You’ve watched them on TV, but what about hosting your own talent show? It’s fun to see the hidden talents of the people in your community. 

After homeschooling my kids for 20 years, we have found a lot of fun ways to fit drama into our homeschool and love to share what we've done with you. 

Value of Hosting a Talent Show

At our previous church they hosted a “Got Talent” show every year. It was a fun event that people of all ages participated in. We saw some really cool talents including a gentleman who told the Cinderella story with the consonants mixed around. For example, he would say “Rindercella.” It was quite impressive how he could keep it up throughout the entire story.

My daughter loved to sing, but was really shy about singing on stage in front of people, especially if you handed her a microphone. Hearing the sound of her voice reverberating back at her was terrifying. This was true even if she was speaking, so it was definitely something we hoped she could overcome.

She was briefly a part of a performance troupe and did well, but definitely preferred singing with others versus having a solo. She learned to do musical theater which was a fun way to incorporate singing and acting. Unfortunately, this studio introduced some songs and performances that didn’t seem appropriate for her age, so we thought it was best to part ways. I want my kids to know it’s good to have boundaries and to not do something they aren’t comfortable with just because they want to progress in an activity, sport or career.

One year she got up the nerve to sing for the “Got Talent” show and started rehearsing for the big day. As it got closer, she slowly started to change her mind. She just didn’t think she could do it. We came up with a plan that gave her the confidence to perform and turned out to be a lot of fun for the audience as well.

Idea to Help Kids Overcome Fear of Presenting

A lot about acting is not taking yourself too seriously. If you worry about what people think, then it’s hard for you to give your all into a role. You’d be surprised how many comedic actors are incredibly shy in their everyday life.

When it comes to singing, if you worry too much if you are going to sing perfectly, the nerves can really get to you and cause you to struggle or quit before you try. When you do a solo, it’s just you on that stage so you can’t blend into the other voices you would have in a group.

What about if you add a comedy portion to your singing? If you do something that you know is going to cause the audience to laugh, then you are not worried about what people think about your singing, and the laughing will help to calm your nerves.

This is what she did…

She planned to sing “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. Not normally performed in a comedic way, so this would be unexpected as well. 

When she came out she was dressed with a cowgirl hat and a bandana around her neck. She then proceeded to sing with a cowgirl accent. The audience immediately began to laugh, and you could see her relax.

Then she stopped and commented, “No, that’s not right,” and removed the cowgirl hat and bandana, swinging around a scarf that was hidden under the bandana facing her back. She then clasped her hands together as only a proper opera singer can do, and began to sing again in operatic flair. Again, the audience laughed.

My daughter then looked down to see the audience and saw a boy fall out of his chair; he was laughing so hard. She briefly laughed, then continued on. To gain your composure in a moment like that is not always easy to do, so that was impressive on its own. After singing a little bit more, she stopped and commented, “No, that’s not right,” and untied the scarf and let it hang loosely.

This time she started to sing in her regular voice. As she continued, she gave the indication she had finally found the right voice and continued through the rest of the song. This time the audience wasn’t laughing, they were enjoying this moment with her. She did it! She overcame her fear by adding a little drama to her performance and sang the song she wanted to perform on stage, in front of an audience, with a microphone!!!

Developing Future Leaders

Today my daughter has a lot of opportunities to speak in front of people of all different ages. One day she could be leading teens in a leadership event, another day she could be training volunteers from middle school age to 70 years old, another day she could be speaking to a women's group about something she's gone through and how she overcame it. You never know what your child will be called to do in the future, so why not prepare them now for success.

She still gets nervous sometimes and has to push herself to prepare well and be ready to speak. Most of the time, when she is done, she feels accomplished and satisfied that she was able to teach, encourage or lead someone well because she was brave enough to speak. We each have something to share, so overcoming the fear of presenting helps us to do something that can benefit others.

We've had many moments in our homeschooling where she thought a task was impossible, only to later conquer it and say, "I feel so accomplished. I thought it was going to be impossible, but I did it!" Those are words worth hearing, but we have to gently push our kids to do hard things for them to benefit from the success.

Benefits of Participating in a Talent Show

You do have the time to fit drama into your homeschool by participating in or hosting a talent show. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just get some friends together and enjoy an evening of free entertainment. This event can help your kids:

• Overcome their fear of presenting in front of others

• Get creative in how they present their talent

• Add dramatic flair to enhance their performance

• Do hard things and enjoy the victory on the other side

You can also read, "Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking" for other ideas, and find out why my son is wearing an oversized suit. 😊

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Don’t want to wait because you want to get started with drama right now… Order the new Places Everyone! - drama game fun for the whole semester curriculum, and get started today! There are a lot of great ways to be creative and think outside the box with this curriculum.

Thanks for joining us!

Danielle at homeschooldrama.com