Stop Aliens

UFOs and extraterrestrials have been spotted for years, like in the Bermuda Triangle and Roswell, and we have to stop them from coming to earth.  Image this: you’re lying in bed, you see a light outside.  You open the door, the next thing you know you’ve been taken captive by an alien.  Do you want this to happen to you?

Sponsor a Child with World Vision

Will you let people starve, or will you let them live a better life?

Imagine if this were you. (picture) What would that feel like?  It feels like your stomach is caving in, and all you want to do is eat.  Would you want other children being treated like this?

Adopt a Turtle

If you were a turtle would you like to suffocate? Many sea turtles do because of plastic bags, bottles and Coca-Cola rings. So save the life of a sea turtle right now and make a dirty ocean look like a clean ocean.

Speeches: Guiding Your Audience to a Decision

We use the decision chain as a tool to help us make decisions on our own.  You can use these same steps in your speech to guide your audience to make the decision you want them to make.


Decision Chain: Problem?  No Problem With Decision Chain!

Problem: What's the problem you are addressing?  (This is where your story fits in - putting the audience in the shoes of someone facing your problem so that they really understand the problem.)

Need to Know: Present facts about your problem.

Pros/Cons: What are the positive things about making the choice you want your audience to make?  What are the negative things about not making this choice?

Weigh: After weighing the options, tell the audience what you think is the right thing to do.

Decide: Present options for your audience to choose and decide between.

Commit: Ask your audience to commit to one specific action.

Speeches: The Power of Storytelling

Which is more powerful: putting the audience in the shoes of a specific person facing the problem you are addressing, or telling the audience how they should feel about this problem?

• Steve Jobs: "How to live before you die" (from 1:14-5:30, 5:30-9:00, or 9:00-15:00)
• Jamie Oliver: "Teach every child about food" (from 0:20-0:55, 3:50-4:44, 7:50-8:25, and 11:12-12:05)
• Ken Robinson: "Schools kill creativity"(from 3:38-6:17 and 15:12-17:30)

Which speech is the most powerful?  

What makes a story the most powerful: that it has a character who is faced with a tough choice, that it is a personal story in which the speaker shares his or her emotions, or that it is funny?

Speeches: Power and Corruption

  
When you give a speech, you have power over your audience: they are giving you their attention. Sure, they have the power to decide if they agree with you or not and whether they want to do anything about what you say, but your power could cause them to change their minds and take action. Will you use this power wisely, or will this power corrupt you?

1. Hitler speech (From 1:40-2:08 and 3:35-4:40) 
2. Severn Suzuki speaking at the UN on the issue of the environment (“I’m Only a Child”) 
3. Rachel Sequoia "Share the Air" pitch

Which speech is the most powerful?  Is this power being used for good, or used for evil?  Does the power come from the speaker's words (their message), their voice (tone, volume), or something visual (body gestures, visuals, setting)?

Experiencing History - Signing the Constitution

Here are some websites that may be useful as you decide whether or not YOU will sign the Constitution.

• Google (www.google.com) and Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) 
• Clip from the movie 1776 showing the debate over slavery before signing the Declaration of Independence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_41wDUvai1s or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5NAeIRY4k (from 4:50 on)
•  Congress for Kids: http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_index.htm
•  The Constitution for Kids (k-3^rd grade): http://www.usconstitution.net/constkidsK.html
•  The Constitution for Kids (4^th-7^th grade): http://www.usconstitution.net/constkids4.html
• Constitution Facts: http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-kids/