What I learnt at School (yesterday)
So, yesterday I did my talk to about 270 pupils at a Secondary school in London. They had all gone into what was called the 6th form in my day, it’s all different now….mmmm….sound like my parents yet again.
Anyway in the main my plan worked really well to keep the examples used in the talk to things that they would be interested in so things like relationships, dating, Nintendo DS and Playstations etc……even opened the talk telling them about when I spoke for Ann Summers earlier in the year.
Now the thing is it worked too well at times, because when speaking at schools there is a fine balance in speaking about things that interest them, but will not distract them into lots of whispers and giggling because of something that has been said.
They did brilliantly though, I must say, a real credit, at 16 or 17 if I’d been sent to sit in a hall for an hour and listen to someone talk about anything I’d have been thinking “What’s the point?”.
However I know some of them took the messages on board and hopefully over the coming days and weeks others will too as they encounter things in daily life that remind them of my talk.
As I said to them at the start, you’ve not got to learn anything from me, I’m not going to tell you things you need to learn, I am going to tell you what you need to forget and unlearn.
You see we are all born without limiting beliefs and comfort zone issues, and we all live in the moment in our early years, no fear of failure or what others may think. We learn bad ideas and bad habits, and bad ways of thinking from those around us.
That’s why I always say to my audiences that a 3 year old could do my job, and would be better at it than me! They live for the moment, in the moment and are curious about everything.
I really do wish someone had shared such messages with me at school in the 6th form, although I do wonder even if they had would I have noticed?
Mark Rhodes
