The Difference Confidence Can Bring

A number of years ago a friend and I taught introductory courses about public speaking to several Grade six classes at a local school. We enjoyed doing this very much, with the exception of one group which was more interested in spitballs than speaking.

I was surprised when the Principal of the school approached me and asked me what we were doing with the children -- he said that since the course children that had formerly never spoken up in class were now willing, even eager, to do so.

I didn't know what to say in response.

My friend and I discussed it and decided that perhaps it was the atmosphere we had created in our class that had been the catalyst for the children. In the Toastmasters philosophy, which we follow, one's ideas are accepted without question. An evaluator can critique the presentation and delivery but not the ideas themselves. We thought that the course may have been the first time the children were able to express their ideas without them being assessed as "right or wrong" and that this acceptance may have generated confidence to speak out in other venues.

I often reall the comments from the Principal and consider them a powerful lesson about the power of unconditionally accepting the ideas of others.