Barrister Dan Saxby shares practical advice to help your child grow in confidence and develop strong public speaking skills from an early age.
For many people, speaking in public can feel like an ordeal - but it doesn't have to be. Public speaking is a skill that can be learned, practised and mastered by almost anyone.
I was fortunate to have a teacher who believed passionately in the importance of developing such an ability. She regularly ran public speaking clubs after school, with the aim of promoting self-confidence, focus and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively - precisely the type of life skills that Perform is designed to foster.
Whether doing 'show and tell' during the primary school years or talking to the class about a favourite hobby, public speaking is something every child will be involved in.
Here are a few tips and exercises which I hope will help your child develop the core skills to set them on the path to becoming a more confident and persuasive speaker.
Know the audience and topic
Who is your child speaking to and why? How many people will they be talking to? How long is their speech or presentation expected to be?
This information is crucial and will allow your child to prepare properly, tailoring their speech to both the event and the audience and ensuring that what they are saying is relevant and engaging.
Ask your child to practise public speaking at home. Choose a topic that your child is interested in and ask them to prepare a speech/talk, seeking to persuade a small group of family or friends of a particular point.
For instance, "Children should be more involved in the way that the world is run". A speech of no more than three minutes would be ideal.
Preparing the speech
A good speech should have both a purpose and a clear structure. Discuss with your child what it is that they ultimately want to say. Never lose focus from that aim.
Help them to prepare a short introduction (setting out what they are going to talk about and why), the main body of their speech (a small number of core points, each supported by a relevant fact, example or anecdote) and a conclusion (tying everything together and inviting the audience to agree with their chosen point of view).
To start with, I would suggest writing the speech out in full. Try to make each sentence short and to the point.
Make sure that each sentence and each paragraph is logically linked to the one before it and is saying something worthwhile. If it is not, take it out.
Practice
Ask your child to read their speech out loud until they are happy and reasonably familiar with it.
Then write or, preferably, print the speech out, double-spaced, with a gap between each section or paragraph.
Divide the speech into its constituent parts and, if possible, attach each section to a small index card. You should aim for no more than eight or nine cards at this stage.
You should now have a small number of cue cards, each addressing a separate point in the speech. Your child is now ready to practise the speech, following the tips below.
Posture
Good posture is key to good projection.
Whilst rehearsing the speech, encourage your child to stand up straight and to avoid moving from side to side.
It is also important to ask them to make and maintain eye contact with the audience as much as possible. To begin with, this may be difficult and it is important to be encouraging during early attempts.
Pacing
The cue cards are designed to assist with pacing and a more natural delivery. The more times that the speech is rehearsed, the less reliant your child will become on them.
Highlight the first few words of each sentence or section. Your child can then use these highlighted sections as a trigger or reminder for what follows, which they will soon be able to deliver without reading or reference to the card itself (but with the comfort that they can do so if needs be).
Most important of all is pacing. Encourage your child to speak slowly and clearly, taking a distinct pause between each sentence and section.
To begin with, ask your child to count to three in their head between each sentence. If they need to refer to the cue cards, suggest that they do so during a pause before looking at the audience again. This will help with pacing and encourage more eye contact during the speech.
Tone
A good speaker will vary their tone and add emphasis to key points, often using humour to engage the audience.
Once your child has mastered the basics and can deliver their speech clearly and without too much reliance on the cue cards, these more advanced skills will come naturally and your child will be able to develop their own wonderful and distinct personality as a speaker.
I wish them every success.
Perform can help your child excel in public speaking through our online LAMDA sessions (for children aged 7+) and our confidence-building drama, dance & singing classes for children aged 4-12.
All children can enjoy a free trial to see if our sessions are the right fit for them.
