Dealing with Division? Help Students Tell Their Story

A friend of mine has started what I would call a Speakers Movement called Motivational Monday’s aka MoMonday’s. At each event there are four to 7 speakers who speak for 10 to 12 minutes. Each presenter tells their story, whatever part of their story they want to tell. From it you gain insight as they pass on the lessons they’ve learned. The vision for MoMonday's is to go global. Can you imagine Palestinians & Israeli’s sitting down together hearing each other’s stories gaining understanding respect, and honour for their fellow man. I love it!

I attended the event in Toronto and I heard from a small petite female who has an identical twin sister. This young adult picked up Roller Derby, she shared how it impacted her life and helped her find her own confidence outside her twin. Awesome story. Jonathan Wilson who lived in Papua New Guinea related the different spears tribes used to kill men with to conflict resolution. That speech was so deep that I took notes. It was invaluable!

This Got Me Thinking...

Telling personal stories is a great way to train your youth leaders and students in communicating their thoughts. In your youth group or community join the movement. Set up a mini MoMonday’s where you have leaders and students share their story and their journey.

GUIDELINES FOR HELPING STUDENTS & LEADERS TELL THEIR STORY

1. Identify Specific Events In Your Life To Talk About. 10 minutes isn’t a lot of time to go through your whole life story, but share a part of it. I.e. Dad died, I was born with…, my first crush etc.
2. Don’t Get Lost In The Details. “I picked up a pen or was it a marker? No it was marker.” “My brother, my sister, aunt Josee were there, I think uncle mark was there…yeah he was he was under the table!”  Stick to points that matter to your story.
3. After Each Event In Your Story, Share What You Learned. What Was The Value In Going Through That Experience? What did you learn that you could share with your audience? “Though I felt that I was dealt the short hand of the stick, I learned that it’s not about the cards you get, but what you do with those cards that will determine the direction of your life.”
4. Call To Action. Help The Listener/Audience Apply This Message To Their Lives.  “From my story you can see bullying doesn’t only take place at school it can happen in the home or at work or on a sports team. Don’t keep it a secret, you deserve better get help, tell someone.”   

How valuable would this be to take place in your community, your youth group or school? Stories bring understanding that leads to unity and respect. If you are dealing with a lot of division in your youth group or school, train your kids to tell their story.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Check out a MoMonday's in your area. Calgary’s first MoMonday’s will be February 4^th and I just got accepted to speak. You too can sign up. Check the site. Http://www.momondays.com to see where one is located near you or how to start one. Visit the Facebook page Motivational Mondays. It’s a great night out.

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A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) Alison has dedicated her time to developing her gift of Public Speaking so that her listeners would believe the truth that she shares and to raise up other strong youth communicator’s in Canada. She has been speaking full time for four years and has recently graduated from Youth Speakers University. Currently residing in Calgary she is also the Founder of The Young Women of Power Conference and Movement. To have her speak at a function email her at admin@itgspeakers.com   

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