02Nov 2020 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

ZOOM Meeting Agenda October 2020

Blog, UW Theory of Change, ZOOM Meetings
This is an agenda from a meeting we hosted. We don't get fancy... just the facts. Would you like to download it? Look below... AGENDA Start with Sharon and Sarah both ‘pinned’ to demo two host format.   7:00 Sharon - welcome and talk about goals for the next few meetings. Goals - (Zoom) become comfortable with dual screen pinning, screen sharing, and moving in and out of rooms  (Speaking) Work on transitions, endings, vivid vocabulary, and looking intelligent on camera :) 7:02 Sarah and Sharon - intro first activity 7:04 Story Tag Activity - ALL Story tag - Practice screen share, transitions: 1st students starts story about photo we sent them, transitions to next student, continues to next etc.   Each student works on transitions into their part of the story…
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02Nov 2020 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

Keep your parents in the loop!

Blog, Innovation, UW Theory of Change, ZOOM Meetings
Here's an email Sarah sent to our parents before our first ZOOM meeting this October. Find download link below... Dear GMYS Parents,Well, we've moved to Zoom again and we're a little smarter this time around!  Public speaking and online speaking are both incredibly important skills, but they are also very different.  As we move online, we are changing our focus somewhat to reflect that.Although speakers use many of the same techniques for both, we want to key in on the skills that will give our students success in the future with online meetings, interviews, and projects.  The primary skills we're looking at right now are:1. Being able to smoothly use some basic features like screen sharing and breakout rooms.  Most all of our students have had some experience with these…
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28Dec 2019 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

“All You Need is Love”

Blog
Although the Beatles probably weren’t targeting public speakers when they released “All You Need is Love” in 1967, we feel it’s a perfect expression of what our youth speakers require to learn and grow.  Yes, they need guidance, but what they need above all else is love. If you’re more comfortable with it, you might consider substituting the word ‘encouragement’ for love. This is the well thought out encouragement that allows the students to feel accepted and capable of improving.  When you foster this atmosphere in your public speaking group, you set the stage for success. It doesn’t matter what qualities your speakers have.  Each one will have strengths and weaknesses. Rather than targeting the weaknesses, focus on the good.  Everyone has a strength. What can you build on? Are…
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17May 2019 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

Overconfident Speakers: 3 Reasons to give them your time and energy

Blog
“I don’t have anything I need to work on,” said the student. It wasn’t a cocky or defiant answer.  Just a matter of fact response to a question we posed to each of the students during our individual planning sessions with them.  In addition to asking them about their strengths and interests, we asked what they thought they needed to improve on. We asked for one thing.  This particular student had nothing, while most listed at least three or four items. Our typical students went on at length about how they wanted to use their notes less, make more eye contact, or connect with their audience. They wanted to use gestures, move around on stage, or figure out how to make the audience laugh.  Though they struggled to find more…
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29Apr 2019 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

The Key Ingredient & 3 Ways to Achieve It

Blog
There’s one key ingredient when it comes to producing competent and confident youth public speakers. What is it? Read on to find out. What is the end result you are trying to achieve with your youth speakers? Well, I’m guessing you want your students to improve. You want them to speak clearly, be organized, look at the audience, stop fidgeting, move confidently on stage, stop reading from their notes…. You can have a ginormously long list of items that you want them to achieve. Don’t share this with them. Ever. Even a shorter list can seem overwhelming. Put your list away and think about this: the only way your students will achieve lasting gains is if they WANT to get better. This is your Key Ingredient - the desire to…
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04Apr 2019 by Sharon Koenig No Comments

Can your child be better than you?

Blog
I think (and hope) that almost every parent wants their children to have a better life than them.  From our vantage point as an adult, we look back and try to figure out what worked and what didn’t.  We all want to take the good experiences we had as a child and replicate them for our own children. And we look back at weaknesses in our childhood and work hard to avoid them. For me, a very specific skill that I wanted my kids to feel confident with was public speaking.  My lack of education and encouragement in this area has often been a great cause of stress. And I think it has hindered me many times.  If you let me write out what I want to share, I can…
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