Okay, your child has been asked to give a talk in Primary, now what? Depending on the age of your child I am sure there are several different thoughts going through your head. If you have an exceptionally young child, you may just be hoping that they will say anything. If you have an older child you may be thinking of what you can do to help him prepare for his talk.
My daughter is not a shy child, and she seems to glow in the spotlight. She loves to give prayers, and she was given extra lines in the Primary program last year. I think she gets it from her father, because as a child I was painfully shy. She gave her first talk last year, and she was so excited. We talked about what she would talk about, and found pictures for her to hold up while she spoke. I then prepared her talk. We had her practice a few times the day before, and she did a good job the next day.
The next time she was asked to do something, it was to share a scripture during opening exercises. She was excited, until my husband expressed concern with the scripture that I had chosen. He thought that some of the words would be too difficult for her to pronounce. That was the end of her sharing a scripture. She overheard him, and it undermined her confidence. She is now one of the shy children afraid to speak into the microphone.
There are some things you can do to help your child give a successful talk:
1) Have your child choose what they are going to speak about. If your child is in senior primary, encourage your child to write the talk by himself, or with minimal help from you. If your child is in junior primary, you should ask him what story he likes the best.
2) Have your child practice the talk at least two times before giving it. You want to make sure that your child doesn’t over-practice because this can make an already nervous child more nervous. It is good to practice, so that they will be comfortable with the material.
3) Remember the age group that your child will be speaking to. Shorter is usually better. I also like to include visual aids. Pictures or actual objects help to hold younger children’s attention better.
4) No matter how the talk goes, be sure to praise your child for what she did. For some children it is a huge step to stand in front of the group. If she held the pictures well, tell her. It may make the next talk less scary.