Are you confident when speaking in public?
Because of my background as an actress, I’ve always mixed with people who are pretty confident speaking on their own in front of large groups of people. It wasn’t until I started Perform and attended courses in Child Protection, First Aid and various other childcare-related subjects that I realised how many people find speaking in front of others frankly terrifying.
Yes, I realised that not everyone was the all singing-all dancing type like most of my friends, but it was still a bit of a shock to me that there were clever and articulate adults out there who were frightened to speak out on their own. We’d go around the circle asking for contributions and it was amazing how quietly people spoke. I remember one course when an attendee actually left half way through the session because she found it too intimidating. Read more »
Discovering your “fun” and “firm” voices
When we train our teachers for Perform classes, one of the sections we spend the longest time working on is their voices. I’m not talking about their singing voices here; they are, after all, trained actors and singers and wouldn’t get to the training stage if they didn’t have a great instrument. What we work on is teaching them how to effectively use their voice to inspire and control children.
At Perform, we encourage our teachers to have two different types of voices for effective teaching: their energised, fun and inspiring voice for the majority of the time; and a low and firm no nonsense voice to use to ensure control when necessary. Read more »
Just Say No!
No, this blog post is not about the toe-curling anti-drugs eighties-fest that is the Grange Hill Just Say No video (though it’s worth having a look if you fancy a nostalgia-based giggle). It’s about a much more prevalent problem in primary school at least – bullying.
I was bullied a bit at school when I was a child. Not obviously and not aggressively. I never had lunch money taken but there were a few bigger girls in the class who picked on me by leaving me out of games and playdates and teased me because I was smaller than them. Read more »
Separation anxiety: How to leave your child for the first time
It’s nearly back-to-school time and that means that some children will be starting school for the first time, others will be moving to new schools and most will be moving up an academic year to new classroom surroundings and a new teacher.
Now, I’m a confident thirty-something woman but even I get a bit apprehensive when I try something new. It’s normal for even the most outgoing of people so it must be incredibly scary for a young child entering a completely new environment.
Luckily, most teachers are very used to dealing with separation anxiety and they have time-tested procedures to allow children to adapt as easily as possible and integrate into the class successfully. But what about us mums? Read more »
Fame costs
Like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened to read about Amy Winehouse yesterday. With hindsight, looking back at that footage from the Belgrade concert a few weeks ago, it was pretty clear that something was definitely not right – even more so than over the past few years.
To be honest, when I was watching her stumbling around the stage in Serbia, I was prompted to write something about her decline from that sparky talented girl to the mixed-up source of tabloid headlines she had become – but her untimely death has really crystallised my thoughts about such a tragic waste of life. Read more »
The Eyes Have It
I’ve been watching Rebecca Ferguson’s journey through X Factor with interest. Remember her first audition?
Beautiful girl; wonderful voice – and yet as she admitted herself, she’s lost confidence. As Simon said “you’ve got to start looking people back in the eye again” – possibly one of the only sensible things he’s ever said :)
Fast forward to the first live show and you’ll see a real improvement:
How a Spoonful of Perform Helps the Confidence Come Out
Confidence is something that we’d all love to be able to infuse our children with – I’m sure many parents have wished it was something you could bottle and administer now and again.
Alas, I fear science still has some way to go on that front…
In the meantime, I’ve heard quite a few parents describe Perform as ‘confidence medicine’ for children who can sometimes be shy or awkward in new situations. Little by little, with our warm and friendly teachers’ encouragement, the games that we play and the example that the other children set, they start to gain confidence.
That, after all, is why I set up Perform. I’d worked for other drama schools but no one else was focusing on drama specifically to help children develop social skills. Sure, some of them *said* that they did, but in reality they were just as concerned about sending the kids to audition for shows.
So it was fabulous last week to pop into a local class and be hugged by a Mum and Dad who told me that their child had literally transformed since she’d been coming. This little girl had started with us in May and back then her parents were really concerned about her. Her total lack of confidence was completely ruining her school experience, she was struggling to make friends, she wouldn’t ever answer the teacher’s questions out loud and would never go on play dates – let alone sleep over at a friend’s house.
The Confidence to be Different
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
- Dr Seuss
I love that quote.
At Perform, I come into contact with children every day who worry that they’re ‘different’. All too often they want nothing more than to ‘fit in’.
I think that as a species the desire to conform is all too high on the list of our priorities. We all want to fit in.
Being different is frowned upon all too often in my experience. Different = Bad.
But we’re all different, right?
We’re all unique – and shouldn’t that be something that we’re keener to celebrate?
I get a little tired of the “It’s OK to be different” shtick. Being different is *so* much better than OK. Being different is wonderful.
But how do you deal with a child who wants nothing more than to fit in?
Building Your Child’s Confidence
We all want our children to be confident, but some children struggle. At Perform I speak to many parents who are concerned about how little confidence their children have.
Some are sceptical that a children’s drama class can actually help. After all, asking a child who lacks confidence to ‘perform’ might seem to be a bizarre concept.
However, we do things a little differently. We create a safe environment where children feel at ease. The vast majority of the activities which we engage the children in are games – it’s about having fun, not about being a perfect performer.
I’d like to share the story of one of our children – we’ll call him Rohit.
When he joined us he was painfully shy and barely said a word to anyone. His parents were understandably concerned and really wanted him to gain confidence and come out of his shell.
