In this column, Bizkids, we feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and various professionals to share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindyjenkins@beijing-kids.com.

Have you ever thought about turning your hobby into a business one day? Though you may assume it’s only suitable as a hobby, there’s a chance you can take what you like doing and turn it into a potential career. However, it not only demands your patience and passion, but also requires a model example to inspire you!

This time, our featured professional is AJ Donnelly, a British expat who arrived in Beijing in 1999 as a humble kindergarten teacher. Early on he saw the growing demand for experiences related to traditional Chinese culture, and wanted to find a way to help people better access them.

Having studied martial arts since the age of 8, and became a Daoist at the age of 14, he already had a good basis for understanding traditional Chinese culture. But after many years and obstacles, he was finally able to follow his calling as an entrepreneur and open one of China’s first foreign-run culture centers – Cultural Keys! Over the years, Cultural Keys has expanded to include the CK Culture Boutique, a bespoke Chinese art store, and CK Martial Hearts, which offers traditional Chinese Kung Fu courses. He’s also the founder of the Bootstrap Business Initiative, an organization that provides consultation services and helps first-time entrepreneurs access information and services for setting up low-budget businesses in Beijing.

Here, he shares his inspiring journey with us, from his passion for Kung Fu and Chinese culture, to sense of wonder, and how he turned his life-long interests into Cultural Keys, while unlocking China’s potential in the process!

What was your motivation to start Cultural Keys?

Looking back at the last five or ten years, there has always been a misunderstanding of China: people either think China is a terrible place, or they think it’s mysterious. But of course, neither of these is correct. And I just always wanted people to see the real China, traditional Chinese culture, and find as much as value in it as I find. Because I love it, not because I’m blind, but because I experienced it and I see how it improves my life and I want other people to understand it. That’s why we started giving people access to traditional Chinese culture.

When did your interest in Chinese culture begin? Why do you like Kung Fu?

I started martial arts when I was 8, and then I started karate, because throughout my childhood, from day one until I left school, I was bullied every single day. I watched The Karate Kid, and I was like “wow he learned martial arts, I wanna do that too!” So I took karate for several years, and I went from karate to kickboxing, then to Kung Fu and eventually found Shaolin Martial arts.

How about the Kung Fu part of Cultural Keys? What’s the story related to Kung Fu?

Kung Fu is where we started originally. When myself, my wife Nic, and our partner sat down six years ago and decided to start the company, we were thinking about the first product we could introduce and offer people. We said, “we have to choose something that is so big, so easily recognizable and so untapped, that people look at it and straight away say they know what it is.” Because I had a background in martial arts, we decided to do something with Shaolin Temple. After visiting many fake schools, we eventually ended up at the real Shaolin Temple. I walked up to a monk and said that I wanted to study there, and the monk said, “Okay, follow me.”

We got introduced to the leadership of the Shaolin Temple, and I trained there for a while. One day I sat down with the leader of foreign liaison department of the temple and told him about the company, and what we wanted to do. The leader said, “Yes, we have warrior monks in the Shaolin Temple, but we don’t do marketing, we don’t make money doing this. If Cultural Keys wants to help bring foreign students here to share the spirit of Shaolin and the idea of Buddhism, then yeah, we’d love to do that with you.”

From that meeting, it was about 18 months until the first program when we actually took students there. Because the advertisement took a year or so, and no one had signed up, we were close to giving up. I told the temple about it, and they said “It is normal. You must have patience; allow your soul to grow within the business like a tree, you can’t expect to sprout fruit immediately.” So I told myself to keep trying, and after another six months, we got a couple of customers who we were able to take to the Shaolin Temple, and it was a huge success. After that it just snow-balled. We did that for another two years, just building up a reputation, and when we realized it was going well, we decided to introduce something else. Step by step, we started other workshops like calligraphy, painting, and more. Now we offer 20-plus workshops.

How many people work with Cultural Keys? 

Just me and Nic. It’s not only having Cultural Keys, but we also have business events to organize as well, and people think it must be more than the two of us. Things like paintings and calligraphy; we have local experts in both subjects.

How do you usually reach out to people you want to collaborate with? Any tips to share?

First and foremost, you have to ensure you can offer something of high quality, and you have to be very confident in your product. When we started six years ago, the first thing I did was reach out to international companies and language schools, and said we have these great products, your teachers and staff will like it. But they didn’t want to collaborate with us. In the second and third year, after we’d done the first Shaolin program, they changed their attitude completely and introduced our program to their staff.

But you know in Beijing, there are also a lot of competitors. How do you compete with them?

If you are starting a business, you can compete either on price, or quality. Cultural Keys can never compete with price because there are some schools in Beijing where you pay RMB 50 for a calligraphy class. So we have to make sure that our products are the highest quality. Before we had our Guozijian experience, Nic spent a couple of weeks just walking around the hutongs, talking to people, finding out the real stories from locals who had lived there for the last 50 years.

It’s also about the personality; you can have a tour guide that just says lines like, “This was built in the 1950s,”  but you have to put your personality in it. When I go on walks with people, I put all my personality there and interact with people.

What do you most enjoy about the entrepreneurial experience? 

There is no such thing as freedom, but you know that everything you have is because of the effort you made, so whether you succeed or you fail, it’s about you. At least it gives you a sense of power in knowing that you are in control of what happens next. It’s not relaxing, or free, but it’s all about you. You are relying on yourself when you are an entrepreneur, and that empowers you.

Do you have anything else to share with kids who want to start their own business?

There are three tips that I’d like to give to any entrepreneur:

– Check things three times. Especially in China, you can get different answers from different people; you always have to check things three times no matter where you find the information.

– Make your own way. Anytime you hear meibanfa (impossible), anytime people tell you it can’t be done, don’t believe it. Because people don’t try, they will never know if there’s a banfa (possible).

– It’s always better to fail than to give up! In Kung Fu, there’s a basic posture called mabu (horse stance). When I teach horse stance, I tell people to hold it for one minute. Usually, after 15 seconds, people will stand up because it starts to hurt. However I tell them, if you have enough strength to stand up, you have enough strength to hold the pose for another five seconds, then you collapse, then you continue. You can’t learn anything through quitting, but you can learn from failure.

KEEP READING: Don’t Forget to Follow and Subscribe…: Are Beijing Teenagers Too Plugged In?

Photos: courtesy of AJ Donnelly

It can be quite easy to forget about Christmas in China as it’s not an official holiday here. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t still find the holiday spirit, and what better way to do that than to prepare a Christmas dinner and spruce up your home with all the Christmas decorations you can get your hands on! To help you find everything you need to have a Merry Christmas, here is a list of some holiday decorations to ask for from your nearest supermarket or department store, or to search for on Taobao/JingDong.

Christmas meals

– Turkey 火鸡 Huǒjī
– Carrots 胡萝卜 Húlúobo
– Mashed potatoes 土豆泥 Tǔdóuní
– Dinner rolls 小面包 Xiǎomiànbāo
– Brussel sprouts 甘蓝小包菜 Gānlán xiǎobāocài
– Green beans 豆角 dòujiăo
– Sweet potatoes 红薯 Hòngshǔ

Christmas decorations

– Holly 冬青枝 Dōngqīngzhī
– Fairy lights 灯串 Dēngchuàn
– Wreath 花环 Huāhuán
– Mistletoe 幸运枝 Xìngyùnzhī
– Christmas tree 圣诞树 Shèngdànshù
– Tree ornaments 圣诞树装饰品 Shèngdànshù zhuāngshìpǐn
– Christmas decorations 圣诞装饰 Shèngdàn zhuāngshì
– Christmas stockings 圣诞长袜 Shèngdàn chángwà

Phrases

Can you recommend a good toy shop/store?
你有推荐的玩具店吗？Nǐyǒu tuījiàn de wánjùdiàn mā？

Is there an international supermarket in this area?
这附近有什么国际超市吗？Zhèfùjìn yǒushénmē guòjì chāoshī mā？

I’m trying to find a __ .
我在找__ 。Wǒ zài zhǎo  __ .

READ MORE: Mandarin Monday: Supermarket Run Faster with This Shopping Lingo

Photos: pixabay.com

In this column, Bizkids, we will feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and professionals in which they share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindyjenkins@beijing-kids.com.

According to a new survey published today by the website The Student Room, 20 percent of students would have picked their majors differently having sampled their choice firsthand. With so many options, pithy truisms, and conflicting advice around, choosing a college major is hard. Whose advice can you trust? What are the major questions students should ask themselves before choosing their university degree? How do students know if they need a career counselor? What are those questions you might face in real life?

We invited Emily Lumb, the representative for the Morrisby China Team, to help you figure out how to choose a major in college based on her student career counseling experience. In 2015, just after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with Accounting and Finance, an opportunity arose for her to teach in Asia. It was at this point that she realized that she had a real passion for educating and supporting students. After experiencing such a change in career direction, she realized that students should be aware of all opportunities and alternative routes for their future career. This is why she represents Morrisby, an online assessment and career guidance platform, as she believes it gives students the chance to understand their unique passions and interests, and gives them practical advice on suitable and relevant career options that they will enjoy and be able to flourish in.

beijingkids: What are the top 5 questions students should ask themselves before choosing their university degree?
Emily Lumb (EL):

• What benefits will this university course offer me?
• Who am I doing this university course for? Is it for myself, or are there other people pressuring me to choose this particular university course?
• Do I enjoy this subject major enough to potentially do it my whole life?
• Is my university course choice based on high grades I have achieved in the past, or what I have the desire to do in the future?
• Have I done enough research about this course, or am I choosing based on my own assumptions?

How do students know if they need a career counselor?
EL: It is not about judging when and if students need a career counselor. All students should be provided with good career guidance. The younger students start to learn about careers, the more they understand how the subjects they learn at school are connected with their future, thus increasing motivation in class as they start to understand their end goal.

According to the UK Department of Education, “A young person with four or more encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed.” This shows students with a high exposure to employers from a young age are more employable in the future, as they have most likely identified the soft skills that employers are looking for, and are also able to navigate the challenges of choosing and applying for a first job.

Scenario Based Questions
1) “I am a senior in high school and I am not sure what I want to do in the future. How should I decide which university course is best for me?”
EL: Many seniors in high school are not sure about their future direction or what course they would like to study. It can be difficult to decide what career you may want to pursue most of your working life. The decision for your course/career won’t appear in front of you one day, it requires research and understanding yourself; the first step is to look at your unique interests, preferences, and skillset. Morrisby is a great resource for students who are unsure about their future, as it provides a detailed breakdown of their skillsets, interests and preferences, and recommends suitable jobs based on these factors. This is a great starting point for researching job descriptions and industries that you are interested in. Once you have narrowed career options, internships and work experience are a great way of further understanding if the job role is right for you. Gaining hands-on experience of the workplace environment may even open your eyes to job roles you didn’t know existed.

2) “What if my potential career doesn’t work out, is it ever too late to start my “plan b” career?”
EL: It is never too late to change careers. In fact, 96% of graduates under the age of 24 have changed their career at least once. It can be difficult to decide what you want to be in the early years of your career, but changing careers is completely reasonable and completely normal. In most jobs you will build both soft skills and hard skills. Most soft skills are transferable to other careers, such as self-confidence, communication skills, or leadership skills, and employees usually hire employees that have a high-level of soft skills. Depending on the industry you are moving into, hard skills can be more difficult to transfer. For example, if you are an accountant and you would like to be a pilot, the hard skills acquired are difficult to transfer as they are fundamentally different jobs. No career change is impossible. However, if there are specific hard skills that are required, it may be time-consuming to be trained in that field or to achieve a qualification.

3) “Should I choose a university course that I enjoy or a course that can lead to a job with higher income potential?”
EL: This is the typical job satisfaction vs financial gain problem. It is a very common issue that affects people at all ages. You need to consider the short-term and the long-term; it may be sustainable for you to endure a job you dislike for financial gain in the short-term, but usually, job satisfaction is more important in the long-term. This decision needs to be made by what you see as a higher priority. Success and happiness can be measured in different ways, and different people may be most satisfied with different choices.

Usually, people flourish in the job role that they enjoy, as they have the passion to work hard. What’s more, any industry has the potential to lead to success, even if it is not a stereotypical ‘moneymaking’ job. Being in a role you do not enjoy can hinder your progress and income potential, as it is more likely you will not have the interest and the passion to work hard. For both options, it is crucial to keep all options open by maintaining a high level of soft skills that are transferable between jobs.

4) “How much education do I really need? Can I just start my business after high school?”
EL: It is a common misconception that going to university is the only route to further education, but there are many alternatives and opportunities, such as apprenticeships, internships, degree apprenticeships, or starting work. If you have the desire to have a career that requires a more vocational route (e.g. builder, car mechanic), it is recommended to seek other alternatives, rather than going to university, as these roles require on-the-job training and experience. All these alternatives will provide the opportunity to learn new skills and build on previous skills, and they will also provide knowledge and further your education in the industry.

Starting a business requires entrepreneurial skills, experience, and education, as well as the right opportunities. It is not impossible, but it is very rare that a student finishing high school has the skill set or the network to start their own business. Attending university may be able to provide opportunities to meet and network with others interested in the industry and also provide the education they would need to start their own business. Universities can also be a great place to meet potential mentors who have experience starting their own business. Like most things when starting a business, however, this is not a requirement. Part-time work whilst attending university can provide an experience of a workplace environment and strategies they may use in their business.

If you would like to learn more about Morrisby, please contact Emily directly at emily@morrisby.cn.

KEEP READING: The Beijinger Pizza Cup is Back!

Photos: courtesy of Emily Lumb, pexels

In this column, Bizkids, we will feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and various professionals to share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindyjenkins@beijing-kids.com.

The importance of business and entrepreneurial experiences for teens is increasingly recognized. Are you or your teen ready to leave the nest and take the challenge? Once you have an idea, the very first step to introduce it to others is using an elevator pitch. As a brief, persuasive speech, you can use an elevator pitch to spark interest in your idea to potential clients or customers who don’t know you. 

This time, our featured professional is James LaLonde, co-founder, investor, and board member of Yodo1 and currently driving several growth project teams. LaLonde started his career as an early employee of Microsoft Japan and led the subsidiary’s rise to the first billion-dollar revenue of a software company in history. After his nearly 15-year corporate career, which culminated in a role as CEO of a NASDAQ listed software company, LaLonde with partner Henry Fong co-founded Yodo1, the largest private publisher of mobile phone games in China. Many of his ideas, best practices, and advice can be found in his most recent book The Tao of Startups.

Here, he has listed six key points about elevator pitches to help you introduce yourself to potential career and business connections in a compelling way.

1. Smile and relax

Smile at your counterpart, look them in the eyes, and open with a statement, question, or handshake that grabs their attention.

2. Describe yourself

Tell them who you are: describe yourself and your career highlights. Show enthusiasm!

3. What do you offer the listener?

Talk about the milestones you have accomplished, problems you have solved, or contributions you have made. Give details or a clear example if possible.

4. What benefits do you or your product offer?

Mention what unique service, product or solutions you or your company offers. What are the advantages of working with you? How are you different from others?

5. How do you do it? What is your “special sauce”?

Give a concrete example or tell a short story, anecdote, or analogy, show your uniqueness and paint a verbal picture of how you “do” the thing you do. This can be incorporated into number 4 above to save time.

6. Call to action

What is the desired next step after your elevator pitch? Do you want a business card, WeChat connection, a referral, follow up meeting, or demo?

KEEP READING: So You Want To Be a Game Developer: What It Takes To Make Gaming a Career

Photo: courtesy of James LaLonde, beijing-kids.com

In this column, Bizkids, we will feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and various professionals and share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindy-jenkins@beijing-kids.com.

Schools are increasingly placing greater importance on improving the public speaking skills of their students, and parents are also taking note of just how critical of a skill it can be in developing the social and academic growth of their children. With that in mind, Bizkids interviewed three experts in the field of public speaking to share their ideas and opinions about the importance of public speaking for children, and what it takes to become a more effective public speaker.

This week, we have invited Tania Boicova to share her ideas. Tania Boicova is an educator focused on helping young learners (age 4-12) to develop leadership skills by using drama and public speaking. She’s been working with thousands of students across Beijing and has more than eight years of experience in teaching, facilitating, and consulting. Being a part of the largest European student union (AEGEE-Europe), she has worked with diverse youth groups back in Europe, and this led her to continue her work in China in 2012 when she joined a UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers project in Beijing, Shandong, and Jiangxi organized by the Chinese Society of Education (CSE). She has represented CSE at an international conference on volunteering & intercultural dialogue in Saudi Arabia in 2013.

Beijingkids (BJK): What would you say are the most critical elements that someone should learn to become more skilled in this area?
Tania Boicova (TB): I believe that’s regular practice speaking in front of an audience. In fact, especially at the beginning, it doesn’t really matter where and when, and how many people you are presenting to. I remember myself as a kid performing my favorite poem anywhere I went, even at bus stops, on the train, and while visiting my family or friends. I often took part in public speaking contests at school. Despite the fear (that was there every single time), my skills got better and better through time.

BJK: Do you believe that there is a growing tendency (among adults and kids) to communicate through social media or other digital platforms and that this has damaged our ability to communicate publicly?
TB: I believe social media has a huge impact on kids. There was no social media or even mobile phones when I was a child, so we had no choice but to communicate with each other face to face. Therefore, we grew up and developed our ability to communicate publicly quite naturally. Most kids now have their own mobile phone, and they often spend hours playing games or talking through social media. It definitely has an impact on their interpersonal communication skills since they can’t hide their true appearance and identity behind a “profile photo” and nickname.

BJK: What are some simple things parents can do to help their kids build foundational skills in public speaking outside of school?
TB: There are many things parents can actually do. They can help them practice public speaking at home or anywhere they go together. It can be done by way of a game or competition among family friends (just for fun). I remember that we used to act out different stories or just different characters during my mom’s or dad’s birthday parties. They actually asked me to do all the preparation, but we would act and do the drama part altogether. That was so much fun! When you’re a child and see adults performing “silly things” or making mistakes, you get so much more courage to do things better! What’s more important, you get more courage to be “yourself”, be silly, be crazy, be different, no matter what others think of you. I think this is one of the most important things parents can actually share and help their kids with.

BJK: Finally, what do you feel are the most essential elements towards crafting a good speech and communicating clearly to an audience?
TB: In my opinion, one of the most important elements is to have a clear idea. What do you want to share with the audience? What’s the core message? When it’s clear, it’s not difficult to write down a good speech. When you share an idea that people can relate themselves to (in a very meaningful aspect), you’ll be able to win their hearts. Another very important element is THE WAY you present your speech. How do you transfer that meaningful idea to your audience? Our voice can be very powerful, but so is silence: the pauses in the right places that let your audience think and connect with your words and FEELINGS (emotions). I believe that the most memorable speeches in history were all quite emotional: the ones that can touch people deeply and have an impact on their lives.

KEEP READING: BIBA Students Navigate Resilience and Independence Through Duke of Edinburgh Awards Program

Photo: courtesy of Tania Boicova, unsplash.com

In this column, Bizkids, we will feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and various professionals and share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindyjenkins@beijing-kids.com.

Public speaking is an invaluable skill that can be applied to a multitude of fields ranging from academia, business, and the arts, to everyday life. Therefore, improving one’s public speaking skills should not be put off until a later age, and should be emphasized as early as possible. With that in mind, beijingkids interviewed three experts in the field of public speaking to share their ideas and opinions about the importance of public speaking for children, and what it takes to become a more effective public speaker.

This week, we have asked Martin Barnes to share his ideas. Martin Barnes is a London-trained graphic designer with 18 years of creative experience in advertising, graphic design, branding, events, pitching, and presentations: four years in London and 14 years in Beijing. In 2010 he was invited to give a TEDx Beijing talk. He now runs a creative studio, Mountains of Imagination (MoI), which specializes in presentation consultancy.

beijingkids: What would you say are the most critical first steps that someone should take to become more skilled in this area?
Martin Barnes (MB):  Have fun. The results are so much better, as your audience will enjoy your performance, and you will make an excellent impression. Then, tell a story that relates to people, and let the people you are talking to see themselves in the solution so they can receive a really clear insight. Remember to prepare and warm-up. This is massively underrated; the best way to do this is with breathing and stretching.

Do you believe that there is a growing tendency (among adults and kids) to communicate through social media or other digital platforms, and that this has damaged our ability to communicate publicly?
MB: In some sense we communicate more now than ever — writing messages, sending photos like postcards, and it is emotional. The exciting thing with public speaking is it is an evergreen skill, it will always be essential to generate awareness. Social media is a channel of engagement and communication that we are using now; it will change, but our desire to communicate will keep as it is.

What are some simple things parents can be doing to help their kids build foundational skills in public speaking outside of school?
MB: Ask them fun, interesting questions and ask them to explain why they made their choice. Let them know it is not a right or wrong answer question, but about sharing ideas. It is not about facts but storytelling and connecting.

What do you feel are the most essential elements of crafting a good speech and communicating clearly to an audience?
MB: The best thing you can do to improve your presentation skills is to spend five minutes and really think about your audience and ask these six questions: What story do you want them to tell about you afterward? What key insight do you want them to connect with? How long are you presenting for? How will they describe you to other people? What insight will swim around their head for a week? How long is the presentation? Don’t over pitch. Moreover, pitch yourself to your phone, and listen back to your performance and think about one thing you want to improve.

Photos: courtesy of Martin Barnes

Becoming a confident and adept public speaker is something that many people strive for, but often do not know the first step towards reaching their goal. With that in mind, beijingkids interviewed experts in the field of public speaking, to explore their ideas and opinions about the importance of confident speaking for young people, and some practical steps to take towards acquiring these skills.

This week, we invited Mark Regan to share his ideas. Mark Regan is a dynamic and high-performing business leader with a unique background in advice, business development, sales consulting, training, and broadcasting. With a background in Linguistics and having worked in fields that extensively rely on the need for strong communication abilities, he has developed valuable experience in the skill sets needed for public speaking, negotiation, media presentation, and promotion. Less well known is that Mark is a prominent voice actor; having applied his skills over the last 10 years in a wide range of international commercials, television programs, cartoons, movies, documentaries, and video games.

Beijingkids: What would you say are the most critical elements (or first steps) that someone should learn to become more skilled in this area?

Mark Regan (MR): One critical element to public speaking is confidence. Take in a deep breath, relax, and be yourself when you’re presenting any type of material, in a calm and confident manner; this allows a person to stop focusing on the ‘fear’ of standing in front of an audience, but instead to focus on what they want to say, how they want to say it, and really start to engage an audience.

Confidence takes time to develop, especially when starting out. For people who feel they may lack the confidence to stand up on the stage and present, the advice I offer is simply “pretend you have confidence!”  It sounds a bit silly, but the idea is that you imagine what a confident person would look and sound like, and attempt to emulate that image. Surprisingly, it works very well – and over time, that person can develop their own speaking personality for their public speaking needs.

Many schools are beginning to shift their classroom learning environment from being teacher-led to more student-led, with teachers acting as facilitators. Is this shift helping students to become more confident speakers?

MR: From my perspective and understanding; absolutely!  A teacher-led classroom certainly does have its merits, but more often than not, it’s about following a curriculum designed to prepare students for test-taking.  Some students may engage with the material more than others, while others can simply ‘memorize’ what they need to know and leave it at that.

Transitioning into a more student-led classroom gives both students and the teachers room to expand beyond the curriculum, which in my opinion, is more of a guideline of what important aspects of the class the students should learn about. However, in the student-led model, my view is that the teachers are actively getting the students to engage, expand upon the material, bring new interesting perspectives to the table, and have the opportunity to spin off new classroom and life lessons that, while difficult to strictly measure, build an environment that cultivates personal growth on top of the learning material.

To answer the question: if students are in an environment where they are expected to engage, lead, and perform critical thinking tasks – they naturally will need to speak up more! This helps build confidence in speakers, which is a life skill necessary to tackle most aspects of our daily life and builds a solid foundation for a strong future.  We remember confident speakers, and we tend to forget those who say nothing…

What are some simple things parents can be doing to help their kids build foundational skills in public speaking outside of school?

MR: Encouragement is the single most important thing a parent can do to help their kids build their foundational skills. When we encourage our children, we are telling them it’s OK to explore, it’s OK to try new things, it’s OK to speak up, and it’s OK to be yourself!

The environment we put ourselves within also tends to dictate our responses to the situations we come across. If someone’s daughter has an amazing talent for singing, it’s likely best that we’ll want to put her in an environment that allows that talent to thrive.  If someone’s son is interested in drawing, we should encourage that behavior, because it’s a talent that has drawn (no pun intended) their interest.

Obviously, school and study are important – however, there is much more that makes up a person beyond their technical knowledge and talents. One overlooked aspect is the importance of “soft skills” which are about applying knowledge of various kinds into situations that are more open-ended, such as confidence, inspiration, trustworthiness, effective body language, persuasion, and more. These are character-driven building blocks; which all start with encouragement.

Listen to your kids – they have ideas, thoughts, dreams, and aspirations; and find ways to encourage them to pursue them! Challenge them to think critically about the thoughts they share and above all, help them to believe in themselves – that level of support is of the utmost importance as they are growing up, and will carry them further in school, skill, and life than any amount of homework ever could.

Finally, what do you feel are the most essential elements towards crafting a good speech and communicating clearly to an audience?

MR: Great speeches actively engage their audience; which can be accomplished through a couple of ways and does depend on the ‘mode’ or context of the speech that is being presented. Having a couple of witty jokes or interesting ‘attention-grabbers’ is one way to start off strongly in any presentation, as it will captivate your audience to ‘zero-in’ on what you are saying. Rhetorical questions are another tool often used to put the audience in a position of reflection – to consider what you are saying and why it is important.

When we are communicating to any audience, the first questions we ask ourselves are “what do I want to say” and “why is this important”. Once we can break down those thoughts into answers, our job is to craft the delivery of the information in a manner that any audience would like to listen to. We can do this in several different ways – no single style of public speaking is “correct”, but rather it’s about the “HOW” we say something, and usually that’s what an audience will remember most.

A comedy show must have laughs; a diplomatic discussion needs to be civil; a debate between two opponents should have critical thinking, persuasion, and reflection; a leader should be inspirational…each format will be different, but the same foundational abilities apply throughout every type of speech.

Find your personality, your strength, your style, and character. Be confident, speak clearly, show some emotion, and engage the audience. Remember that what you want to say is important, should be shared, and can make a difference – and to not let all the fear, doubts, and worries hold you back.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

MR: Public speaking is easy to do, difficult to master. It’s one of those life skills that we’ll continually use and practice using throughout our entire lives, whether it’s on a big stage or just speaking up in an office meeting.

For those who are worried about what other people may think, my advice is simply “don’t”. Most people are so concerned with their own lives that they’ll seldom think about your actions. Once you realize this, it’s easier to just focus on being the best version of yourself you can be – and in the environment of public speaking, showcase that confidence and personality to your audience.

In fact, you may just end up inspiring others to follow in your footsteps!  When we share our ideas, thoughts, and self with an audience, remember they are all there to see and hear you speak… so give them something to remember!

KEEP READING: Managing the Stress of School WeChat Groups

Photo: courtesy of Mark Regan; Unsplash.com

Beijingkids has been an essential resource for Beijing’s international families since 2006. And just as kids grow up in the blink of an eye, Beijing has grown and changed almost beyond recognition in that time. While researching how to start an allowance for kids, I found this wonderful wallet craft from our March/April issue last spring! While we prepare for the season of giving, let’s start with making a wallet so kids can learn the responsibility of paper money.

After living in China for a while, it can be easy to forget what cash actually looks like! Since every purchase or bill is payable with a touch of a button on our phones, cash seems to serve no purpose other than taking up space in our pockets and bags. However, there are still a select few of us who carry wallets everywhere we go and find joy in paying in cash rather than browsing through our phones to open up Alipay or WeChat.

Maggie, a five and a half-year-old student from Ivy Academy, says that her mom still likes to use her wallet, so as part of our Money and Finance issue, she made her mom a homemade wallet with the help of her teacher, Hana Burazerovic.

Here are the materials and steps you’ll need to do the same with your kids, whether it’s to give them their very first wallet or finally start carrying one of your own for the first time in China!

What You’ll Need

• Scissors
• Colorful mini cotton balls
• Stickers of your choice
• Tape (masking or scotch are both fine), double-sided tape or glue, velcro
• 3 to 5 sheets of construction paper, any color, or zig-zag papers (pictured)
• Colored markers and rhinestone jewels

Step 1: Choose a piece of paper (Maggie chose pink here) that will be used for the outer cover and fold it into three sections.

Step 2: Pick out another piece of paper that is the same size as the first for the wallet’s inside (Maggie chose purple here). Fold the paper into three sections. Cut along the lines.

Step 3: Choose two pieces of the paper (purple) you just cut and fold them in half, individually. Then fold the two pieces in by a few centimeters, turn the pieces over, and repeat until they are all folded in like a paper fan.

Step 4: Cut two strips of the double-sided tape and stick it on two sides of one piece of the paper (here, purple). Repeat the same step with another piece of paper (also purple). Peel the tape and stick it to the two edges of the other paper (pink). Press along the edges and fold.

Step 5: Cut out two pieces of velcro. Place one of the velcro strips on the inner part of the envelope and place the other on the other side, situated in the middle of the paper so that they can be fastened together.

Step 6: Choose whatever jewels you like and stick them on the wallet and write your name on it — decorate it however you please!

KEEP READING: What on Earth Can Kids Do About Climate Change? Ask the Keystone Academy!

Photos: Uni You

This article first appeared in the beijingkids 2020 March-April issue

Seeing as today starts Halloween weekend, what could be better than having a creative day before all the trick-a-treating, and let the kids make fun Halloween DIY crafts? We take a look back on what now 8-year-old Robbie from House of Knowledge made for the 2019 October issue of beijingkids’ Maker’s Corner section. 

When it comes to Halloween, there is no spooky theme or format off-limits to decorate your house. Every year, no matter how tastefully terrifying or terrifyingly tacky your handicraft, spending time with your little ones to make decorations provides a great opportunity for family fun!

For this month’s Maker’s Corner, Robbie, a 7-year-old student from House of Knowledge, along with his teacher Marianna Wilde, made a happy Halloween grave bat flying in the moon. Robbie drew a lot of stars for the sky, including a make-a-wish shooting star. With his bat’s big smile, we believe he will greet trick-or-treaters in a cute way this Halloween.

The instructions below are only guidelines. Feel free to encourage your kids to use their creativity to decorate their bat craft however they like.

What You’ll Need

• Paint
• Stapler
• Scissors
• Double-sided tape/glue
• 1 black thick paper card
• 2 paper plates
• 2 colored craft sticks
• 2-3 paintbrushes
• Printable bat and graveyard craft templates

Instructions

Print and cut out the bat and graveyard craft templates. Paint the back of one of the paper plates black.

(Graveyard) Use the double-sided tape to place the graveyard template on the inner circle of the black plate and draw around the graveyard. Cut out the middle of the plate following the drawn lines.

(Sky) Paint the front of another paper plate blue. When it’s dried, add stars to your blue night sky.

(Bat) Place the bat template on the black thick card, draw around it, and cut out the paper following the drawn lines. Add eyes and a smile or teeth to your bat. You will need to put together two-colored craft sticks and stick the bat onto one end.

(Moon) Draw a moon on the scrap plate and cut it out. Then you can glue it onto the rim of the black plate.

Lay the graveyard plate on top of the blue sky plate and place the bat with the glued sticks in between, then staple all around the two paper plates. Don’t forget to leave a section at the bottom open so you can move the bat puppet from side to side.

This article appeared in the beijingkids October 2019 Best Friends Fur-ever issue

KEEP READING: Say Boo! Brush Up on Your Halloween Vocabulary 

Photos: Uni You