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IF! Great Read Aloud for Kids Old Enough to Grow Beards!



How to read aloud for and give advice to kids old enough to grow beards and bear children themselves?

MY TOP THREE TIPS:

1. BE REAL OR GO HOME:
The teen mission is to sus out when the adult world is duping them out of their natural "innersense" of Justice and Truth. If you are unwilling to reveal yourself first, to risk rejection it's unlikely you'll get more from a teen audience than patience and tolerance at best.

2. TAKE RISKS:
Speak about what you know yes, and show them how confident you are in your field yes, BUT show them an area in which you took a flying leap and fell flat. Share what you learned through personal death and resurrection! Adolescents spend more time feeling the uncertainty of life than not. Show them this is not a unique or shameful condition and that there is life, and in fact a better life is possible, even after failure.

3. SHOW YOUR CREDENTIALS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE :
Give ample evidence that you have lived what you know; offer varied examples that illustrate that you have earned the insights you wish to pass on. Direct experience is the best teacher. Draw from your life experience to express your expertise.
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Comments

M. Marks-Mendonca said…
Well said, Jo! That is precisely my modus operandi when I run youth workshops. I remember about 10 years ago, running my 'Road to Success' workshops in Guyana, I was faced with some of the hardest nuts to crack. Nothing I said reached them. For weeks I tried. And then I went deeper than I've ever been with any group. I bared my soul completely, told them about the most embarrassing rejections, shared with them the kind of knocks in both my private life and career no sane person would want a living soul to know about (grin), and I told them how I pulled myself out of these abysses! I left no stone unturned. Their mouths were hanging open at the end, and their hearts completely melted. I think I had my best success with that group!

Mo
July 6, 2009 at 9:05 PM
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