Water Words that Work Workshop

(Boy, try to say that three times real fast!)

Last week I attended this really great workshop that was presented by Mr. Eric Eckl, of Water Words that Work, LLC. I was notified about this workshop sponsored by Carolina Clear, Upstate Forever, and Pickens county Stormwater Partners through our Master Naturalist Association and it was well worth it.

The flyer said this workshop “will help you create and deliver messages that will reach your target audience and inspire them to action.” Of course the message was about the environment and get people to move beyond awareness into action. But then I began to think how this same strategy could be used in the education environment too and the strategy would definitely work the same.

Here are some of the notes I’ve taken and you can find more information by going to the Water Words That Work website. The site that has more words can be found here.

Words that work when addressing the “so what” question:
Future generations
Healthy
Family and children
Safe
Trends

Words that work when encouraging somebody to do something:
Make a difference
Doing my/your/their part
It affects you
What you can do
Working together
Save money

Words that work when asking somebody to take your side:
Accountability
Choice
Fair
Balance
Planning ahead
Responsible
Freedom
Investment
Law

Near the end of the workshop we actually got to apply what we learned. We used the words and used them in different situations to answer questions. Role playing is always a great way to apply learning.

I thought of many different situations in the education system where this practice would really be very effective. I can see using this when trying to convince colleagues to try a new technique or tool. This would be effective in convincing the administration to spend money on some necessary equipment for the classroom. These words would be great in applying for grants to benefit the classroom. Convincing parents to see things in a different light would be easier if I used these words.

The only thing I would do differently if I ran this workshop is the following: I would not move people into new groups at the beginning of a workshop. Some people arrive early to get seating which they are comfortable in. Some people may have hearing or vision problems so plan on sitting where they can get the most out of the workshop. People like me who are tactile-kinesthetic sit towards the back of the room in case I need to get up and down out of the seat or do things with my hands that might be distracting to others. When we got there, we counted off by 8 and then had to get in 8 new groups of 4 even though we were already sitting at tables of four people.

I think this presenter did an excellent job and would recommend him to others. I think his message was clear and very motivational. As I mentioned, his information could be applied to other disciplines besides environment. I liked the way that he kept the presentation moving and I was engaged in the activities the whole time. He varied the activities enough to keep me from feeling fidgety which was effective in helping me learn the material.

Do you know of other situations where these words and strategies would help in the education system?

What other words do you use to help you? Please share.

Image: 'one single person on 1 August 2010+-+day+213'
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