Teaching your kids how to communicate is something you can start working on even with small children. Learning to listen to what our kids say is probably the most passive approach to teaching them how to communicate but it can have a huge impact.
Nothing instills confidence like having an adult and more importantly a parent pay attention to what the child is saying. It is not enough to nod and make noncommittal grunts to let them know you are still in the room. Listening, really listening, means that we as parents need to absorb what is being said, consider it and the respond to it in a serious and appropriate way. How often has your 2 year old come up to you and said something like, "Is me ni Dora to shoe be my to self."? I am assuming that your reaction would be something like mine. My brain continues on with whatever else it was doing and I mutter, "That's nice" and my daughter patters off back to her adventures in the living room. Now, let's add two more words to my response and see how it changes the impact on my daughter. Instead of, "That's nice" how about, "Dora? Wow! That's nice." By using one of the words (Dora) my daughter used in her original sentence (if you can call it a sentence!) I am letting her know that I actually heard what she said. The "Wow" is a bit of encouragement that what she has to say is interesting to me and therefore validates her choice to share it with me.
Validating your child's ideas will go a long way towards giving them the confidence to speak up and express themselves. They will grow up feeling that what they have to say is worth saying. So when the interviewer asks them a tough question like, "Tell me about a difficult situation you once faced." They can respond clearly and outshine their competition.
There are three reasons it is a good idea to start this when our kids are young. The first is that repetition is often the best teacher. The more validation your child receives over the years the better off they will be in the job interview. Second, it is good for us as parents to practice, we need that repetition too. Third, by the time my daughter reaches her teen years, I want her to know that what she says to me is important and that I will listen to her with respect and love. Isn't that worth the effort?
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