How to tell a better story

Think of the most impressive presentation you’ve ever seen. What made it so incredible? It’s likely the presenter told stories and shared anecdotes from his own life experiences. Effective storytelling is one of the most powerful tools a presenter has. Here are some ideas for improving your storytelling ability.

	Be 100% authentic. It’s best if you use experiences from your own life. You’ll tell these stories with more emotion and involvement than a second-hand story.
	Identify with the story. If you aren’t using your own, be sure it’s an event or emotion to which you can relate. If the story you’re using doesn’t remind you of an experience you’ve had, it may come across as hollow and fake to the audience.
	Relate your story to the content of your presentation. Telling a related story will reinforce your presentation’s central message. Without stories, presentations can become unmemorable information dumps. Give the audience something to take with them once the presentation is finished.
	Get involved emotionally and physically. Let your body, face, emotions and voice help you tell the story. This technique can effectively bring any audience member to the edge of his seat.
	Paint a vivid picture. Select simple but descriptive words. Address all senses in your storytelling – what were the sights, sounds and emotions associated with the particular scenes?
	Find opportunities to practice your story. The delivery should be smooth and easy – often this takes practice.
	Test your story, anecdote or joke. If you don’t get the response you’re looking for when telling it to a group of colleagues or friends, don’t use it in your presentation!
	Maintain a record of good stories you’ve heard or experiences you’d like to share with a future audience. Write them in a book or save them to a computer file. Source: Dale Carnegie, US teacher and writter

Basic education and gender equality

Education is a basic human right, vital to personal and societal development and well being. All children deserve a quality education founded on a rights-based approach and rooted in the concept of gender equality. A rights-based approach to education will address inequalities in our societies that are deep-rooted and often gender-based. Such inequalities exclude millions of children, particularly girls, from school or condemn them to educational experiences of very poor quality.

Education enhances lives. It ends generational cycles of poverty and disease and provides the means for sustainable development. A quality basic education will better equip girls and boys with knowledge and skills needed to adopt healthy lifestyles, to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and to take an active role in social, economic and political decision-making as they transition to adolescence and adulthood. As educated adults, they are more likely to have fewer children, to be informed about appropriate child-rearing practices, and to ensure their children start school on time and are ready to learn.

UNICEF advocates quality basic education for all children — girls and boys — with an emphasis on gender equality and eliminating disparities of all kinds. In promoting equity, UNICEF focuses on the most disadvantaged children through a range of innovative programmes and initiatives in education. We work with a range of local, national and international partners to realize the education and gender equality goals established in the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All Declaration and to bring about essential structural changes needed to achieve social justice and equity for all.

10 TIPS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING

May be this tips can use for teaching
F eeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and healthy. It shows you care about doing well. But too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here’s how you can control your nervousness and make effective, memorable presentations:

1. Know the room.
Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
2. Know the audience.
Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
3. Know your material.
If you’re not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech and revise it if necessary.
4. Relax.
Ease tension by doing exercises.
5. Visualize yourself giving your speech.
Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.
6. Realize that people want you to succeed.
Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They don’t want you to fail.
7. D o n ’t apologize.
If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience’s attention to something they hadn’t noticed. Keep silent.
8. Concentrate on the message – not the medium.
Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Your nervousness will dissipate.
9. Turn nervousness into positive energy .
Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.
10. Gain experience.
Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters Club
can provide the experience you need.