It's that time of year children & young adults ages 5-18 are dragging their parents out to buy them new school clothes and supplies. It brought to mind one of the best lessons of my professional career. It was 1992 and I was working for a credit union in the Orlando area. My job was to go out and speak to potential new companies to invite them to join our credit union's field of membership and to go to existing company groups to tell their employees about the benefits of membership all the while managing a very busy branch.
It was during this time when I learned about the National Youth Involvement Board's initiative to educate youth on financial management in the classroom. I approached my boss about going into the classroom near our largest employer group. I have always felt that if we could teach the kids financial management, the children would share what they learned with their parents which would facilitate a conversation about money management.
Unfortunately, parents are more likely to talk about sex with their children than financial matters. Very few people have learned how to manage money from their parents but kids do continue the cycle that they observe - good or bad. Something so important as how money works and how to manage it successfully has always been either a pet-project for school districts or completely ignored.
That was the environment 1992. I wanted so much to get in the classroom but my boss and the credit union CEO did not see this as the best way for me to spend my time. For those of you that may work in a not-for-profit organization, you will appreciate my title: Branch Manager/Marketing Director. Yes, that was my title and my branch was the busiest office for my organization.
The opportunity presented itself when I ruptured a disc in my neck (hey, I had to find the upside). The rupture necessitated a fusion in my neck to regain feeling and strength in my hands. Thus, began a long three-month ordeal of living in a four-post brace.
I decided that while I was healing, it would be a perfect time for me to try my hand at giving a presentation to my son's second grade class. I liked his teacher and they just happened to be learning about money in math. Perfect timing, right! I sent a note to his teacher and asked if she could call me to discuss the possibility. After a nice chat, plans were made for me to come and speak to her class the next week.
I will be the first to say that speaking to groups at this time in my life still held a great deal of stomach butterflies and when I looked out at all those faces, it was even more intimidating. I went through my presentation using lots of larger-than-life props of dollar bills, coins and a check. We talked about saving and spending including not having enough money to pay a check. In fact, I had the children play the parts of purchaser, credit union, bank and merchant. We had lots of laughs and unexpected responses from the "actors."
We had wrapped up and I was feeling really good about the lesson when I asked did anyone have any questions. The cutest little boy raised his hand. He had been very involved the classroom presentation by offering lots of answers. I just knew he had some insightful observation or question. I stood there as he asked in a very bashful way, "How did you cut your head off."
You see, my incision did look like someone tried to cut my head off but I never once considered what the kids would think of my brace and scar. I learned that day that how your message is packaged or presented can overshadow your message. Looking back, I should've started my presentation with why I had a scar on my neck and had to wear the brace. Get it over with and that way the kids wouldn't have been wondering about it the whole time.
I still see that little boy's face asking me that question and how I tried to answer him. I've always learned something from every presentation I had the honor of giving. Understanding that our audience may get hung up on the messenger, not the message, is so important today. It's important when speaking to a group but also when we are dealing with everyday life.
BTW, several parents of the kids I spoke to that day joined our credit union and my bosses rewarded me by allowing me to speak to school children. It is still one of the greatest things I have ever done.
No comments:
Post a Comment