10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Communicate Effectively - Pt 2

Background:

Effective communication is the foundation to success. When one can communicate well, they have a bigger advantage over those who don’t. If you look around at the heads of major companies, you will notice that most everyone has great communication skills. But communication starts long before adulthood. In fact, learning to communicate effectively starts even before a child can talk. Let’s continue to look at some ways to help your child learn to communicate effectively. 



4. Confirm your understanding. After the child has talked a bit and there is a lull in the conversation, confirm that you understood what was said by rephrasing what you heard. For example, "It sounds like your feelings were hurt when your friend ignored you." 

If you misunderstood something or your child wants to add more details, this is a great way to get input from your children.

5. Convey your feelings. Talk to your child about your feelings and encourage them to open up about theirs too. When doing so, start your sentences with “I” not “You”. For example; you might say “I get upset when you….” instead of “You make me mad when…”

This teaches your child how to speak directly about their feelings so others will understand. It’s a skill that will especially useful later in life when they life and work with others.   

6. Have them give presentations. The sooner you get your child talking in front of others, the more confident they will become.

Ask your child to give a presentation about something they like. This can be done at just about any age, just ensure the topic, length and difficulty of the presentation is age appropriate.  For the first couple of times, have them present it just to you. Then expand their audience to include others in the family, family friends, neighbors or even places like retirement homes.  

Ok that may be a bit much, but you get the idea!

Teaching them how to present themselves in a calm, confident manner will boost their success in adulthood. 

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