Elocution for kids is something that parents can get quite stressed about. Teaching anybody to command a room with a speech is a daunting task, let alone for a child! However, elocution for kids is part of any kid’s academic life and getting a head start in learning the skills to ace it is beneficial.
What is Elocution for kids?
According to Wikipedia Elocution for kids – is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelling.
Poetry recitations, project presentations as well as other public speaking opportunities, allow your child to shine if they have strong elocution skills. The ability to convey thoughts, write speeches and deliver them with ease is a significant contributor to your child’s personal development – all of which stems from a strong background in elocution. This is why we wanted to write a blog on elocution for kids that would help foster these skills in your little one.
So without further ado, here are some tips on how to start this journey.
7 Tips To Ace Elocution for Kids
1. Don’t write their speeches
Image Courtesy The School Run
Many times, parents will write their child’s speeches and have them recite and practice the written speech. Hands up if you’re guilty of this, not to worry, every parent has done this – especially if your child is weak in the subject they have to talk about. However, in order for them to deliver a captivating speech, they have to connect with its content. This often comes from writing the speech themselves with their own thoughts, feelings and ideas.
We suggest asking your child to write down an outline (however basic) of what they’d like to talk about. Once they have their ideas in place, you may then choose to help them flesh out the whole speech. This ensures that your child has a connect with the speech they have to deliver.
2. Write more to help with elocution for kids
Yes, elocution for kids is about speaking. However, the core of all speeches comes from great writing. This means lots of practice in creative writing on a regular basis. Aim to write one short speech a week to get your child in the habit of writing. A great way to come up with ideas for these speeches is by using sentence prompts such as:
- Why I’m glad to be…
- I’m unhappy about this situation because…
- I wish my parents would…
Open-ended sentences like these will help your child formulate ideas, opinion and great speeches that they can then practice reading aloud. If you’d like more creative writing tips, we have a whole blog dedicated to creative writing for kids, so do check that out.
5 Steps To Start Your Child on Short Story Writing
3. Improve their memory
Image courtesy NHBS
Part of giving great speeches and presentations is being able to deliver them from memory. A crucial part of elocution for kids is speaking aloud without reading off a page. While some children are blessed with startling memory, others may have a hard time remembering their speeches or keeping their thoughts coherent.
Playing memory or word association games can improve a child’s memory and teach them to develop those skills that help with information retention. This is beneficial when they attempt to memorise long speeches as they get older. However, the easiest way to memorise a speech is to practise over and over – which leads us to our next tip.
4. Practice Make Perfect
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This elocution for kids tip is a well known one. Before one can improvise and work on the way they deliver the speech, one has to remember the speech! Reciting it verbatim, out loud, helps with retention. This process can sometimes get tedious. We suggest turning the speech into song or reciting it out loud to your favourite song; that way, the beats and notes make it easier to remember and recall later.
Turning the speech into a rap will also help with retention as well as delivery. Plus, it’s a fun way to learn the speech. If you’d like some ‘how to rap’ tips, take a look at our blog – we were inspired by the Indian film ‘Gully Boy’ starring Ranveer Singh.
Gully Boy: How to Write a Rap Song for Beginners
5. Read Out Loud
It’s time to bust out your child’s favourite books! A great way to learn expressions, tone and style is to have your child read from their favourite book. Since your child is already familiar with the characters and the story, it will be easier for them to narrate using voices, expressions and rhythm. This, in turn, will help sharpen their elocution skills when it comes time for them to give their speech or presentation.
The Importance of Reading Habit in Children
6. Tongue Twisters
This elocution for kids tip comes from one of our favourite movies – My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn. While we don’t suggest using marbles, we do suggest practising fun tongue twisters! Diction, pronunciation, delivery and projection can all be fine-tuned by reciting a set of tongue twisters on a regular basis. Reciting along with your child when in the car journey to school is an excellent way to practice these tongue twisters and add some fun to your ride.
Here are some of our favourites tongue twisters:
- She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
- Red lorry, yellow lorry.
- Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck. If a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, And chuck as much as a woodchuck would. If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
- Betty Botter bought some butter. But she said this butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter. It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter. Will surely make my batter better. So she bought a bit of butter. Better than her bitter butter, And she put it in her batter, And her batter was not bitter. So t’was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.
7. Perfect Pronunciation
A mispronounced word stands out like a sore thumb and the only way to get better at pronunciation is by understanding the English alphabet. Your child’s English teacher will surely have books and exercises that they can read and practise. However, there are many videos on YouTube that your child can watch and learn. Here is one that we like:
Those were our tips on how to ace elocution for kids. However, if you’d really like to improve your child’s speaking skills then enrol them for elocution classes. In these classes, they will learn about the English language as well as meet other kids with the same interests. Plus, you can invite the kids in the class for an elocution playdate – how fun would that be!
We hope you like this blog on elocution for kids, do keep checking back for more tips and hacks that we hope will add value! Also, please browse through our library of amazing Indian Children’s books that we’re sure your child will enjoy reading.
Till next time,
Happy reading!
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Read More: How To Improve English Writing And Speaking Skills
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