YDLI Day 4: The Last Hurrah (For Now!)

Saturday of YDLI focused primarily on preparing particpants for their Phase 2 projects!

The morning started with a session led by YDLI alumni Denise Skidmore, Laura Daniels and Matt Nuckols, where they provided inspiration and helpful ideas and resources for the required Phase 2 advocacy projects.

Following the opening session, the day transitioned quickly into a very interesting workshop on "Communicating - Leading - Influencing," led by Monty Miller and Jennifer Garrett. First, YDLIers learned about individuals' different learning styles, based on "brain pathways" - whether people are primarily Visual, Kinesthetic, Auditory learners and either Sequential or Global thinkers, greatly influences how they absorb new information being presented.

Monty Miller visits with Lana Olson (MN) and Ashley Abbott (NY)

Several tips for putting together successful presentations were presented, based on the brain pathways concept:

• Presentations should include elements to appeal to all learning styles for maximum impact.
• Incorporate "fun" elements to get people engaged and activate their brain. People learn better when they're having fun!
• Take the "high road" - engage peoples' neo cortexes with helpful and healing words versus taking the "low road" and eliciting a fight or flight response (activating the amygdala)
• Don't overwhelm your audience; pick two to three key messages to focus on during a presentation
• Know your audience and think about potential triggers and what they will respond best to.

After lunch, the focus shifted to the physical aspects of making presentations - how to project energy to an audience. Making eye contact, adding inflection to your voice and exhibiting good confidence with your body language were all concepts the class had the opportunity to practice. We also discussed effective ways to handle questions with the "three R's": Repeat, Rephrase and/or Relay.

Aaron Horst (PA) and Alise Sjostrom (MN) practice their presentation skills.

 

Matt Mitchell (TN) explains his ideas to the class.

Lucas Fuess (IL) tells a story to his table, practicing making good eye contact!

To close out the day, the class divided up into their peer groups and met with their mentors to discuss ideas for their Phase 2 advocacy projects, and start to put some of their action plan ideas on paper. So many great, interesting and ambitious ideas were discussed - we can't wait to see how the group puts their plans into action! Stay tuned - we will keep you posted as the reports come in!

Learn more about YDLI and how to become part of the next class at the Holstein Foundation web site! Also, keep up with YDLI and the rest of the Holstein Foundation activities on our Facebook page.

For more information, contact Jodi Hoynoski.

YDLI Class 8