Speak Out Stand Out by Green Communications

Elizabeth Green
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out by Green Communications / My Speech and Debate Coach, the ultimate podcast for enhancing your child's communication skills.   Join us as we explore effective strategies to empower the younger generation in making a positive impact on the world. Whether you're a parent, educator, or passionate about today's youth, this podcast is your guide to nurturing confident voices for a brighter future. Tune in to unlock the power of communication, one voice at a time.

  1. 6h ago

    What If Parenting Is Mostly Learning To Listen | Corine LaFont

    Your child is talking, you’re half listening, and your brain is already drafting the response. We’ve all been there and it quietly chips away at trust. I’m Elizabeth Green, and in this episode I sit down with strategic communication specialist Corine LaFont to unpack a simple idea with big impact: kids can teach adults how to communicate better, starting with how we listen at home. Corinne shares the skills she leans on professionally and as a mom of two: observing body language, listening past the literal words, and resisting the urge to interrupt. We talk about the discipline of holding your thoughts, writing down the question you want to ask, and giving your child the courtesy of finishing their story. That space not only helps kids feel heard, it helps us reframe our questions with more empathy and less heat. We also get practical about hard moments. For toddlers and young kids, Corinne explains why meeting chaos with chaos makes tantrums worse and how calm, steady leadership can de-escalate faster. For teens, we dig into silence, autonomy, and why pushing for answers often backfires. One of my favorite takeaways: our parenting has to evolve by phase, because the way we communicate with a 2-year-old cannot be the way we communicate with a 16-year-old. If you care about parenting communication, active listening, emotional regulation, and raising confident kids who can speak up in the real world, this conversation delivers tools you can use today. Subscribe, share with a parent friend, and leave a review so more families can find the show. Connect with Corine on LinkedIn. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  2. Aug 10

    Teach Kids To Speak Up | Samantha Taylor

    IEP meetings can feel like walking into a room where everyone speaks a different language and you’re expected to keep up. We sit down with Samantha Taylor, founder of Olive Speech Therapy and the Empowered Parent Network, to talk about how families can move from overwhelmed to grounded and confident when navigating special education services, accommodations, and school communication. Samantha brings both professional expertise as a pediatric speech-language pathologist and lived experience as a mom raising a deaf son and a son with ADHD.  We dig into what actually helps before a first IEP meeting: doing light research, learning basic terminology, and showing up ready to collaborate instead of brace for a fight. Samantha explains why you are the key voice at the table, how to ask the questions you’re worried will sound “dumb,” and why it’s worth asking for what your child needs even if you end up compromising. We also talk about the emotional side, including how fear, uncertainty, and past experiences can make advocacy harder than it looks on paper.  Then we shift to the long game: teaching kids self-advocacy skills they can use in real life. We share ways to model “advocating with grace,” create a home culture where kids can ask why and express feelings respectfully, and build practice into everyday routines like dinner, car rides, and simple errands. For middle school and high school, Samantha offers concrete strategies like co-writing an email to a teacher, stepping back during introductions, and role playing different responses so kids feel prepared rather than panicked.  If you want calmer IEP meetings, stronger communication, and kids who can speak up for themselves without burning bridges, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a parent who needs support, and leave a review telling us what advocacy skill you’re working on right now. Connect with Samantha Visit the Empowered Parent Network website and join the newsletter to get the FREE guide, "5 Things to Say in an IEP Meeting." Then check out Parenthood Unscripted on Instagram, and Olive Speech Therapy on Instagram and Facebook. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  3. Aug 3

    Stop The Anger Spiral

    A tense moment hits and your brain goes straight to fight, flight, or freeze. The scary part is how fast that reflex can turn a normal disagreement into yelling, shutdowns, or patterns that feel impossible to break. We sit down with educator, psychologist, and domestic violence prevention researcher Dr. Denise Healy to talk about what actually helps families stay nonviolent, connected, and emotionally safe, especially when stress is high. We trace her path from working with women and children in shelters to “flipping the script” toward prevention and accountability, including virtual classes designed to help people change violent behavior. Then we get practical: active listening without judgment, a simple body-level reset that starts with averting your eyes, and the surprisingly powerful “what” question like “What’s my next best step?” that shifts you back into problem solving. If you’re parenting a teen, we also dig into homework fights, miscommunication, and why school dynamics and bullying can make a capable kid feel unsafe and fall apart. We also zoom out to the relationship habits that kids watch every day: putting down defensive “shields,” using appreciation to rebuild trust, and creating a new cycle that replaces denial with awareness and tension with problem solving. Dr. Healy shares resources at S2S DV Online plus her books Mending Broken Connections and Christopher’s Anger for younger kids. Connect with Dr. Healy Check out Streets2Schools, book her as a speaker or see her upcoming events, or connect with her on LinkedIn or Instagram. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a parent or partner, and leave a review so more families can find these anger management and domestic violence prevention tools. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  4. Jul 27

    Winn Schwartau: Critical Ignoring For Digital Life

    Your kid is going to see the internet, even if you try to block it forever, so we bring in a voice who has been studying the digital world from the beginning. Cybersecurity expert, author, and futurist Winn Schwartau joins us to answer the question parents ask most: “How can I protect my kids online?” His response is blunt and strangely reassuring: you can’t, not completely. What you can do is get serious about tools, involvement, and a simple security mindset that works everywhere from banks to families: detect and react. We unpack what healthy digital habits actually look like at home, starting with screen time limits and why the type of screen matters as much as the number of hours. We talk about social media addiction, the like button as a reward loop, and why hundreds of online “friends” can warp teen identity and fuel insecurity. Wynne also explains research suggesting kids raised on constant tech may be wired differently, and why real human connection still takes time and effort. Then we go deeper into misinformation, attention economics, and Winn's upcoming concept of “critical ignoring,” a practical way to fight information overload before it becomes a brain-level DDoS attack. You’ll hear simple filters like “I don’t care” and “I don’t have time,” why “do your own research” is often a red flag, and how to approach source verification with “trust nothing, verify twice.” If you’re looking for online safety tips for parents, media literacy for teens, and digital wellbeing strategies that don’t rely on fear, this conversation delivers. Connect with Winn Check out the book The Art & Science of Metawar: How to Coexist With AI-Driven Reality Distortion, Disinformation, & Addiction in the Metaverse. You can also contact Winn on Instagram. If this helps, subscribe, share with a parent friend, and leave a review so more families can find the show. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  5. Jun 16

    Supporting Your LGBTQ Child Starts With Listening

    The first thing you say after someone comes out can either open a door for the rest of their life or quietly slam it shut. We sit down with Heather Hester, host of More Human, More Kind and author of Parenting with Pride, to talk about what real LGBTQ allyship looks like inside a family. Heather shares the moment her oldest son came out and how fear, relief, and love collided at once, then walks us through the long stretch afterward: supporting an LGBTQ teen, parenting other kids at the same time, and learning how to communicate when you realize your “normal” way of talking isn’t working anymore. We get specific about the phrases people blurt out when they’re caught off guard. Heather breaks down why “Are you sure?” is one of the worst questions you can ask, why “I’m worried about your future” can translate as “something is wrong with you,” and how to repair when you’ve already said the wrong thing. You’ll also hear simple, practical alternatives you can use immediately, including a go-to response that keeps the moment loving while you catch your breath: “Thank you for telling me.” Because silence sends a message too, we also talk about Pride Month, Christian allyship, and how to have age-appropriate conversations with kids without making it weird, scary, or overly detailed. If you want your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or friend to feel safe with you, this conversation gives you language, mindset shifts, and next steps that actually work. Connect with Heather Subscribe to Heather's Substack here, find her on Instagram @morehumanmorekind, or on LinkedIn here.  Subscribe for more honest conversations, share this with someone who wants to show up better, and leave a review with the one sentence you want every kid to hear first. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  6. Jun 8

    Confidence Grows When You Practice Small Risks

    “Get out of your comfort zone” sounds inspiring until it lands your kid in full panic. We sit down with Lorraine Connell, TEDx speaker, author, and founder of Peers, Not Fears and the Speak Boldly Showcase, to talk about a more realistic way to build confidence and communication skills in kids and teens without pushing them past their edge.  We break down Lorraine’s three-circle model of the comfort zone, the challenge zone (growth zone), and the panic zone, plus what panic can look like in real life: shutting down, avoiding, hiding, or snapping in anger. From there, we get practical. Lorraine shares how she uses simple games to help students take safe risks, reflect on what worked, and discover that confidence is something you can practice into existence. We also talk about how the same task changes difficulty depending on the environment, and how parents can “scale” challenges so kids keep moving forward.  You’ll leave with concrete parenting strategies like giving your family a shared language for anxiety, building small daily reps (ordering food, asking a question in a store, starting a conversation), and using conversation starters to prepare for stressful moments like a new school lunchroom. Lorraine also explains tools from her workbook, including values work, scripts for difficult conversations, and a relationship web that helps kids see which friendships feel balanced and which ones drain them. If you care about youth leadership, social skills, and public speaking confidence, this one is packed with doable next steps.  Connect with Lorrainne Find her on LinkedIn, join her "Leadership for our Kids" Facebook group, or find her on Instagram @peersnotfears. Grab your freebie: 10 prompts to help teens think through challenging situations before they happen. If this helps, subscribe, share it with a parent or teacher, and leave a review so more families can find these tools. What’s one “challenge zone” step you want to try this week? Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  7. Jun 2

    You Can Train Your Brain To Chase Better Rewards

    Your brain isn’t broken, lazy, or “addicted to the internet” in some mysterious way. It’s doing what it evolved to do: chase rewards, seek safety, and size up social status using a handful of powerful chemicals. We sit down with Loretta Breuning, author of *Habits of a Happy Brain*, to translate dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and cortisol into real life, especially the messy reality of raising kids while trying to stay grounded yourself. We talk about dopamine as the feeling of “I’m about to get something I need,” why that shows up as scrolling, snacking, or shopping, and how to replace one narrow dopamine source with healthier options. Loretta also explains mirror neurons and why kids mirror what we do when we’re stressed, soothed, proud, or checked out. If you want children to build a calmer relationship with technology, the starting point is often modeling what balanced use looks like, including intentional breaks and clear stop points. From there we dig into serotonin as the fast, fleeting “I’m winning” signal that drives social comparison for adults and kids alike, plus oxytocin as the reward of earned trust rather than instant connection. We close with cortisol, your brain’s built-in reverse gear, and why a 20-minute cooldown can beat any lecture in the middle of a blowup. If you’re looking for practical brain science, parenting tools, and a more realistic definition of happiness, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a quick review so more parents can find it. Connect with Loretta Get your free 5-day happy chemical jumpstart here, or visit Loretta on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

  8. May 19

    The Five C’s Of Communication

    Your teen is upset, you’re frustrated, and suddenly a simple “no” turns into a full-blown argument. That moment can feel impossible to recover from, especially when you’re trying to hold boundaries and still keep your relationship intact. We wanted a practical, real-life way to bring the temperature down without shutting the conversation down. We’re joined by Amy Saloner, a parent and teen coach focused on adolescent well-being, resilience, and helping young people grow into confident, on-purpose adults. Amy shares her Five C’s of communication: calm, consent, communicate, curiosity, and clarity. We talk about why you can’t solve problems from an escalated emotional state, how asking “Is now a good time to talk?” prevents unnecessary blowups, and how a simple nonviolent communication map (observations, feelings, needs, requests) can turn blame into collaboration. We also dig into what many parents need most: rupture and repair. When you react out of fear, you can still go back, take responsibility, apologize, and reconnect. Amy explains why “connect before correct” matters, how reflective listening builds emotional safety, and why these skills shape everything from friendships and college transitions to leadership, negotiation, and healthy boundaries. Subscribe for more practical parenting tools, share this with a friend raising teens, and leave a review so more families can find these communication skills. What’s the hardest part for you right now: staying calm, getting consent, or staying curious? Connect with Amy Get your own copy of The Cs of Communication and The Communication Map here, or find her on Facebook or Instagram.  Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out — the show where we build confidence in our future, one voice at a time. I’m your host, Elizabeth Green. I grew up shy, so I know firsthand how life-changing it can be when someone helps you find your voice. Now, I get to help kids and teens do exactly that — and this podcast is a place to share those tools with you. Each week, I talk with experts and inspiring guests about simple, practical and tangible ways to help the young people in Thanks for listing! Be sure to check out the show notes for additional resources including a free public speaking lesson and 52 fun practice prompts.  And if you enjoyed what you heard today, please give us a follow.  Thanks for Listening to Speak Out, Stand Out Like what you hear? We would love if you would rate and review our podcast so it can reach more families. Also - grab our free mini lesson on impromptu speaking here. This is ideal for kids ages 6+. Interested in checking out our Public Speaking & Debate courses? Find more here!

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Welcome to Speak Out Stand Out by Green Communications / My Speech and Debate Coach, the ultimate podcast for enhancing your child's communication skills.   Join us as we explore effective strategies to empower the younger generation in making a positive impact on the world. Whether you're a parent, educator, or passionate about today's youth, this podcast is your guide to nurturing confident voices for a brighter future. Tune in to unlock the power of communication, one voice at a time.

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