Public Speaking Pressure

There is a sudden rise in the pressure to "Speak Confidently". There are hundreds of kids coming with 'too shy to talk' problem.

There is an increase in the number of 'shy' kids? How?

How have communication skills become as gradable and trainable as maths? Will the hesitation to speak go away at all if parents are watching over it like anxious hawks?

Will the hesitation increase or further decrease if kids get to hear parents say, "My child is very shy. He/she cannot speak everything every time to everyone."

Does it make sense to send the less-communicative child for speech therapy without understanding that speech therapy, language therapy and communication therapy are all different?

There are so many confusions, so many fears around speaking skills.

Confidence to speak comes from home first, I believe. And then from the environment at school. The experiences and learnings, too, shape it up significantly.

If a child has always learned to bottle up feelings, if a child feels that maturity reflects by being quiet, if a child is quite afraid of strangers, if a child has experienced humiliation upon being wrong, if a child's parents are too shy and introvert, if a child goes to a school where free-talk is not allowed, if a child is into multiple classes after school hours which again restrict free-talk, if a child is reprimanded/judged for speaking his mind then should we work on the child's speaking skills first or on correcting his environment first?

Give your child freedom of speech before you begin to worry about his/her public speaking skills.

Talk to your child. Let him/her talk while you listen.