Child development coach and former teacher Eva Ostapeic knows first-hand the fear that can grip a person when speaking in front of a group, particularly if one’s first language is different than the language of the audience.
The longtime Newmarket resident who recently launched Believe in Yourself Academy, a company that provides fun, story-based coaching programs to help children reach their full potential, said she was filled with dread when preparing to network with others through the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce when she joined.
“I often felt that I missed opportunities to speak publicly to express my thoughts, ideas or feelings,” she said, adding that her first language is Hungarian. “One day, I was talking with some girls and boys and they said they experience the same things. They get stomach aches, racing heart beats, and I thought this was a real problem.”
Armed with a passion for working with children and a desire to help them overcome that paralyzing feeling that public speaking can instill, Ostapeic applied for and was selected to receive a no-strings-attached $1,000 grant from the chamber’s Awesome Foundation to host a public speaking workshop for young people.
“I thought this would be a great idea to teach younger children some techniques and tools to help them overcome their fear,” she said.
The Awesome Foundation Newmarket is part of a worldwide movement that finds trustee groups determining their own community’s needs, reviewing and voting on submissions, and selecting a winner each month.
A group of 10 local trustees each contribute $100 a month of their own money toward the pool of cash that is granted to an award recipient. The $1,000-per-project windfall does not have to be paid back. Since its launch in 2012, it has awarded more than $60,000 in micro-grants to people or groups with awesome ideas that support the needs of local youth.
Ostapeic began doing some research and learned that public speaking is the No. 1 phobia, more than the fear of heights, spiders and darkness.
“I was really surprised by that,” she said. “After speaking with some teachers, I found out that some students refuse to deliver a project in front of the class. They chose to take a failing grade instead.”
Public speaking skills are not part of the school curriculum and, while young students learn presentation skills in classes such as drama, Ostapeic believes the ability to speak well in public is an essential life skill.
“The workshop will address the fear that young people have and will give them techniques and tips to build their confidence and speaking skills,” she said.
What started out as an idea for English-as-a-Second-Language students has expanded to include all children based on demand, Ostapeic said.
“This is for everybody because many students are struggling in this area,” she said.
The ‘awesome’ 90-minute, interactive public speaking workshop will be led by public speaking coach Laura Connor, of the Markham-based company Connor Speaks. Connor is also co-founder of the Junior Power Speaker program, an advanced public speaking program for children aged 10 to 14.
The workshop takes place on Wednesday, May 8 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Alexander Muir Public School, 75 Ford Wilson Blvd. for students in grades 5 to 8.
Students will learn public speaking skills through various methods, including group discussion and games. Participants will also learn how to ease their anxiety, sound natural, perfect pronunciations, deliver powerful messages, and more.
“I expect the workshop to help Newmarket youth overcome their fear of public speaking and give them the tools they need to effectively express themselves in the presence of a large audience,” Ostapeic wrote in her application to the Awesome Foundation Newmarket.
The workshop is nearly at capacity. For more information, email Eva Ostapeic at [email protected].
