IST: Day Two

Today's first session was Powerful Public Speaking.

The room was super-colorful room, complete with bubbles, play-doh, music and quotes on colorful paper. The girl sitting next to me commented it looked like a kindergarten classroom.

Fact: In a recent poll, public speaking was ranked the No. 1 fear in America; death was ranked No. 4. So apparently people would rather DIE than speak in public.

We talked about what makes a good and bad speaker and got tips on improving our own public speaking from a small group we gave a little speech to.

Since pretty much my whole job involves public speaking and communicating with others, I thought it was a helpful class with some good tips and reminders.

One piece of advice I like that I already use is "FITYMI" (Fake it 'till you make it). Being naturally intoverted (and a recovering perfectionist), I sometimes have to remind myself that no one has to know I'm shy. I can pretend to be comfortable and outgoing and it usually works.

Some good takeaway points I need to work on: better eye contact, OWN IT (the speech, the agency/program I'm representing), project confidence with passion/enthusiasm, don't be afraid to mess up, remember to focus on WIIFM (what's in it for me -- all anyone listening really cares about), boomarang questions (turn questions back on the class).

My second session was Reflection on Service.



We talked about the pluses, minuses and interestings (things neither positive nor negative, just noted) about our VISTA service over the past four months.

Pluses for me: meeting new people, learning new things, interesting discussions with passionate people, gaining confidence with teaching, having a fellow VISTA in the office to talk to, and becoming a fully certifed trainer.

Minuses for me: the total confusion and feeling of ignorance and inadequacy at the beginning, the huge learning curve, the disorganization, and the governmental bureaucracy.

Interestings for me: Daytime hours, the inter-competativeness of the nonprofit world, and the inaccessable work environment.

The most useful part was "solution circles," where we broke into smaller groups and brainstormed solutions to a problem we each face at work.

I asked for advice on sites that express interest in Ohio Benefit Bank, but don't become sites because they have no time or manpower to take on any new responsibilities.

I got some good suggestions, including presenting the reluctant site with "real-life workable models" -- ways that other similar sites made it work -- and actively recruiting "unattached volunteers" to partner up with sites who need extra manpower.

As another participant pointed out in our discussion afterward, I wasn't sure my problem was really solvable. I had been planning to just work around it (ie move on if a site said no), but it feels good to come away with a fresh look from people not involved in the situation and their new insights and ideas.

It was nice to step back from the daily grind and think critically about the bigger issues that tend to get skipped over as moment-by-moment issues to deal with come up.

My last session was Justice Talking, which was optional, after everyone had been dismissed from dinner, but I'm glad I went.



We read a short story by Franz Kafka and then discussed it. It was just like English class -- I loved it! The story was taken from the book "The Civically Engaged Reader," which I just might be adding to my reading list...