Homeschoolers must be learners, too
What can a conference on public speaking teach homeschoolers?
Don’t let this photo trick you.
This month, I spent three long days learning how to communicate with more power, focus, and clarity, at the SCORRE conference in Orlando. (I just found a great spot to eat breakfast before a long day.) The conference was amazingly good: every talk informed and inspired us. And talking with people from many fields, from across the continent, who all wanted to improve their speaking skills, was fun and fascinating.
Sounds like it has nothing to do with homeschool? I came home with three lessons for homeschoolers.
- Take time to learn, even when you think you’re too busy teaching, and have to stretch to find the time and money. It was a tough decision to invest a chunk of my time and income for training. But absolutely worth it.
A homeschool convention will, in a few days, inspire you to improve. - Look for ways to challenge yourself. It was a little scary, standing up each night at SCORRE to give a five minute talk to my small group, then await their feedback. (Actually I was more nervous than I am giving hour-long workshops to hundreds.) But it was very helpful.
- Buy your teen a copy of Ken Davis’ book, Secrets of Dynamic Communications. Whether or not your teen has shown an interest in speaking, this clear, easy-to-read, slim volume could easily become the core of a 2-3 week unit on public speaking at home or a semester or year class in your coop. I’d urge interested adults to take the online course, or better yet, attend the next SCORRE conference in October in Colorado.
