As I mentioned in Scarlett Letter #30 (Guerrilla Marketing), last week I was walking in my neighborhood looking for the muffin shop from the subtle ‘Maxine’s Muffintop’ sign. Although I never found the free muffins or even the free smells (!), I instead encountered a new and unrelated discovery. A New Leaf (an event space attached to a gorgeous florist shop), was hosting an event for a group called NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship). Turns out that the NFTE often needs guest business people to talk to the kids, or to host the kids in their work environment. Just one example: last week, a group of these underprivileged high school students went to talk with real estate and business mogul Sam Zell for an hour. The NFTE program culminates in each student creating a business plan for their own potential business.
I was curious so I popped my head in, (since I was actively seeking those muffin tops anyway!) and then it occurred to me that I should do my part and contribute somehow to this very worthwhile cause. As a networking type, I always try to find synergies between my activities for exponential gain {speaking of gain, my google number is: 773.808.GAIN}.
Voila! I realized that an effective way for me to help not just the kids, but also my students at Columbia College, would be to create some sort of win-win scenario. Within moments, the beauty (and the synergy) popped into my brain….I will bring these kids into my Columbia College class, where I teach Oral Communications. Each NFTE student will be paired with a Columbia student, for a three-hour long workshop relating to public speaking and communication skills. Mostly impromptu (think: Toastmasters). And then we’ll finish up with pre-prepared 1-2 minute presentations from the NFTE students regarding their business projects.
The Columbia students will win, as they will be able to do something ‘good’ for others, and they’ll build their own confidence in their speaking abilities by the very nature of being able to teach someone else (I’ll do this mid-late in the semester so they will have already have some level of public speaking exposure). The NFTE students will win because communication skills are imperative for any business, and as an entrepreneur relying primarily on oneself, he/she has no choice but to be a stellar communicator.
And I will win just because, well….it just feels good!
