[nabs-l] The importance of public speaking training

Bridgit Pollpeter bpollpeter at hotmail.com
Fri Jan 20 21:25:54 UTC 2012


Jedi,

You're absolutely correct. Any group or organization attempting to gain
"converts," (smile( needs to have specific language when talking about
the benefits of training and why an organization like NFB is essential
in our society. Anyone somewhat familiar with psychology will know using
words like "we" and "I feel or believe," are key words to help remove
tension and personal emotions in a discussion. People don't want to feel
as though they are sitting through a lecture or being told they are
wrong and bad for not doing this or that. Whether we believe
whole-heartedly in something or not, we all reach certain understandings
in our own time. Like anything else, we can live by example, discuss the
benefits of training and nonvisual skills and how it's important blind
people be accepted as equals, hence the importance of organizations of
the blind, but ultimately, it is up to the individual to accept these
ideas or not. Pontificating wins no one over to causes and groups. Not
only do we have to persuade people, but we have to be very aware of how
we go about this persuasion. Jedi has brought this up before, but for
those of us with experience in public speaking, we know the importance
of including all individuals in a discussion, and being conscious how we
approach topics whether one-on-one or with a group. I think it would be
super beneficial for the Federation to create a team to devise specific
plans to be implemented for public speaking. This team could develop a
handbook of sorts detailing the best ways in which to approach certain
topics and how to be effective when speaking to the public. This team
could also work with affiliates on training people in the art of public
speaking. As we continue to push Federation initiatives and seek out new
members, public speaking will be, and is, a vital aspect, and we need to
be well prepared for such activities. This is why corporations and
organizations hire PR and media relations teams to help prepare PR
strategies which include public speaking, and many of these teams will
offer speech writers and public speaking specialist to help the group
prepare for speaking engagements. While interning with a PR firm last
summer, I worked on an account with a nonprofit in Nevada, and one of my
specific duties was to develop a public speaking handbook which included
key points to keep in mind when speaking in public and how to dress
during speaking engagements. I also drafted briefs for some clients in
our local school districts on certain legislation specific to issues
affecting students, and helped incorporate this information in speeches
used for school administrators when speaking during committee meetings
and with parents. Public speaking is vital to almost every group,
employer and organization out there. Being well prepared and knowing
what to do is essential in winning people over to a cause. To make this
a nation-wide effort within the Federation would be a good idea.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:49:05 -0500
From: Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Why is it important to join an organization of
	the	blind?
Message-ID: 19d4ebf7-e432-4c4c-af26-cf998989914b at samobile.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed"

You know, it occurs to me that part of the "problem" (in quotes) that 
we're discussing has much to do with our "recruitment speech" (in 
quotes). I think it was Bridgit who felt that the P word scares people 
off. Maybe instead of talking about a philosophy of blindness, there's 
always the option of saying "I believe." For instance, I believe that 
the blind are as capable as anyone else. Or, I believe that training is 
a key component to functioning as a blind person in a sighted world. 
Or, I think that social definitions of blindness are a much bigger 
problem than actually not being able to see. These phrases should be 
familiar to you, but they're just worded differently.

And as to the issue of persuading people to get training, it's tricky. 
No one likes to hear that they have much to learn, and I don't care 
what the topic of conversation is. We all like to believe that we've 
got it together even if it's obvious to outsiders that we don't. I 
could really believe this to be especially the case when discussing an 
emotionally charged topic like adapting to vision loss. Not only would 
someone like not to hear that they haven't got it together, but they 
don't want to hear that they're blind enough to need such services to 
begin with. Now, legitimately, there are those who really don't need 
such services, but there are many more who would find them useful if 
they ever decided to try. So as a result of all this, I've taken to 
describing how blindness training has helped me if and when it seems 
appropriate. Most people can draw the line between their experience and 
mine. But at the very least, they realize that i'm talkiing about 
myself and not them, so it takes some of the pressure off. Another 
option is to just wait and let the individual identify issues they're 
having and talk about how blindness training helped you to overcome 
similar barriers. And then there's always the option of just waiting it 
out. Sure, some folks told me I needed training. But I think I really 
made that discovery for myself when I noticed that the totally blind 
Federationists around me could function in ways I could not and that 
the partially blind Federationists around me functioned no matter what 
they saw at any given point.

Respectfully,
Jedi





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