Developing Self-Confidence Through Public Speaking

Having self-confidence is a valuable trait that will benefit your child in their scholastic and professional endeavors. While public speaking is one of the most common fears, it can be used as a tool to build lasting confidence and eradicate nervousness and doubt. It's common to shrug off public speaking as a skill that one would only need if pursuing a career in fields such as politics or law, but this is simply not the case. Both public speaking and confidence hold significance, and the two go hand-in-hand. 

Building Confidence through Improvisation

Many share the experience of being in the position of needing to come up with an answer or speech on the spot but finding that their minds have run blank or they are tongue-tied. Moments like these can bring up an assortment of complicated feelings and brew doubt in one’s intelligence and abilities. Fortunately through practice and time, one can minimize these occurrences! Engaging your child’s brain with improvisational questions about themselves, topics that interest them, and their day can prepare them to articulate responses quickly. Being able to speak on the spot and think on their feet will allow them to carry themselves with confidence, knowing that they are prepared to answer or talk about anything. 

Holding and Maintaining a Strong Opinion

Some forms of public speaking, such as debate, can be a great way to build confidence as your child learns how to form strong opinions and defend them from constructive arguments. Debate fosters an environment where a child is able to voice their thoughts and opinions without fear, and discuss them with other minds. This practice in itself builds self-confidence as your child sees how their opinion is worth standing up for and voicing. It also helps them formulate and articulate their thoughts better under pressure. Being able to effectively communicate and confidently state an opinion as well as successfully defend it is a quality of a future leader, a quality which your child can build through their practice of public speaking. 

Effective Communication

Practicing the art of public speaking is also a great way to build confidence through your child learning how to effectively communicate their ideas, which is important for captivating and persuading an audience. By being able to present their thoughts to an audience, your child’s confidence will flourish as they see change happen through the power of their words. This form of public speaking does not need to take place in front of large professional audiences, and can be used in average day-to-day life! Your child will see that their words have power, which in turn will aid them in becoming more thoughtful, confident leaders. 

Overcoming the Fear Itself

If your child is one of the many who have a fear of public speaking, overcoming this fear and any insecurities they may have tied to it is empowering and will boost their confidence and morale in all aspects of their life. One method of doing this is by slowly exposing them to public speaking opportunities, starting with “bite-sized” ones such as making an announcement or introducing a friend. This can lead to a gradual build-up of bigger opportunities such as debates or formal speeches in front of a larger audience. Seeing their growth and progress over time is sure to boost your child’s self-confidence in their social and intellectual abilities. Being able to overcome a fear is a truly empowering experience and one carries the valuable lessons learned from that journey with them for the rest of their lives. 

Learning that Slip-ups are not the End of the World!

As our world grows smaller, it can be easy to get hung up on the idea of perfectionism. Being able to shrug off these moments and realize that they are not a huge deal can do wonders in growing your child’s self-confidence. It’s not uncommon for people to stutter, freeze, or forget a part of their speech and part of boosting confidence is realizing that these mistakes are things that we can learn and grow from. The world of public speaking provides a good environment for this learning to take place. =

Ivy Camps USA offers a safe and fun environment for your child to grow in their public speaking abilities which in turn will boost their self-confidence under the guidance of instructors from elite universities. We offer a plethora of different camps that focus on aspects of public speaking, such as storytelling, debate, and formal speech. By being able to learn and hone these skills in a setting like camp, your child will learn to enjoy the art of public speaking and develop essential life skills and the confidence needed to succeed in a multitude of different career paths.