Sabha.ology

Navda Bhakti

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 17:57:00 +0000

Next week in Bal/Balika one there is a presentation on The Importance of Bhakti. There are some great ideas in the presentation to get group 1 kids to work through how to define and categorize the nine different types of bhakti. There is an activity where the kids match the different satsang related activities they do throughout the week with a different type of bhakti. In order to preface that and to create a bit of excitement we are planning on doing the following.

Start with a concentrated focus on the number 9. We really want to drive home the point of navda bhakti - meaning that there are nine types of bhakti. Our Bal 1 currently has many shishu graduates who have not been introduced to this idea, so we really want to drive home this simple fact: There are nine types fo bhakti. To that end we are going to start by showing one of these videos related to the number 9 and then immediately tie that back to the our simple take away: There are nine types of bhakti. We are going to request the sanchalaks to choose an appropriate video from the list. Here is one example.

List of videos

Now that everyone is focused on the number 9. We will write 1-9 on the whiteboard and to appeal to some of the older Bal 1 kids we will do a demo on the number nine finger multiplication trick. This we will do as an interactive demo but here is a video describing it.

As the balalks/baliaks would say the entire sabha should now be vibing on the number 9. We will then proceed to spell out each of the nine types of bhakti, using the repetition on the total being nine types, using the multiplication trick to enumerate each type, then defining each type. If time permits we may also try and make a mnemonic to try and remember each type.

We will then go over the prasangs in the presentation and ask which type of bhakti was being illustrated. Finally we will end with the bhakti matching game described in the beginning.

Melissa Marshall: Talk Nerdy to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:46:00 +0000

Several months ago, we had the privilege of attending a workshop ran by Melissa Marshall. She was previously involved in technical communication research at Penn State University but now works as a consultant to help scientists better deliver presentations.

While we may not be traditional scientists, her insights can readily be applied to the science of sabha. She mirrored many of the insights we have expressed since this blog's inception. Here's two concepts she addressed worth considering before the next karyakar meeting.

Problem: We start preparing presentations using Powerpoint.

She compared giving a presentation to guiding individuals up a mountain. As a trail guide, it's our job to identify the salient landmarks en route to the peak. Stopping at every grass, shrub, and rock drains our audience before they reach the peak. Similarly, we waste the audience's attention when we start with slides and lose sight of what's important by cramming details, slide after slide.

Solution: Start with idea mapping.

Start with identifying the peak (main idea). (Unsurprisingly, Made to Stick was listed on her references list.)
Identify 2-4 points that can help you build up to the main idea.

Determine the details that should fit underneath each point.
Review your outline with someone else to make sure your ideas flow.
Now, proceed to Powerpoint.

Problem: Bulleted lists pervade slides.

She points out in her TED Talk, "Have you ever wondered why they're called bullet points? What do bullets do? Bullets kill, and they will kill your presentation."

In an average talk with text-heavy slides, most individuals filter information in one of three ways.

Read slides but ignore speaker
Listen to speaker but ignore slides
Tennis between speaker and slides

Solution: People learn much more deeply from words and relevant images than from words alone.

Complement bullet points with graphics. (Here's an example).
The Noun Project offers many free icons to use for presentations.

Agree or disagree, please let us know how insightful you found these points.

Prasangs of Mahant Swami Maharaj

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 00:59:00 +0000

In this week's kishore-kishori sabha, we will be highlighting the life of our guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj, with prasangs. With 35 minutes allotted, it may appear difficult to connect his 85-year lifetime with ours, so we need to emphasize relevance. At NC18, delegates took the time to put together a life map highlighting milestones in their life.

One way to kick off sabha is by asking the audience, "Imagine we had the seva of drafting Mahant Swami Maharaj's life map. From birth, what 9 events would he want to feature from his life through the age of 30?"

Allow them time to brainstorm independently before putting together the events.

To explain why we picked this age, Chip and Dan Heath cite a study in their latest book, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, which clarifies why we picked this age range.

In a study by Dorthe Berntsen and David Rubin, respondents were prompted to think about the life of a baby who had just been born and to predict what would be “the most important events that are likely to take place in this infant’s life."

Begin school

College

Marriage

Parents' death

Others' death

Retirement

Leave home

First job

It’s striking that 4 out of the 8 most important events all happen during a relatively narrow window of time: roughly age 15 to 30.

Similarly, if you ask older people about their most vivid memories, research shows, they tend to be drawn disproportionately from this same period, roughly ages 15 to 30. Psychologists call this phenomenon the “reminiscence bump.” Why does a 15-year period in our lives—which is not even 20% of a typical life span—dominate our memories? “The key to the reminiscence bump is novelty,” said Claudia Hammond in her book Time Warped. “The reason we remember our youth so well is that it is a . . . time for first... first jobs, first travel without parents, first experience of living away from home, the first time we get much real choice over the way we spend our days.”

For Swamishri, let's look at his firsts. We highly recommend this book in preparation for this weekend, particularly the first section on his life as a balak, a kishore, and a yuvak. Here is our sample of 10 major events from birth to age 30.

9/13/1933: birthday
1934: first encountered Shastriji Maharaj who named him 'Keshav' [0.5]
1946: placed first in the annual exam and received a book as a prize [12]
1951: encountered Yogiji Maharaj & Pramukh Swami Maharaj [17]
1951: received first kanthi at the hands of Yogiji Maharaj [17]
1952: spent time in Gondal with Yogiji Maharaj and acknowledged his guru's wish for him to become a sadhu after graduating college [18]
1952-1954: pursued Bachelor's in Agriculture as it allowed him availability to spend time with his guru [18-20]
1957: received parshadi diksha [24]
1960: received diksha again [27]
5/11/1961: received bhagwati diksha [27]

See what ideas the audience comes up with, and let's share with them the experiences our guru had in his life.

Yogiji Maharaj’s Love for Devotees

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 29 Sep 2018 16:12:00 +0000

This week, we look at Yogiji Maharaj's love for his devotees. On first glance, it might be harder to create excitement for this topic, it is definitely possible through maximizing our storytelling skills.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement. Feel free to brainstorm or use some of the ones taken from the syllabus.

Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees.
Yogiji Maharaj's was a servant of servants (das na das).
Yogiji Maharaj's love inspired others.

Step 2: Start with the shakeup.

Start off sabha by asking the audience to identify this kishore who we already know. Framing this prasang pre-emptively encourages the audience to pay attention in hopes of identifying the individual. If the majority of your audience may have already read this book, feel free to substitute this prasang with Pujya Viveksagar Swami & Pujya Doctor Swami from below.
Mahant Swami Maharaj: An Epitome of Saintliness: In 1951, Yogiji Maharaj visited the home of one family. Their 18-year old son didn't find religion or sadhus appealing - to the point where he would run out of the house the moment he knew Yogiji Maharaj entered their home. Once as he was leaving the home, he encountered Yogiji Maharaj who lovingly held out his hand and asked affectionately, “Guru, where are you going? Come back upstairs.” He loving places a kanthi around his neck, but he immediately tears it off with the beads flying everywhere. We can only wonder what future this kishore will have in Satsang! A couple of days later, Yogiji Maharaj was departing. En route to the the railway station, he saw this kishore sitting on the parapet of the village pond with his friends. Yogiji Maharaj hailed him affectionately, so the kishore reluctantly came to Yogiji Maharaj, wondering what would he say now! However, to his surprise, Yogiji Maharaj humbly joined his palms and smilingly said, “Now I am going. Forgive me for my mistakes.” And so saying, Yogiji Maharaj blessed him with his signature pat and walked away hurriedly.
See if anyone can identify this kishore. We all know this kishore. He is our guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj.
Through prasangs like these, we will learn about the power of Yogiji Maharaj's love.

Step 3: Support the simple statement with stories filled with details (concrete) and validity (concrete). Here, we took prasangs to support the simple statement, "Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees."

Kiritbhai: Yogiji Maharaj's love reminded Kiritbhai of his parents given the care and attention he took the smallest things.
Natvarbhai Shukla of Jhadeshwar: Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees enough to acknowledge the time they spent.
Theplas for Third Class [Nilkanth, March 2012]: One kishore in college in Mumbai decided to spend five days with Yogiji Maharaj in Atladra. Adhering to Yogiji Maharaj’s wishes, on his way to Atladra, he traveled in the 3rd class compartment on the train. However, his return ticket was booked for the 1st class compartment – in which there was air conditioning, food, & comfort. After the five days were complete, he went to Yogiji Maharaj and told him he was leaving. Yogiji Maharaj asked in which train he was going, but he tried to avoid the question. Yogiji Maharaj said that he couldn’t let him buy the ticket and that the Sanstha would pay for the ticket. Yogiji Maharaj told a haribhakt to buy a 3rd class ticket for him, as he was a student and probably didn’t have the money. Yogiji Maharaj also instructed that haribhakt to ensure he got dropped right onto the train to avoid getting lost. In private, this kishore told the haribhakt that there was no point buying the ticket because he had money and would buy it himself. The haribhakt then told him that it was Yogiji Maharaj’s agna, so he could not disregard it. The next morning, Yogiji Maharaj woke up at 4:00 am, made fresh theplas, and a package for him. He initially became embarrassed because he would have to carry the package onto the 1st class compartment of the train, where there would already be food. With this in mind, he decided that, on his way to the train station, he would give the package to some homeless person. Additionally, he decided that after getting into the cart and leaving the mandir, he would tell the haribhakt to step out. As the cart left the mandir, Yogiji Maharaj made sure the kishore got on to the cart. When the cart was about to make a final turn, the kishore looked back to get one last darshan of the gate of Atladra mandir, and his heart skipped a beat. He saw Yogiji Maharaj standing at the gate and watching the cart make its last turn. That moment changed everything. He decided that he would sit in the 3rd class compartment and eat the theplas that Yogiji Maharaj made. We all know this kishore as Pujya Viveksagar Swami, and the haribhakt as Pujya Doctor Swami. Both can personally recall how Yogiji Maharaj loved his devotees.

Yogiji Maharaj's love for all inspired the start of Sunday sabha, so let's make the most of our time in sabha this week.

Go To Move: Follow the Crowd

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 16:51:00 +0000

Dev, a Bal Sabha Sanchalak and Sabhaologist shares a go to move that did not go as planned either in Kishore Mandal or Bal Mandal, but still worked to drive home his overall message. He writes the following:

This week in Bal 1, our theme for the Sabha was simplicity. We played a game of Follow the Crowd in the beginning to show simplicity among our lives. This activity was played in Kishore sabha (K1) and did not go as expected (it was still unexpected but the presenter had to maneuver on his feet to make it fit the simple). We thought it would be a great activity for Bal Sabha (B1) and decided to try it out there as well. Here is what we sent in our sabha preview and review (combined into one post).

Simple: Simplicity is key in happiness.

Unexpected/Go To Move: Follow the Crowd.

Follow the Crowd is a game which will show who follows the crowd or who can stay away from the influence of fellow balaks/balikas.

Objective: Sway a few balaks away from the right answer to show that we can all get influenced by others.

Supplies/Equipment:

Whiteboard

Markers

How to Play:

Before sabha, when MC is talking or as soon as sabha starts, take one balak/balika in the hallway or away from the other balaks where he/she can’t hear what the presenter has to say.
Talk to the balak and distract him from what’s going on inside of the sabha, making sure that he/she can’t hear the presenter.
While the balak/balika is outside, tell the rest of the sabha to say the wrong answer, and not tell the balak/balika that was outside what is going on.
For example, draw a big box and a small box on the board. Tell the balaks/balikas to say the wrong answer. If the presenter asks which box is bigger, everyone must point to the box that is smaller.
The balak/balika will not know what is going on and will say that everyone else is wrong. This will show that he is not influenced by the crowd and strongly believes in his answer.
What is expected is for the balak/balika to go along with everyone and say the wrong answer.

Outcome:

When we played the game in Kishore Sabha, the game did not work as the Kishore that was picked went against everyone’s saying. He was a fellow Bal Karyakar and, so we decided to try the same game in Bal Sabha.
When the MC was talking, a balak was taken out and “talked to”. The other Bal Karyakar explained to the rest of the sabha to say the wrong answer.
As soon as they were ready, the balak was brought inside. Even though everyone was told not to tell the balak, one of the balaks told him to say the wrong answer.
This game did work in a way but did not go as planned since the balak already knew what was going on and said the wrong answer like everyone else.

Relation to Simple:

The simple of the sabha was that simplicity is key in happiness.
In life, we tend to go with everyone else and fall into the trap of wanting to get everything that everyone else has.
In this game the balak/balika had a choice of going with everyone or keeping firm in his belief of the right answer.
In our game, the balak went along with everyone because he knew about what was told to the rest of the balaks.
In Kishore Sabha, the other Bal Karyakar went against what the rest were saying.
While everyone else is getting new toys, games, etc. we must be the one who stays simple in our lives. We must stay away from the influence of other balaks/ balikas.
We must live a simple life by staying away from what everyone else wants. Only keeping what we truly need will lead us to happiness.

-->

In general this is a great unexpected activity that makes the point of that we all can be influenced by our peers (follow the crowd). It may not go exactly as planned, but it will still bring home the point, just be prepared to think on your feet. When we tried it in Kishore Sabha the kishore simply refused to be influenced. Kudos to him. We then used this as a counter example - he was like fire and not water as Yogi Bapa used to say. He stayed true to being simple. In Bal 1 our execution was off. We took one balak out of the room but when he came back in the rest of the balaks told him what we were about to do so the activity turned out to be a bit pointless. We salvaged it by asking the balaks to image if it had gone as planned - what would have happened? This game might work better in groups 2 and 3 since the older balaks (hopefully) won’t tell the one balak. Let us know how it works out for you.

Beyond SUS

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 14:20:00 +0000

Many sabha-ologist have asked what comes after SUS. This is an excellent question since it implies a truth that many sabha-ologist have not really contemplated. SUS is just the starting point. (Gasp!) One of the next step in crafting a great talk is to refine what we are going to say and how we are going to say it. This will require deliberate practice which is a fancy way of saying giving lots of talks and getting lots of feedback (a sabha-ologists version of a good time). There are many excellent speakers who after their SUS write down each word they are going to say line by line to hone their presentation. Evan Puschak (the Nerdwriter) has an excellent example of crafting a message (hat tip Jarvikbhai) by deconstructing a Louis C K joke.

You know, more than anything else I think I’m obsessed with articulation, with the magic of putting things just the right way. There are 207 words in this joke and not a single one is wasted. They’re used either in meaning or in rhythm to contribute to the overall effect, an effect that lets us see the world from a different angle, and more importantly, makes us laugh.

It is this idea of articulation that SUS attempts quantify. SUS is just one of many methods to do this. We don't need SUS to make a great talk, but we need something. Using SUS is infinitely better than using nothing at all. After SUS we need to sharpen the saw. One method is to wordsmith in the manner that Louis CK does with his material - looking at every word we are about to say and evaluating if there is a more concise and impactful way of articulating our thoughts. Put another way: is there a better way to say our story to convey our simple message. We may not be able to script every word, but let's start next week by looking at one story.

Make the Kids Write - a new kind of unexpected.

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 20:42:00 +0000

Sahilbhai a first time presenter in Bal 1 and a very ardent Sabha-ologist came up with a unique unexpected (spoiler alert: it was not a video) to engage the Balaks. He wrote the following thoughtful analysis of his talk and how in the future he would improve. A great many good idea here for all of us to implement.

In preparing for my Bal 1 talk centered on the prasang of Shukanand Swami I came up with the following Simple / Unexpected / Story paradigm.

Simple

When we do seva our main goal should be to make Maharaj and Swami happy.I would have the kids repeat this several times to make sure they remembered it. This really worked as some of the kids were said this in their own words while they were eating dinner.

Unexpected

I had the balaks undergo a writing exercise in order to help them understand the difficulty of Shukanand Swami’s seva as Maharaj’s Secretary. Each balak had a blank piece of paper and a pencil. I would say five sentences and have them write it down word for word to the best of their ability. Then I would ask the balaks for feedback on they performed. There was only one balak who was able to get around 90% of what I said which was 40% higher than the second highest. I asked him why he did so well and he told me that he has a teacher who teaches at a fast pace. I related this to Shukanand Swami’s proficiency in his seva because before Shukanand Swami became a sadhu he was a merchant who handled the accounts of land and he was highly educated. Similar to the balak who performed well due to his experience with his teacher in school, Shukanand Swami was highly adept at writing long accounts due to his knowledge of linguistics he was able to handle the rigors of being Maharaj’s Secretary.

After receiving the feedback from the balaks, I immediately told them to flip over their paper and be ready for the second part of the exercise. Similar to the first part, I would say five sentences (different sentences) and have write them down word for word. After completing the exercise, I initiated another feedback interval to ask how they felt now compared to the first part. Many of the balaks improved from their performance on the first part because they kept a positive attitude even though they might have gotten less than 10% accuracy (accuracy is evaluated by how many words a balak was able write down which correlated with what I had spoken in the five sentences) on the first part. The balaks that had done worse than before or did not improve had a negative attitude which affected their performance. Because of the fact they were unable to get a 100% accuracy on the first try, they felt miserable.

I used this data to inform the balaks on how this exercise resembles seva. When we do seva our main goal should be to make Maharaj and Swami happy. However, sometimes events happen that are out of our control. Those events must be seen as Maharaj’s ichchha (His doing) to test us. If we become depressed and quit we will never achieve the goal we set out which was to earn Maharaj and Swami’s happiness (rajipo). Therefore, if we remain sthitpragya (stable minded) we are able to analyze what happened (antardrishti) to help us persevere through the unsuccessful attempt in order to continue our goal to achieve Maharaj and Swami’s happiness.

Stories

I told the balaks about Shukanand Swami’s seva and the magnitude of difficulty he had to go through. I began with an overview of what it meant being Maharaj’s secretary. As the secretary, Shukanand Swami would create and maintain accounts of Maharaj’s discourses which were later compiled into major religious texts (Vachanamrut). Maharaj always tested his devotees in order for them to become ekantik (perfect devotee). The same was applied to Shukanand Swami by how he was pressured to write 14 page long accounts and end up having to revise them late into the night (this displayed the amount of meticulous perfection Shukanand Swami emphasized in doing seva). When he would submit his seva to Maharaj as a form of bhakti, Maharaj would test him being tearing up the papers and throwing them on the ground. Nityanand Swami asked Shukanand Swami if he experience a feeling of frustration and Shukanand Swami replied by saying “I had written it just to please Maharaj and Maharaj pleased himself by tearing up the pages”. This quote best illustrated how we should perform our seva which is to earn Maharaj and Swami’s happiness and remain stable minded like Shukanand Swami. As a result, Maharaj appreciated Shukanand Swami so much that he would refer to him during discourses on seva.

In order to continue my emphasis on when we do seva our main goal should be to make Maharaj and Swami happy as well as the mahima of Maharaj's ichchha in our seva, I used the London Mandir prasang. It was Yogi Bapa's agna to have a Mandir in every continent. So to fulfill this agna, there was an area of land originally permitted by the urban planners in the city to be used in the construction of the Mandir in London. Unfortunately, some problems occurred and the land was no longer permitted for construction. The devotees did their best to win a case for permission to construct the Mandir but there was no success in obtaining the land. Due the lost efforts, the devotees lost hope in the cause and quit. However, Pramukh Swami Maharaj had the sthitaprajna to remain focused on fulfilling Yogi Bapa’s agna and inspired the devotees to remain focused on the cause as well. As a result, a new area of land was found to construct the Mandir. Today there is a beautiful Mandir in London which can be seen as a symbol of seva that was done to earn the happiness of Maharaj and Swami.

What went well:

The exercise was something challenging and forced the balaks to think better than they would've if I showed them a video. 
I made them say my simple in order for it to stick in their head. I would say “what should we think when we do seva” and then they would reply “to make Maharaj and Swami happy”. I did the same thing with how being stable minded is important. 
When I talked I didn't use any advanced Satsang vocabulary rather I utilized the words happiness, stable minded, and desire. This helped them remain interested because they knew what I was saying. 
I used a lot of gestures (shout out to Aksharbhai) when I spoke to make them interested.
Because it was my first time, I made them feel comfortable talking to me by joking around before sabha (I did the “lawn mower” backwards and deliberately fell to make them laugh and a bunch of other goofy stuff). I believe this is a great thing to do if someone is presenting for the first time in front of balaks (especially if your height is intimidating to them).

 What I could improve:

Don’t forget to do Jai Naad (shaking my head in disappointment as I type this). 
I should have paced myself because there were other things that I planned to do during my presentation but failed to do so because mentally I was going too fast. As a result, there were some flaws in conveying the exercise's relationship to Shukanand Swami’s seva (I should’ve talked to a balak privately telling them I’ll tear up his paper as part of the exercise). 
I wasn’t able to successfully transition into my story which made some of the balaks bored listening to it. As a result, some of them might forget the name Shukanand Swami. This is a major problem for me which is storytelling. I should’ve told them to imagine the scenario by describing what it was like during Maharaj's time (no microphone, cramped fingers from writing, no pencils so no eraser, revisions that could keep Shukanand Swami awake late into the night without anything but a candle, end up having the papers torn up, going straight into another long discourse while being sleep deprived, and much more to help the balaks see the story more clearly). Shout out to Tusharbhai for the storytelling advice. 
Next time no pencils so they cannot erase (Shukanand Swami did not have an eraser). 
Tell the balaks before the exercise to try their best and not stop to ask questions (which ended up consuming time). 
Have more than enough materials to prevent wasting time in search of spare pencils, paper, etc.

How NOT to ruin your SUS

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 20:03:00 +0000

A fellow sabha-ologist and Bal Presenter - Jarvikbhai sent us the following observation.

How many of us have started our presentations with a question? I certainly have and this blog post is an instant example. Questions are a tempting tool to make things interactive. A quick and easy unexpected - maybe a way to gather consensus on a specific topic we want to talk about. I recently utilized asking a question to start my Bal Mandal presentation trying to make things interactive. While it may work for a blog post (since the question is rhetorical) I found it isn’t as effective when doing a presentation, especially for Bal Mandal. I lost all command presence after asking the question since the sabha devolved quickly into a free for all. I did not want to crush enthusiasm or shout at the kids to pay attention (because they were paying attention they just were not behaving). So I weathered the storm, but it took a great deal of momentum out of my talk. As a presenter, we want our audience to pay attention from the beginning.

Following our Simple-Unexpected-Stories paradigm, we usually start our presentations with an unexpected to grab attention. It does not have to be a video and in fact if we start every talk that way it would not be very unexpected. I spoke to the sanchalaks and they confirmed that the kids had not seen a video in a few weeks. My simple take home message was “We should follow Yogi Bapa's example and fill our free time with devotion.” So I found the following video to grab attention.

The video is fast paced and just under about a minute long - perfect to entice the audience (balaks for my case) and prove the point that we spend a considerable amount of time doing unnecessary things which wouldn’t help us in the long run. Thus, we should use that free time to do different bhakti/seva for Bhagwan. I felt really good about starting in this manner and then integrating this idea to all the prasangs of Yogi Bapa.

However I started with a question asking the Balaks what they do during their summer time. I was expecting answers that weren’t bhakti/seva related so that I can have balaks realize the amount of time we spend doing unnecessary things by showing the video next. In theory the plan would work but reality disagreed. As soon as I asked the question, all the balaks started yelling different things which is opposite of what I expected. I lost all command presence. I did not want to yell to get them to quiet down. I wanted to feed their enthusiasm. If I had started with the video, it would have grabbed their attention much sooner and would actually care to listen to the following things I had to say.

So are there no real ways of using questions in your presentations, absolutely not! Virenbhai’s blog post is great example of how to incorporate a question at the beginning of a talk. Afterwards I thought of the following ideas that I may try in the future. Bring a ball or a throwable object. We could set conditions that whoever has a throwable object can speak. We could ask the same balak who has that object to pass it to another balak for them to speak. That way the commotion is reduced drastically.

Satyakam's Test

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 23:28:00 +0000

Back in April, we kicked off the Small Hands, Big Hearts Project with Shaluk and the tussle his mind faced with the melon, and tomorrow, we will revisit Satyakam's test and how he earned brahmvidya.

With tomorrow's sabha ghosti, let's use the 15 minutes in a targeted way to reinvigorate others to this elusive seva. Here are some ways to focus the discussion and keep the momentum going.

Know your audience: Survey your audience to see exactly what individuals are doing and frame questions accordingly.

If commitment is an issue, the discussion should focus on identifying opportunities using the example prasang as a guide.

Chaturmas just concluded, and if an individual gave up something for four months, there's a good chance s/he can solidify it as their sacrifice to this project

If commitment has been made, the discussion should focus on how to keep motivation afloat.

If Satyakam could give you 1 piece of advice, what would he say?
Imagine Satyakam participating in this project alongside us. From the prasang, how would he go about staying consistent with his sacrifice?

Do sampark: Let's not forget about those who may not be attending sabha tomorrow. Identifying ways they can sacrifice can serve as an opportunity to spark a conversation and do sampark.

Leverage your karyakars: Ask parents coordinators to communicate with parents of kishores/kishoris who cannot identify a niyam or may feel shy approaching their parents.

Create a rally point: Graphically display your mandal's contribution in an area where they can see, like the sabha hall.

Data Science in Bal 1!

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 18:48:00 +0000

Viren - a bal karyakar and experienced Sabhaologist shares a great way to modify the un-unexpected of asking every kid a question.

During my preview for my Bal 1 talk, I said that I would get everyone’s attention by asking them who they loved the most and then comparing that to Bapa and using that to start my talk. The idea I wanted to convey was that Swamishri’s love for us is unconditional. I know from past experience that just asking Bal 1 an open ended question can lead to lots of talking. So what better way to captivate kids’ attention than doing data science? The best way is to see who everyone loves the most was to create a bar graph. Each balak was given the question “Who do you love the most?”. When every balak answered, we tallied for either mom, dad, brother, sister or grandparents. After tallying up each balak’s response, we saw that most balaks love their dads the most because they spend more time with them. However, then it was easy to connect this to how Swamishri loves us unconditionally though the balaks said they love their dads. If we graph Swamishri’s love for us, it would be impossible to graph. This idea of graphing easily caught all the balak’s attention and it was an awesome way to see Swamishri’s love is unconditional.

Connecting with Shaluk

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:37:00 +0000

With this upcoming weekend, we kick off a momentous project that will help fulfill one of Swamishri's very own sankalps, Akshardham North America.

To aid in our efforts of pitching this project, several karyakars went through the presentation and have created a video highlighting the important manan points. This video is not meant to replace the presentation but just as a guide to aid us in our preparation, especially since most of us are coming off Swaminarayan Jayanti.

As noted in the video, the idea behind a powerful prasang rests in how we connect the details with the concept at hand, and this Sunday's topic proves no different as we hope to generate energy and excitement.

Link: https://vimeo.com/163498447
Password: Akshardham2020

15 Things to do before a Presentation

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 22:34:00 +0000

"The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public." —George Jessel

It is uncanny how public speaking can make almost anyone feel uncomfortable. In the past we have explored how preparation (Simple, Unexpected, Story) can make a world of difference. However even the most confident of speakers can feel butterflies before a talk - even a talk they have given hundreds of times. The key is to harness these feelings and make the butterflies work for us. The following Business Insider article looks at 15 things we can do to make that happen. The entire article is worth a read. We wanted to touch on a few of the points.

Remember and live up to the 3 Audience Truths

"This audience believes I am the expert." This is especially true in Balika and Bal Mandal. However even in Kishori/Kishore/Yuva Mandal this can apply. You have read the syllabus, done your home work (SUS). So at the very least, the material is fresh for you. You are also the expert in your opinion and point of view.
"They want me to succeed." Nobody wants a boring sabha. Everybody wants you to do well because that means they are engaging in something of value. Samp is not relegated to basketball and team building activities. Samp is also rooting for you to give an amazing talk. Even the apathetic of audiences will be happy if your talk goes well.
"They don't know what I'm going to say." If you forget a prasang or don't say everything exactly as you planned - nobody will know. (Yes the karyakars that previewed your talk will know, but they REALLY want you to do a great talk - it's their seva - so they will be the ones who are most forgiving).

Take several deep belly breathe
Pranayam - it works.

Practice the first (few) minutes of your talk
Nerves tend to dissipate as our talk goes on. If we are going to choke it is going to be right at the beginning (I once messed up the Jai Naad when giving a talk). If we nail the first five minutes - the rest of the talk should follow with flow.

Smile

We never believed this one until we tried it. Smiling relaxes us when we are most stressed. Guy Kawasaki has written a whole book about it, which expounded the idea that true (duchenne) smile is indicated by crows feet at the side of the eyes. More recently Kraft and Pressman replicated an earlier study showing that forces smiling reduces stress. (They made subjects bite chopsticks whereas the previous study had them bite pencils).

Bal/Balika Go To Move #9: Trashketball

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 21:30:00 +0000

Continuing our guest posts, here is a great idea from Dev - a bal 1 sanchalak. Give it a try and let us know how it worked.

This week in bal 1 we organized a retention game that the kids really enjoyed. The construct of the game enabled us to retain all of the information from the presentations spanning the past month. In this post we explore the many facets of Trashketball and use this to have fun with balaks/balikas and also help them remember and retain information.

Trashketball is a game which enables retention while having fun - because everyone loves throwing things in a trash can! The Sabha audience is asked a question and they get to shoot based on their response. The objective is to have fun but also remember information from past presentations.

Supplies/Equipment

Trashcan (Preferably metal but any one will work)
Small Ball (A small ball that is soft and nobody will get hurt with)
Questions to ask audience that relate to presentations

How to Play

Divide the audience into groups of preferably four or five.
Set up marks on the floor for 2 point, and 3 points, and set up trashcan. Putting it near a wall will help them to use it as a backboard, or can keep it away from the wall to make it more challenging.
Ask a group a question related to what has been presented. If they get it correct, they get one initial point for the correct answer but they can shoot the ball into the trash can from any point value to get bonus points. If they do not make the basket, they get only one point.
If the group doesn’t get the question right, the next group gets a chance to answer until a group gets the question right. If they get a question right on a steal, they can get the one initial point, but they will not be able to shoot the ball.
Keeping score on whiteboard or online can help increase the competition and the audience will have more fun.

This is a great game to play for retention games and your audience will have fun and remember what they learned.

Go To Move #8: Meet my Imaginary Friend

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 21:14:00 +0000

Recently a spate of Balika/Bal karaykars have come up with some really amazing ways to keep our kids attention during sabha. So for the next few weeks we are trying to send out and share these ideas. This week Kirtan, who presents regularly in Bal Mandal, shares with us his go-to move.

Do you ever get tired of presenting in Bal mandal because Balaks don’t listen to you? Do balaks always start talking while you are trying to make a point? Here is an idea that has worked for me. It grabs all the Balaks attention when they start to fade and is my favorite Go-To Move.
Many balaks understand the concept of “an imaginary friend.” This idea is riff on that concept. The key difference being the imaginary friend is Swamibapa. For this to work, you really have to sell the idea that Swamishri is present in sabha. There are several strategies to establish this. I like to start by having a conversation with Swamishri as soon as I enter the room (even before I start my talk). When balaks see you talking to your imaginary friend they will get confused and start laughing and think it’s funny. That is okay, it is unexpected and you now have their attention. But for this idea to really work you have to quickly make it clear to the balaks that your imaginary friend is Swamishri and that he is truly present and that we need to act as if he is present. If you can sell this the kids will be amazed that you have an imaginary friend that is Swamibapa. Leverage this amazement to make it clear that: “Bapa is going to be here in our sabha today so let's make sure we to pay attention and not mess around.” Once this is established, start the presentation. During your talk to can ask Swamishri questions. If you are about to recite a prasang, say it as if Bapa was really there. Try saying: “Bapa do you remember during your 51st Birthday in Dharmaj when you picked up all those used datan?”
One reason I really like this idea is that this is something all of us should really be doing in any sabha we sit in. We sing prarthna to invite Swamishri into our sabha, but then act as if he is not there. If we can instill this concept in our balaks, they may actually do this throughout their lives in any sabha they sit in (and we may start doing it as well).

Gearing Up as Group Lead: Ghosti 101

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 May 2015 12:00:00 +0000

With another shibir soon approaching, perhaps one of the most rewarding yet challenging opportunities is the group lead seva. Pit with a group of sometimes complete strangers and tasked with making the interaction friendly in a matter of days, it's not a job for the faint of heart.

Thus, let's deconstruct one of the most basic responsibilities of a group lead: moderating a ghosti. Below are some tips coupled with examples in italics to better illustrate the point.

#1: Know your audience. Simply calling your group members before meeting them at the shibir can help ignite the interaction. Not only will it help in learning names, but it can help get a feel for where they stand in their samjan thus allowing for a ghosti guided more to something relevant.

"What do you like to do for fun?"
"What do you find most enjoyable about mandir?"
"What are you hoping to get out of the shibir?"

#2: Priming the participants. This strategy requires the ghosti has been planned out in advance, but giving a heads up to the ghosti participants, especially if sensitive topics like niyam-dharma are to be discussed.

"We're going to be talking about our struggles with other haribhakto, so think of a situation where you had a conflict with another haribhakt and how you maneuvered it."

#3: Crafting the question. Open-ended questions are easy to generate, especially on the spot.

"What is agna?"

Unfortunately, they are the often met with an awkward silence. With so many possibilities, nobody wants to be wrong, especially in front of strangers.

Instead, try binary questions where the answer is either a yes or no. While the questions appear straightforward, they can generate ample discussion when wielded well.

"Can you follow agna without realizing it?"

Alternatively, try using questions with more than two choices, but tread carefully. More choices can create more confusion and the greater chance someone abstains from voting altogether. Allow for time to think out the choices.

#4: Respond to the response. Sometimes, moderators ask questions, but don't use the responses to build a point. Open-ended questions are frequent offenders for this problem, and doing so implies a failure to acknowledge someone's input.

Moderator: "What is agna?"

Group: "Things we follow. What Swamishri tells us to do. Something that will help us get moksh."

Moderator: "Great. Today we are going to talk about agna."

With a binary question, take turns asking each side of their opinion.

Moderator: "Can you follow agna without realizing it?"

(2 voted yes; 3 voted no.)

Moderator: "Hasmukhbhai, why did you say yes?"

Hasmukhbhai: "Let's say someone becomes vegetarian. That's also Swamishri's agna, but they don't realize it."

Moderator: "Does anyone disagree?"

Lalubhai: "But how can you call it agna if you don't do it with understanding? You can randomly do something that happens to be in line with the Satpurush's wishes, but it's the understanding that defines agna."

#5: Acknowledge responses right/wrong. Not everyone will get the right answer nor should they. Ghosti is a shared learning experience, so don't forget to recognize contributors. Their input pushed the discussion further then where it was before.

Moderator: "Shivambhai, that's an interesting distinction and a very important point to note. Aksharbhai, thanks for sharing your insight as it's important to identify this common misconception when considering agna."

#6: Anonymize sensitive topics. Topics like niyam-dharma are newer easy to talk about let alone in the presence of those unfamiliar to us. Try using a method to remove names, like index cards.

"Think of a time where you did something you regretted later. Describe the situation on the index card in the few lines. When you are done, pass them up, and we'll review them together."

#7: Apply understanding. Simply having participants restate a point may not indicate complete understanding, so test with application.

"For Chaturmas, assume a kishore decides not to watch movies. Under what circumstances, would he NOT be following agna?"

#8: Schedule silence. When nobody responds, awkwardness joins the interaction, and it becomes irresistible for moderators to go into pravachan mode. Fight the urge by offering up periods of silence so that participants can ruminate freely without being pressured to offer up an answer.

"Let's take some time to think, and when you have an answer look up so we know you are ready to discuss."

Adhiveshan: Studying that Sticks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Many kishores/kishoris around the nation this past weekend took their Prathmik Mukhpaath to qualify for the upcoming Adhiveshan. With five categories and many lines to memorize, certainly the challenge appears daunting.

Here are a few activities worth trying to shake things up to make the studying fun. If you think of more, feel free to share!

Game 1: Mukhpaath Madness
Sit everyone in a circle, and pick a shlok. Have the first person say the first word. The next person should say the first word plus the subsequent word.

Person 1: Gururbrahma

Person 2: Gururbrahma, gururvishnu

Continue until someone says an incorrect word. Start over and repeat. Time the group to see how long it takes to finish the entire shlok. Compete with other groups in the mandal to see who is the fastest.

NOTE: This game forces everyone to know the words AND pay attention to their team members as repeating the same mistakes only wastes time. Thus, it encourages teamwork.

Variation #1*: Mix it up by introducing a ball. Players can throw to another person in the circle instead of having the person next to them go next.

Variation #2: Each time someone misses a word, s/he sits down. Last person standing wins provided they can recite the entire verse.

Variation #3: For balaks/balikas, pass a box around with a treat inside (e.g. candy, sticker). Whoever is holding the box upon completing the verse keeps the treat.

Game 2: Relay to Raajipo*
Line up teams, and grab a whiteboard. The first person goes up, writes the first word, and returns to the back of the line. The next person goes up and writes the next word. Continue until the entire verse is written. If a team writes a verse incorrectly, they have to start over. First team to correctly write the entire verse wins.

Variation #1: For balaks/balikas, have them hop/skip to the board instead of just running.

Game 3: Basketball Mukhpaath
Line up two teams on the basketball court. Ask each person to recite a verse. If correct, s/he earns 4 points and can earn an additional point for shooting a basket - a grand total of 5 points. Play as many rounds as you like.

*Adapted from Ken Moser's Creative Christian Ideas

Review: TED Talks

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 23:01:00 +0000

With many upcoming Local Shibirs and Conventions we maybe called upon to recreate some of talks we have heard in past National Conventions for our local audience. These talks are akin to giving a TED talk. We have mentioned emulating TED in the past since it captivates the audience and gets a concise message across. It may be worth going over those points to tune up for our speaking in the upcoming months.

Simple Shortcut #3 To Make The Best Lecture You Have ever Given, the key is Simple.

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:49:00 +0000

From the Harvard Business Review blog, Greg McKeown writes about the best lecture he's ever heard. It is germane since every week we either try to give the best lecture anyone has ever heard or get the opportunity to hear the best lecture anyone is ever heard. In sabha we have some advantages. We have a syllabus topic that gives us much of our research and we have a plethora of resources at our disposal. However unless we do this seva sincerely we may wind up with NOT the best lecture ever, worse yet we may wind up with someone reading off the syllabus topic. Even worse is when the presenter says "hey lets split into groups and discuss this topic" as they walk away to get a drink of water only to return when sabha is over.

So what makes the best lecture someone has ever heard. To be sure many of these aspects overlap with the ideas in Made To Stick. McKeown notes that: You can't communicate what you haven't defined. This really is essentially the first step to making a message stick - figure your simple.

I was once asked to work with an executive team who wanted to find a sticky message for a new initiative they wanted to run. But after interviewing a series of executives involved, all on video, I realized the problem was really a strategy problem dressed up as a communications problem. They couldn't communicate the message with greater effectiveness until they defined their message with greater clarity. And that meant making decisions about what their initiative was and what it was not. I have found that designing a message around the following helps: “I am teaching [this narrow subject] to [this specific audience] in order that they [clear learning objective/call to action].”

Another aspect to creating a great talk is to make sure the rest of our points reinforces this main point. What if we have a really great story, or video clip, or prasang but it just does not fit with our simple? What if our topic is Bhakti and we have a great example of Samp? Then we need to exercise McKeown's third point: Kill your darlings. That means we need to self-edit our talks and remove all stories (even though we really like them) that do not back up our simple.

Stephen King has written that in order for a story to come to life, you must “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” The same type of self-editing can be applied to telling stories. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Square and co-founder of Twitter, thinks his primary job is to be the Chief Editor of the company in order to “present one cohesive story to the world.”

McKeown's last point is subtle but again points towards keeping our simple message relevant. Be repetitive without being boring. The idea of giving a sticky talk is that everyone leaves with the exact same message. One (admittedly boring) way of doing this, is to just repeat your simple one line message one hundred times and sitting down. Everyone will remember the message, and everyone will hate the talk. So the idea is to weave the simple message through out our talk. After every story go back and show how that story related to our simple message. Better yet explain how the story shows our simple message from another point of view. That is really the art of the simple.

Alastair Campbell, the communications advisor to Tony Blair for years, explained at a CIPR conference the challenge we face today in getting a message through in our noisy world: You’re in a huge room with a wall on the far side that’s painted white. Your job is to paint it blue using only the paint gun in your hand. You shoot a single ball and it hits the wall on the other side and makes the tiniest blue mark. You’ve got your message out there once, but it’s still drowned out. So you shoot another ball over. Then another and another and another. You keep going with great persistence until you look over there and the wall starts to look as if you aren’t sure if it’s white or blue. This, according to Campbell, is the best you can hope for.

But before you can be repetitive, you have to decide on the one message you want to hammer home – which means prioritizing. When the word priority came into the English language in the 1400s, it was singular. What did it mean? The very first or prior thing. It continued to have that useful definition for the next five hundred years. However, in the 1900s we pluralized the term and started speaking of priorities. But can we really have many first or prior things? Words can be potent enough to change the world, but if we try to share too many different messages, we water down the power of our message.

The whole post is worth reading.

Share or Steal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 11:00:00 +0000

The monthly retention game doesn't always get the attention it deserves, but let's take a look at one variation a fellow Sabhaologist will be trying out Sunday with his bal-2 audience:

Moderator selects two people.
Each receives a white board.
When the question is asked, they have to write the answer down along "share" or "steal."
If both say "share," then only one person needs to get the answer right for both to split the award equally (one Hershey kiss each).
If both say "steal," neither get anything for a correct answer.
If both say different answers, the player who "steals" must get the answer right to collect four Hershey kisses while the other who "shares" gets nothing.
If a player gets an answer wrong, they sit down.

As always, please let us know how this idea pans out this Sunday, especially if adapted for another sabha. We're all ears when it comes to revisiting the retention game!

Carpe Diem

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:04:00 +0000

Krishna was once asked what was the most miraculous thing in all creation, and he replied, "That a man should wake each morning and believe deep in his heart that he will live forever, even though he knows that he is doomed." - Christopher Pike, Phantom

Moksha is a concept most of us are familiar with. We have heard in Bal/Balika Mandal that our goal is to attain moksha. In fact we probably already know that moksha is the same as attaining Akshardham, which is the same as overcoming the cycle of birth and death, which is also the same as becoming Brahmroop, which is the same as becoming exactly like Swamishri. This message we have heard over and over that we can recite it anytime we need to (especially in a presentation about Moksha).

The interesting thing then is really that after realizing this truth how much have we done to achieve Moksha? Have we seized the day? A good unexpected way to start a presentation on Moksha could be to show this video (which is especially apt since Robin Williams passing several days ago)

Chalk Talk: Revisiting Ghosti

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 May 2014 03:54:00 +0000

About a month ago, a fellow Sabhaologist shared with us an extensive list of strategies to mix up sabha, ghosti, or even meetings.

We decided to take him up on one of his recommendations, Chalk Talk, and apply it to kishore karyakar ghosti. Often times, we struggle with getting people to open up in ghosti, especially with larger groups, so this activity took advantage of silence by having participants respond on paper (as seen below).

Define how you think each aspect of Ekantik Dharma applies to your karyakar seva.

Which of the four pillars of Ekantik Dharma do you find easy? Hard? Explain.

To avoid repetition, tallies were noted next to comments that others also shared.

Overall, it was an interesting way to collect everyone's opinion and helped the moderator see the varying levels of understanding. As there were about 5-6 people present, a bigger writing space would have helped reduce wait time.

Nevertheless, we thank the Sabhaologist who shared with us a treasure trove of techniques. Want to try another one out? Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Balika 1 - It Worked! Burn you fears away

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:14:00 +0000

An intrepid Balika Mandal sabhaologist came up with a clever idea to add meaning to a presentation and make it stick. A few weeks ago the presentation - Ghosts in a Well - was about becoming fearless in the same way Ghanshyam Maharaj was fearless in dealing with the aforementioned ghosts. For Balika/Bal 1 this can become an abstract exercise. To make it concrete the Sanchalika came up with a great idea. She asked all the balikas to write down their fears. They then went to an open area outside and in a small pit the karyakars took the piece of paper and burned it while emphasizing that Maharaj and Swami will always help us if we are fearless. Unexpected and concrete rolled into one and simple emphasized through stories.

What makes a great TED Talk?

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 16:20:00 +0000

The Harvard Business Review has an interesting post trying to answer this question. They speak with Chris Anderson, the curator of TED, and get his opinion on this question. His answer will not surprise many of our regular readers since they echo the Made to Stick SUCCES paradigm. However Anderson leads with emotion (the E in SUCCES). It is interesting since when we try to learn these techniques we usually lead with unexpected (that Anderson calls surprise), stories (related to what Anderson calls visual), and simple. We focus initially just on these three since they get us out of doing something boring. However to really engage an audience's attention and calls them to action we really do need to engage their emotion. It takes practice and forethought. When reviewing a talk we naturally ask ourselves or others - "what is the SUS?" To get to the next level we need to augment that to - "what is the SUSE?" Here is what Anderson has to say about this.

What makes for a great presentation — the kind that compels people’s attention and calls them to action? TED talks have certainly set a benchmark in recent years: HBR even asked Chris Anderson, the group’s founder, to offer lessons drawn from the three decades he’s run TED’s signature events in an article published last summer.

But experience and intuition are one thing; data and analysis are another. What could one learn by watching the most successful TED talks in recent years (150 hours’ worth), talking to many of the speakers, then running the findings by neuroscientists who study persuasion? I did just that, and here’s what I learned:

Use emotion. Bryan Stevenson’s TED talk, “We need to talk about an injustice”, received the longest standing ovation in the event’s history. A civil rights attorney who successfully argued and won the Supreme Court case Miller v. Alabama, which prohibits mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of murder, this is a man who knows how to persuade people.

I divided the content of his talk into Aristotle’s three areas of persuasion. Only 10 percent fell under “ethos” (establishing credibility for the speaker); 25 percent fell into the “logos” category (data, statistics) and a full 65 percent was categorized as “pathos” (emotion, storytelling). In his 18-minute talk, Stevenson told three stories to support his argument. The first was about his grandmother, and when I asked him why he started with it, his answer was simple: “Because everyone has a grandmother.” The story was his way of making an immediate connection with the audience.

Stories that trigger emotion are the ones that best inform, illuminate, inspire, and move people to action. Most everyday workplace conversations are heavy on data and light on stories, yet you need the latter to reinforce your argument. So start incorporating more anecdotes – from your own experience or those about other people, stories and brands (both successes and failures) – into your pitches and presentations.

Be novel. We all like to see and hear something new. One guideline that TED gives its speakers is to avoid “trotting out the usual shtick.” In other words, deliver information that is unique, surprising, or unexpected—novel.

In his 2009 TED presentation on the impact of malaria in African countries, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates shocked his audience when he opened a jar of mosquitoes in the middle of his talk. “Malaria, of course, is transmitted by mosquitoes,” he said. “I brought some here so you can experience this. I’ll let these roam around the auditorium. There’s no reason why only poor people should have the experience.” He reassured his audience that the mosquitoes were not infected – but not until the stunt had grabbed their attention and drawn them into the conversation.

As neuroscientist Dr. A.K. Pradeep confirms, our brains can’t ignore novelty. “They are trained to look for something brilliant and new, something that stands out.” Pradeep should know. He’s a pioneer in the area of neuromarketing, studying advertisements, packaging, and design for major brands launching new products.

In the workplace your listener (boss, colleague, sales prospect) is asking him or herself one question: “Is this person teaching me something I don’t know?” So introduce material that’s unexpected, surprising or offers a new and novel solution to an old problem.

Emphasize the visual. Robert Ballard’s 2008 TED talk on his discovery of the Titanic, two and a half miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic, contained 57 slides with no words. He showed pictures, images, and animation of life beneath the sea, without one word of text, and the audience loved it. Why did you deliver an entire presentation in pictures? “Because I’m storytelling; not lecturing,” Ballard told me.

Research shows that most of us learn better when information is presented in pictures and text instead of text alone. When ideas are delivered verbally—without pictures—the listener retains about 10% of the content. Add a picture and retention soars to 65%.

For your next PowerPoint presentation, abandon the text blocks and bullet points in favor of more visually intriguing design elements. Show pictures, animations, and images that reinforce your theme. Help people remember your message.

The Secret to go from Worst to Best: Deliberate Practice

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:54:00 +0000

Would you like to know the secret that can propel you from being one of the worst speakers to being one of the best? Andrew Ng, a professor at Stanford University and a founding member of Coursera shares his insight on how he accomplished this exact feat. After understanding the mechanics of how to create and deliver a great talk, what we really have to do is the hard work of practice. The Pareto principle (80/20 rule) tells us that we can get an 80% improvement in our speaking skills, but we need to put in the 20% of work in the form of practice. Focused practice with very good feedback is how we can improve much faster. This is why we have a preview and review cycle in our sabha and our syllabus is focused on this cycle and the concept of SUS. This in a nutshell is what deliberate practice is all about. Here is what Prof. Ng has to say about it.

How can you rapidly improve your presentation skills? When I began teaching at Stanford University in 2002, I was one of the weakest teachers--bottom 13% according to my student reviews. Eleven years later, in 2013, students named me one of the top 10 professors across all of Stanford University. During that journey, there was one short period when my teaching and public speaking rapidly improved, through a process called deliberate practice.

We all know that to get better at a musical instrument or a sport, you have to practice. Practice does not simply mean “doing the activity over and over.” Instead, you learn fastest when you engage in a focused process called deliberate practice, in which you repeatedly attempt an especially challenging part of the task.

When the best musicians are working to improve, they don’t just play their favorite tunes for hours. Instead, they pick a short but challenging passage in a larger musical piece, and repeatedly play that passage until they get it right. Athletes use a similar process to hone their skills. This is hard work---you focus in every attempt, try to figure out what you’re doing wrong, and tweak your performance to make it better. If you do it right, you might be mentally drained after 30 minutes.

Deliberate practice is common in music and in sports, but is rarely used in the context of speaking or teaching. In fact, knowledge workers in most disciplines rarely engage in deliberate practice. This limits how rapidly we get better at our jobs; it also means that deliberate practice might help you progress faster than your peers.

Key elements of deliberate practice include:

Rapid iteration.

Immediate feedback.

Focus on a small part of the task that can be done in a short time.

Here’s a 30 minute deliberate practice exercise for improving your presentations:

Select a ~60 second portion of a presentation that you made recently, or that you plan to make.

Record yourself making that 60 second presentation. Use a webcam, camcorder, or your cellphone video camera to capture video and audio.

Watch your presentation. If you haven’t seen yourself on video much, you’ll be appalled at how you look or sound. This is a good sign; it means that your speaking ability is about to improve dramatically.

Decide what you’d like to adjust about your presentation. Then go back to Step 2, try again, making any changes you think will improve your speaking.

Repeat the cycle of recording, watching, and adjusting 8 - 10 times.

You want to select only a ~60 second portion of your presentation to practice. By using only 60 second segments, you can go through the steps above maybe 8-10 times in half an hour (i.e., you can perform many iterations in a short time). The first time I did this, I recorded myself talking for 30 minutes. But you don’t really want to watch a 30 minute video of yourself talking—it gets boring—and in a 30 minute video, you’ll also find far too many things to change that you won’t be able to keep them straight in your mind.

This was the process I used to improved my teaching. For about a year, I had a camcorder set up in my living room, and I went through the record-watch-adjust cycle whenever I had a few moments to spare. Although I still have much to learn, a series of many practice sessions helped me to improve my teaching more quickly than anything else I’ve done, and ultimately allowed me to develop and launch my first MOOC in 2011. In the later parts of my teaching career, when I was learning how to create MOOC-style online lecture videos, the process of deliberate practice helped me get much better at that too.

Oil and Water Don't Mix but Food Coloring Does.

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 14:44:00 +0000

A fellow sabha.ologist going by the moniker Mirangi wanted to share some unexpected methods she successfully implemented in Balika 1

The presentation was on the concept of Akshar and Purushottam. Now this is a concept that is quite difficult for someone who is in group 1 to understand. At most, they know that Akshar is Swamibapa and Purushottam is Maharaj. But [that is the] the extent of their knowledge. During this presentation, I created a prezi in order to aid the flow of the presentation. I find that my balikas love prezis because [the animations flow better than PowerPoint and thus engages the balikas] - they like having something to focus their attention on while I am speaking. Along with the prezi, I had two analogy's that made the whole concept rather sticky. The first one was food coloring mixed into water. When you place food coloring into water, you get a juice and everything is evenly mixed. This is what the Akshar Purushottam upasana is mostly like. Maharaj resides within Swami who is Akshar, who resides within us. Akshar and Purushottam are inseparable. They are always one.Oil however when mixed with water, sits at the top for those who are science students. This demonstrated that Maharaj always lives within one who is Akshar and that they are always a pair and cannot be separated. The next analogy was that of Akshar. Gunatitanand Swami was first known as Akshar, however since then, all of our gurus in the guru parampara have been known as "Akshar" at one point in time. Currently, Swamibapa is Akshar. This is because although Akshar is one entity, it can change clothes. The entity of Akshar does not change, only the outer appearance of Akshar changes. Hope this helps!