you said WHAT?!

Today I facilitated a one-hour youth training with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance of South Carolina EMPOWER Virtual Leadership Camp. The focus of the lesson was communication - how to be an effective communicator, the power of words, how easy it can be to misinterpret things via text or images, and why knowing your value and the power of your voice is so important as a young person.

This presentation was co-created by a group of youth in Greensboro, North Carolina who took time out of their summer schedules to help develop the activities and key talking points regarding communication. I am a big fan of peer-led and peer-created content; so when I was asked to speak to youth with MBK I knew that the best way to approach this amazing opportunity was to take it straight to other youth. Collaboration with youth and providing a space and opportunity to let them grow their leadership skills and confidence is something I cherish and try to make space for whenever possible. I can provide education, resources, and be a content guide to increase communication skills; however the relevance of youth-inspired and co-created activities is where the powerful “aha” moments come from based on relatable, age-appropriate experiences.

I am always impressed and honored to be a part of the leadership development and content creation of young people. The group of youth in NC named themselves The Bop Squad, and helped created some fantastic activities; one of which was a Mad Libs activity called “Got Any Gnats?”. The story they crafted was creative, engaging, based on real experiences (with spiders, if you were wondering) and relatable. We were able to create our own Mad Libs today and then read the original story, deconstructing how words can create a completely different narrative and meaning.

At the end of the one-hour session, I shared some Communication Tips that the Bop Squad had come up with. The youth attendees with MBK added some of their own suggested words of wisdom to the list. Rather than tell you, from my perspective, why communication skills are essential to hone, practice, and understand, I would rather you hear it directly from the youth:

While I am a disability consultant, I also have years of experience with youth, youth programming, curriculum creation, and program creation. Being able to use creativity to develop content and interactive trainings is something I am passionate about, and will always incorporate accessibility into. If you are interested in having lessons facilitated with youth you work with, or having a training on the importance of youth friendliness and inclusion of youth in peer-created content, please reach out. We can work together to determine something that will be of value to youth you serve and the communities in which they live.