We're in the room with DeDe Esque, community organizing consultant, talking about developing message. She's asking questions, the first of which is, "Describe a time when a leader or politician let you down."
This could take a while.
In all, DeDe has asked 11 questions that seem designed to tap into participants' reasons for running for office, their passions and their values. Everyone is asked to pick one of those stories and share it at their table, then everyone gives feedback about how they connected or didn't connect to the story.
I won't be recording any of the conversations, so the next 10 minutes will be quiet. But something about sitting in this room filled with women does my heart good.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sitting with men as well. But men would probably not be doing what the women in this room are doing right now.
The drifts of conversation floating my way contain laughter and empathy and the hushed tones of personal revelation. These women are telling their stories, the stories that express their values and come from someplace deep in their hearts.
I have been recording much of today's activity, but my camera and computer might stifle the conversation. And women need these conversations in order to navigate the choppy waters of political involvement. We need to speak about the emotional stuff that moves us out of our seats and drives us forward and stops us cold. We need to reveal our deeply held fears and insecurities.
Now that they've finished sharing their stories, participants have been asked to pick one person from their table to turn their story into a 90-second stump speech. Tracy Garrett, who is helping to facilitate, reminded everyone that 90 seconds isn't very long at all, from a speaker's point of view.
But I think for an audience, especially in today's world, 90 seconds can be a long time. How often would you sit through a 90 second television commercial? Would you wait 90 seconds for a web page to load? I hope people will listen to a candidate for longer than 90 seconds, but I'm not sure it happens all that often.
What a great experience to give a speech and get instant feedback. Nobody's holding back, the participants are getting support, but also style and content critiques.The emphasis is always on the elements of persuasive speech: Passion, Logic, Credibility.
Makes me wonder what the Debate Boot Camp is like.
Hmmmm.... -- JH-G
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sitting with men as well. But men would probably not be doing what the women in this room are doing right now.
The drifts of conversation floating my way contain laughter and empathy and the hushed tones of personal revelation. These women are telling their stories, the stories that express their values and come from someplace deep in their hearts.
I have been recording much of today's activity, but my camera and computer might stifle the conversation. And women need these conversations in order to navigate the choppy waters of political involvement. We need to speak about the emotional stuff that moves us out of our seats and drives us forward and stops us cold. We need to reveal our deeply held fears and insecurities.
Now that they've finished sharing their stories, participants have been asked to pick one person from their table to turn their story into a 90-second stump speech. Tracy Garrett, who is helping to facilitate, reminded everyone that 90 seconds isn't very long at all, from a speaker's point of view.
But I think for an audience, especially in today's world, 90 seconds can be a long time. How often would you sit through a 90 second television commercial? Would you wait 90 seconds for a web page to load? I hope people will listen to a candidate for longer than 90 seconds, but I'm not sure it happens all that often.
What a great experience to give a speech and get instant feedback. Nobody's holding back, the participants are getting support, but also style and content critiques.The emphasis is always on the elements of persuasive speech: Passion, Logic, Credibility.
Makes me wonder what the Debate Boot Camp is like.
Hmmmm.... -- JH-G
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