Are you being heard?
Imagine yourself being at the birthday party of a good friend. You’re sitting with other people who are asking you how life is going. What do you say? Do you have a short answer, it’s going great and that’s it? Does the group hear your story for the rest of the night? Do you want to behave somewhere in between but thinking the rest of the group is not interested in a boring story? Or do you have the feeling nobody is listening to you?
The importance of storytelling
Storytelling is in our human DNA. Already since primal time, we’re telling stories to each other. Storytelling helps us to remember things easier. Next to that storytelling can be used to inspire and motivate others and explain things from the past or the future. It is a way to educate others but is used as well to entertain others.
Storytelling is a right-brain activity and according to Daniel Pink one of the senses you have to develop in order to be ready for our right-brain future. There are different types of stories: a vision story, the explanation story and the personal story. The personal story can inspire the most and is more and more required for succeeding in your leadership role.
The best stories come from real life. You did experience something and make a story out of that. As Joseph Campbell said: If somebody talks from the head, he will get a rationalistic answer. If somebody does talk from the heart, he will evoke emotions. But you can only achieve real information if somebody does tell their own story.
Workshop THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH
The workshop ‘The president’s speech’ exists out of three parts: the introduction, playing the game and the reflection. By the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Recognize the importance of storytelling in leadership roles;
- Activate their right-brain by writing the speech;
- Define the different leadership styles and their characteristics;
- Apply different leadership styles;
- See where preferences for leadership styles are coming from.
All these aspects are part of the Velites Online Leadership Program via themes like: ‘Leadership basics’, ‘Inspire and Influence’ and ‘Get to know yourself’.
The workshop begins with a short introduction where we’ll explain briefly the different leadership styles. We also introduce the game ‘The President’s Speech’. In the next part, the participants will play the game in groups of maximum 5 players per game.
The game is based on serious gaming, or ludodidactics. With this method a program is developed based on the behavior you want to see from the participants. Elements out of game design are being used to make sure the desired behavior does occur. In this specific game thinking out of the box, reaction to changes and surprises. and flexibility in strategy are important elements of the desired behavior.
The last part of the workshop is the reflection part. We will discuss the results of the game. Was it easy or difficult to write your speech? Why or why not? How did the group play the game? What will you do with the skill you trained during this workshop?
What do people say about this workshop?
‘It is hard to start with your first sentence, but already during the game you find out it goes easier because you are practicing.’
‘A great platform to use my creativity and imagination. Speeches don’t have to be boring at all.’
‘Feeling frustrated and proud during the same game. Nice to play!’
‘It might be straightforward to choose one leadership style that is the best, but maybe it isn’t. Nice way to find out the differences between and advantages of each style.’
Game on!
Playful learning is one of the best ways to train your right-brain. In this workshop we’ll play the game The President’s Speech with a lot of interaction. The same time we’re bridging the gap between theory and practice. This training is not a boring presentation, but a workshop where you will be an active storyteller who needs his or her creativity in order to win the elections. By joining this workshop you create a new story where you will be proud of sharing with others.
The workshop takes approximately 2 hours and can be done in English or Dutch. The training can be done at your location, but can also be organized at our training facility in Leimuiden.
Do you want to learn more about this workshop or do you have questions? Contact us and we’re more than happy to provide you more information.