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How often should my child have public speaking sessions?
Answered by Ghalia Aamer, Founder, TalkMaze
Updated September 29, 2026 · 2 min read
The short answer
Once a week is the right rhythm for most students. It is frequent enough that skills carry over from one session to the next, with time in between to try them at school. Add a second weekly session in the few weeks before a big event such as a competition, an interview or a major speech.
Speaking skills build on each other. A student learns to structure a two-minute talk, then to deliver it with pauses, then to handle a question at the end. With a week between sessions, they remember last week's skill and have had a chance to use it in class. With a month between sessions, each one starts with a review of what was forgotten.
A rough guide by situation
| Situation | Suggested rhythm | |
|---|---|---|
| Building general confidence and skills | Once a week | |
| Nervous or reluctant speaker | Once a week, same coach, for steady trust | |
| Competition, audition or interview in 3 to 6 weeks | Twice a week until the event | |
| Speech in under two weeks | Two or three focused sessions, then back to weekly | |
| Maintaining skills after a strong year | Every other week |
Consistency matters more than intensity. In our experience, a student who does one session a week for six months improves more than one who does three a week for a month and stops. The skill needs time to become automatic, and nerves fade through repeated success over weeks.
For how long it takes to see results, see how long it takes to get better at public speaking.
How a coach works on this
TalkMaze programs are built on weekly 1-on-1 sessions with the same coach, in 3, 6 and 12-month tracks, so skills carry over from one week to the next. See pricing for the current options.
TalkMaze offers 1-on-1 online public speaking and debate coaching for students ages 5 to 17. Founder Ghalia Aamer is a national debate competitor, TEDx speaker, and Princess Diana Award recipient, and every coach is trained on the method she built.
Parents also ask
How long should each session be?
Long enough for a warm-up, one focused skill and a full run-through with feedback, which for most students is under an hour. Younger students often do better with shorter, more active sessions, and a good coach adjusts for that.
Is twice a week too much for a young child?
Usually, yes, outside of a short push before an event. Young students progress well on a weekly rhythm with a few minutes of play-based practice at home.
Related reading
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