Flashback to your childhood presentations
Do you remember the first time you presented? Well I do! I was just 10 and wanted to read the news in the BBC. Luckily my dad worked for BBC Northern Ireland he was kind enough to take 10 screaming kids all the way to Belfast on a Saturday and let them read the news in a very expensive studio. Imagine the mayhem! Well actually you don’t have to because here’s a video of it:
Kids are not taught to be good presenters at school
Fact is that none of the kids who presented that day went on to be world beating presenters and none of the efforts were that good anyway. You see, kids are not taught to be good presenters at school are they? Sure, we learn about differential equations, calculus, English language & literature but presenting is generally reserved for the few kids who are “not good at sport” and end up acting in the school play. Fact is, if more kids learnt to present themselves and we gave them the skills to approach presenting in a skillful way they might end up closing that deal when they are 25 and pitching for crowdfunding!
So roll on half a lifetime and here I am – a Presentologist with two young kids. As part of the services we offer, I’ve trained lots of adults to present better but lots of them seem stuck in some way – blinded by some inherent fear that they are reliving when asked to talk in front of an audience, be it 5, 50 or 500. So I started training my own kids to present better and then the school asked me to drop in and teach a few others and before long I found myself teaching 30 country kids in the south of New Zealand. One of those kids approached the stage full of fear when asked what he’d learnt that day and this is what he said: “Thanks Johnny for teaching me to be BRAVE”
Wow! I thought – BRAVERY – that’s what most Adults are wrestling with! That inherent fear – fight or flight!
The sooner you start teaching your child public speaking skills the better
This got me thinking that since Public speaking is the number one fear in the world and when asked, a lot of adults refer back to earlier bad childhood experiences. So we thought we’d deal with this at source! If your child learns this crucial skill in their childhood you will help them to avoid being fearful about speaking in public. Children approach things often in a fearless way. Thus, the sooner you start teaching your child public speaking skills the better. Speaking in front of people – taught at an early age – might help them to become great communicators and leaders one day.
Presentation Skills Training For Kids – A skill and asset that they will keep for the rest of their life. Find out more about this here: https://audiencealive.com/presentation-training/presentation-training-for-kids/
Author: John Quinn