember How a person spoke more than they remember What a person spoke. Keeping this in mind will help you to teach your child to speak confidently in public.
Importance Of Confidence In Public Speaking
Confidence massively contributes to the personality development of children by making it easy for them to establish themselves as a speaker even before speaking anything. During public speaking, children’s actions and words are amplified, and this can become intimidating if they lack confidence.
Therefore, confidence in public speaking is important for children because it helps them to:
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Express Themselves Clearly
A lot of speakers fail to express their thoughts and opinions clearly because of a lack of confidence. Even if the speech is well-written, it is still possible that the audience is unable to understand what they are speaking.
Confidence can help you to be calm and composed while speaking. You will know when to take pauses at the time of speaking without acting in a hurry.
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Be Engaged with the Audience
Confidence is going to speak louder than words. This does not mean that words are not useful, it means that confidence will help build presence while speaking. The mark of an excellent public speaker is their ability to keep their audience engaged.
Some children can keep a large group of people captivated solely through their confidence. If you are trying your hand at public speaking it is essential to be confident to keep the audience engaged without feeling nervous or scared.
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Manage their thoughts
A human mind is filled with all kinds of random thoughts, and these thoughts seem to occur most frequently during public speaking. The mind just starts distracting the speaker from thinking straight. This can become a huge hurdle for you if you are aware that everyone’s attention is on you.
Confidence can help a child manage their thoughts and think straight. A confident child will be able to focus on what’s in front of him rather than letting their mind wander.
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Analyse the audience
The audience is more important than the speaker because they are at the receiving end. Speakers with a lack of confidence often fail to consider it.
To speak with confidence in public goes along with analysing the audience’s nonverbal response. Confident children will not only focus on themselves but also on the audience.
They will be able to read the audience and change their style of speaking to get a better reaction from them.
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Get going even at the time of mistakes
One thing that many public speakers don’t realise is that the audience is not aware of what is going to be said in the next line. Confident speakers act on this unawareness to their advantage.
When speaking in public, it is common to make mistakes. Great public speakers also make mistakes, but the reason that the audience fails to notice it most of the time is because of the speaker’s confidence.
Confidence will prevent you from breaking the flow even after making a mistake. Practice managing your nerves by engaging in mindful exercises and work on your writing skills simultaneously.
Now that you know the importance of public speaking, click here to find out how you can get better at it.
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