For the past 23 consecutive years they have run commercial during the Super Bowl…but not this year. In a decision that gives me hope, they are instead doing a social-media campaign to promote its “Pepsi Refresh” initiative.
This icebreaker has never failed. It’s great for adding some fun and energy to a campus meeting or helping new acquaintances feel more comfortable around each other. Just follow my script and it will work for you too.
Troy Stende just had his whole thought process rearranged by his friend, Chris Jachimowicz. Don’t worry about your weaknesses. It will take so much more effort to improve them than it will to improve your strengths. Learn more about your strengths at http://www.StrengthsQuest.com.
I truly value the opinion of elders because they’ve been there and done that and have such a different perspective. I noticed an older gentleman dancing to his heart’s content. I’m sure he was in his 70s, but the energy he exuded was so youthful.I asked him what was his secret for a long and happy life. His advice was simple and profound:
Often when working with campus leadership groups advisors ask me to help instill a sense of responsibility and pride in their students during the keynote, conference or retreat. I’m beginning to understand more and more why I’m getting this request as I witness disturbing new trends among college students today. Here are three recent examples from the news:
I’ve come up with a couple tips for students and student leaders that have been very helpful when reaching out to a new group. Recently I started playing pickup ice hockey and I applied the tips to help me overcome my fear of joining this new group.
Advice from Troy Stende, Experiential Leadership Trainer: “Diversity activities can be very powerful and life changing. But they can also be damaging to the individual and the group. Most of the success or failure rides on the shoulders of the facilitator.”
I was facilitating a full-day orientation leader training recently and an orientation leader asked me how to get a group’s focus back without yelling at them. That is an excellent question and one that comes into play often- whether you’re doing an icebreaker with 500 new students or you’re running a committee meeting of 8.
Right up until he passed away at 92, my grandpa and I used to do lunch often. His usual order was a BLT sandwich. Just to be clear, that is a sandwich with bacon, lettuce and tomato – a BLT. Every time the sandwich arrived he’d peek inside and say, “Those damn tomatoes – every time!” I’d be chuckling and thinking to myself, “Grandpa, wouldn’t you expect that a BLT would have some ‘T’ on it?” I just never said it out loud.
I’ve used this hundreds of times over six years with thousands of students. Being a professional speaker and student leadership trainer I’m on college campuses, and at leadership retreats and orientations a lot. This icebreaker has never failed me – no matter the situation or size of the group.
