Physiology First Ambassador Academy: Day 5
“You can’t unite people with science. It’s too boring.”
~ Yuval Noah Harari
We know that countless papers on the relationship between physiology and mental health exist. So, why do we have skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among kids?
Because the research requires outreach-and outreach requires the ability to tell a story.
When people encounter a presenter, especially on an issue as close to home as the state of our mental health, the first thing they are assessing is whether they can relate to you. They can’t “trust” you in the first few minutes of a talk, but they can trust your intentions. That matters.
A presenter telling people how they “should feel” or relaying the new science of mental health without a.) making a human connection and b.) relating this science to the goals of the students or anyone in attendance can have a stellar presentation miss the mark entirely.
On the other hand, a genuine attempt to connect and share tools that have helped you will make an impact, even if the presentation has its limitations in technical sophistication and even delivery. Speaking is a skill that we hold through practice and we are all learning more about how to deliver a great presentation every day. Not being a professional speaker should never hold you back from delivering critical information to the people in your community.
Telling a story, or even better, telling your story, is a way to avoid missing the opportunity to make maximal impact.
Ambassador Academy Assignment: Write a story that you’ll use to open up a “pop up campus” or presentation. Think of it as a short, captivating, and humanizing introduction to your talk that creates connection and links the material that you’re going to present to the goals that matter to the students you’re speaking with.
We’ll be working on this in our live workshop this Friday at 4pm EST. If you’d like to “practice” your opener with other Physiology First University members let us know and we’ll book you into the workshop!
Excited to dive deeper into storytelling and presenting physiology based mental health education in our next lesson!
David
