Class 1 – We discussed Synesthesia. Check the link to learn more about this condition. We also began to think about how brainstorming expands to more than one level if we can continue asking questions about the same thing or idea. Check out this blog to explore various stages of brainstorming. These skills and other skills will help as you develop your speaking skills.

Journaling – For this next week, write down several quotes that inspire you. This will be a habit I want to develop over the semester. Try to record 3 to 5 quotes a week and come prepared to share them.

Class 2 – We discussed patterns all around us. Our brains naturally see patterns, and we make some coherent sense of the world through patterns in sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. If you think about it, language is a pattern that allows us to understand one another. Patterns give us predictability in the world. For instance, if pizza tasted like grass we would and should think something is wrong. At the same time, patterns can sometimes prevent us from seeing new things or understanding the world from new perspectives.

Journaling – This week pay attention to patterns around you. Focus on one sense at a time. Maybe turn off the volume on your TV or turn it up and don’t look at it. Notice how different people and even animals or insects interact with the same thing. Also, keep recording quotes and trying to use them in conversations.

Class 3 – We tried two forms of storytelling this week: 30-second life story and drawing your life story. These tap into two different ways of thinking: verbal and visual. Sometimes it helps to approach a question or a challenge by thinking about it from different angles. In addition to answers questions from visual or verbal angles, you might also try writing using your non-dominant hand (if you are right handed, use your left hand or vice versa). Next week, we’ll explore more tools like mind-mapping and such.

Journalling – Continue collecting quotes and using them in conversations. (Remember, I’ll be collecting journals later in the semester.) Here are a few things to try this week to expand your creative thinking processes:

  • Make a snack blindfolded.
  • Try using metaphors in your day to day conversations with family and friends.
  • Take a vacation in your own town. Try to see things and do things you’ve never seen or done before.
  • If you usually listen to rock or jazz, try country or folk or gospel or classical, etc., vice versa.

Class 4 – Each person presented a short speech on three key aspects of his or her topic. We spent some time talking about introductions, bi-sociation, and why drawing pictures can help provoke creative ideas.

Journalling – Continue to collect quotes. If you do any mind-mapping, write it in your journal.

Brainstorm about your topics and keep a journal of the process. Here are some starters:

  1. Revisit your topic from last week and view it from different angles. What interests you that topic? If it really bores you, toss it and get another topic. What did you fail to explore last week? Think about that topic in different settings. For instance, let’s say your topic is swimming. How could swimming help someone perform better in school? What is the biggest challenge most swimmers face? Could other new games be invented that incorporate swimming? Whatever your topic, let your mind wander. Daydream about that topic. Draw pictures that might prompt you to see it from a different angle.
  2. Bisociation – Think about your topic in relation something completely unrelated. Make a list of ways you could connect them. Repeat this process five times and keep journal entries of these connections.
  3. Using steps one and two focus your topic on an area you may have just discovered or thought about. How might you talk about this to a group?
  4. Intros – Pay attention to how articles, film reviews, and books use intros and conclusions. Make a list of various ways you could introduce your topic (see my attached sheet). Try out these intros on family and friends. What feels most natural to you?

Class 5 (September 21) –

This last week we tried a few more bisociation exercises and began to think about all forms of comparison such as compare/contrast, stories, metaphors, and similes. Learning the art of making analogies is a great skill that will help you in speaking, conversation, and writing.

As preparation for the coming week, try to think of at least five stories from your life. This link will help jog your memory and is a great future reference – https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/learning/lesson-plans/650-prompts-for-narrative-and-personal-writing.html.

First, try to remember the story. Second, try to think of the ways you could use this story to talk about other things. What is the lesson or big idea in the story? Finally, think about how you might tell this story in a way that catches people’s attention. It could be funny, scary, dramatic, or even a cliffhanger (you could tell part of the story at the start of speech and finish the story at end of speech). We’ll spend more time this next week telling our stories and improving our storytelling skills.

Class 6 –

One of the keys to speaking well is connecting with your audience through stories and using stories to open up a bigger idea. I want you to keep working on personal stories. I’d like you to try and develop five stories about yourself. I’ve given you several ways to get to ideas, including the following:

List quirks or unusual things about you.
That always happens to me  – what always happens to you? Is there a story in it.
Write about a story when you took a risk, when you were embarrassed, when you made a new friend, when you had to apologize, or when you overcame an obstacle.
Keep a running list of possible stories about your life.
Some of you offered stories today that have potential. The challenge is too flesh them out with details and drama,
I’ll send some ideas out about developing your story.

Using Intros

Introsandconclusion

 

Class 7- We continued to work on stories. We will continue telling stories and eventually incorporate them into a different context.

 

Class 13 (November 9)

So far, our main goal has been to make speaking more comfortable (less intimidating) and learning to think on the spot. By making up stories today, you tapped another skill. Drawing upon story making skills to weave your life with another story. Some of you made up stories contained elements of truth. This is key.

When you speak to a group, you are seeking to talk in such way that you connect to their own stories and feelings. This helps people to identify with you, listen more intently, and at times be persuaded by your presentation.

Next week – For next week, I want you to choose a topic that you feel passionate about. Tapping your passion is a key part of speaking and the first step in exploring this is to talk about something the moves you. It could be an issue, a hobby, a belief, an experience, or anything that makes you feel deeply. Reflect on it this week and we will take time to talk about these. I once had to debate a political issue that I felt deeply about.

I was asked to speak about the position opposite from my own, and I had to tap the same deep emotions I felt to understand how those who disagreed with me felt. This allowed me to speak opposite my opinion but in a way that convinced the audience it was my deep conviction. The goal was not deception but to learn how to think about issues and feel both sides.

Learning to draw from your feelings can make the difference between a flat speech and powerfully engaging speech.