Ask Thierry Henry your confidence related questions ahead of his Sky Academy Confidence Month event - £250 Love2Shop voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

UPDATE on 22nd October: We're now offering MNers the chance to ask their confidence related questions to former football superstar Thierry Henry. Thierry is hosting a Sky Sports Living For Sport day on Tuesday 27th October. Post your questions for Thierry here before midnight on Monday 26th October. We will then post a link to his answers in November.

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Davina McCall, Jessica Ennis-Hill CBE and Thierry Henry are supporting Sky Academy - a set of initiatives run by Sky that use the power of TV, creativity and sport to help young people unlock their potential.

Sky Academy has recently launched a Confidence Month in a bid to highlight the importance of confidence in young people's development. As part of the campaign, Sky is showcasing its five Sky Academy initiatives which each aim to build practical skills, experience and confidence, with the aim of helping one million young people by 2020.

To celebrate Sky Academy's Confidence Month, we're offering MNers a chance to post questions for Davina and Jessica, themed around confidence, whether that's confidence in your DC's life or confidence issues Davina and Jessica may have faced in their careers. You have until midnight this Wednesday 30th September to post your questions for Davina and until midnight Tuesday 20th October, see below for further details.

The initiatives - Sky Sports Living for Sport, Sky Academy Skills Studios, Sky Academy Careers Lab, Sky Academy Starting Out and Sky Academy Scholarships - harness Sky's strengths in media and technology, as well as the passion and expertise of its well-known faces and people.

• Sky Sports Living for Sport is made up of multi-week and one-day sports projects with schools throughout the UK and Ireland. Founded on the belief that sport has the power to transform young people's lives, the initiative aims to help young people build practical skills and self-confidence.
• Sky Academy Skills Studios is an interactive learning experience giving eight to 18-year-olds the chance to use the latest broadcast technology to make a TV report on subjects they are studying at school. It combines a behind-the-scenes tour at Sky's offices with a hands-on experience of its purpose-built studios where the students write, produce and direct their own short news bulletin.
• Sky Academy Careers Lab is a full-day careers experience giving 16 to 19 year-olds the chance to take part in practical workplace challenges and learn about careers in media, business and technology.
• Sky Academy Starting Out opens up Sky to young people, offering experience and employment opportunities to help them prepare for the world of work.
• Sky Academy Scholarships is a bursary scheme that supports some of the most exciting emerging talent in the worlds of sport and the arts. As well as financial backing, the scholarships provide assistance and mentoring from Sky's staff and other experts.

For more information on Sky Academy, visit www.sky.com/academy or follow Sky Academy on Twitter @SkyAcademy

Davina will be attending Sky Academy Careers Lab on Thursday 1st October and Jessica will be hosting a Sky Academy Confidence Day on Thursday 22nd October. Post your questions to Davina here before midnight on Wednesday 30th September and Jessica before midnight on Tuesday 20th October and we will send 20 questions for them to respond to. We will then post a link to Davina's responses back on the thread on 19th October and a link to Jessica's answers on 9th November.

Everyone who adds a question (regardless of whether it's answered or not) will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

This Q&A is sponsored by Sky.

Thanks
MNHQ

Merry we have that to, it's divided into their house teams.

I would just like my ds to get a sticker saying winner when he wins the 100m. Maybe I'm being overly precious

How do you learn to say no?

My DS is only 3 but already seems to lack confidence in certain situations despite our efforts to 'big him up', praise him, tell him how great he is, etc.
Other children seem to pick up on it too with comments like 'why are you not talking?' or 'why are you quiet?' etc.
I don't want it to be an issue at all and know he is so little still - I just wondered if you had any advice on what (if anything) we should do?

Thank you.

How do you manage perfectionism and putting too much pressure on yourself?

My DD is good at maths but this week her teacher pulled her dad aside at pick-up to say that she had got something wrong in her maths at school and had burst into tears and couldn't stop crying for the rest of the lesson! It was suggested that we talk to her about it being OK to make mistakes. We aren't pushy parents at all, and it isn't a particularly pushy school. This had been a bit of a problem last year and her previous teacher had spent a lot of time telling her that mistakes in her work are completely fine and normal which did improve things, but sometimes she just gets inconsolable about it. We just keep reassuring her that it's OK to make a mistake.

Similar to other posters, how to encourage a positive attitude to give all sports a go, but not to get upset when not being picked for teams, winning etc.

I'd like to know how to find confidence after experiencing disadvantages which put you in a worse position than those you're competing with, whether that's disabilities, illness or difficult life circumstances. So much in society pretends that everyone starts on the same level but with my dc their disabilities and early life difficulties makes it hard to see how they can ever do well, and they're not fooled by token efforts towards those with special needs.

Sounds great and like many i'd like to know more about how schools can be put forward for this. Where is it being advertised - will the schools be selected according to criteria? Will it be state schools only?

"Fake it till you make it". A good strategy, or one that stops you being true to yourself?

How do you help children to become less anxious in social situation and to develop their confidence in new situations particularly when they have a quiet nature and personality?

As a mum of two babies myself I'm sure you can relate how do you get the confidence to get back into exercise?

Do either of you ever experience a crisis of confidence now? If so how do you deal with it?

Dear Sky
How do you reconcile the availability of porn channels on your family packages (that you have to actively opt out of), with women's self confidence?

HTH

What are your best techniques for instilling everyday confidence in a family member without focusing on a particular skill or talent?

How would you suggest boosting a childs Self Belief? When you can see he would 'smash it' if he just tried but he see's everyone else doing things better than him and won't try?

What were the best confidence boosters your parents taught you?

So many comments/questions similar to my concerns!
My DD (7) is bright, friendly, kind and funny. But her self confidence is so low, coupled with shyness which exacerbates her aloofness.
There are some very strong, confident and able characters in her class, who outshine the others and get 'picked' for performances, team captains etc. She's been the bloody nativity donkey for 3 years running!
My daughter knows that even if she 'fakes it til she makes it' to tackle her shyness, she is never going to get picked because those around her 'shout' louder.
Sorry, this is turning into a moan-fest rather than a question!
My question is - do you think if I boost her self esteem the shyness will follow or should I tackle it the other way around? And how?!

Ho to maintain self-confidence when someone can't do something very well - eg my dyspraxic DD - how not to turn her right off sports?

How do I give my 17 year old son the confidence he needs to make the right decision about his next few years?

How do you find time to put yourself first? On an average day what I want to do for myself tends to be at the bottom of my list and very rarely gets off the bottom spot. I feel like it's not important to everyone else so it shouldn't matter to me but it does

oh these two celebrities know ALL ABOUT this, being psychologists and all, not an ex drug addict tv presenter and athlete

I would ask both women : How do you stop yourself thinking negative thoughts about your body image as all women struggle with this?

how do you instill confidence without arrogance? a lot of people i know who would be described as confident i don't really like and find very full of themselces

My DD is struggling with self confidence in all aspects of life - we encourage her and give lots of praise but she really finds it difficult to have self belief. What can we do to help?

To Davina - We all have days when we don't feel our best and may have issues with self-esteem or lack of confidence. How do you deal with those days?

Should I really encourage my child to believe she can be "the best" at something she is competing in?