Teens play 8 games with 8 corresponding lessons about speech. After each game, advisors explain the point of the game and give teens a card with a summary of the concept about speech. Total time for activity is about 45 minutes.
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#1 - Digital Communication
How much time do we spend actually listening to the person who is talking to us? Or are we too busy communicating through our devices? Give the person talking to you the respect and time of day.
GAME: “This is a .......”
Everyone sits in a circle, the first person starts, takes an object (orange) and turns to the second and says,
"This is an orange."
Second person: "A what?"
First person: "An orange."
Second person: "A what?"
First person: "An orange."
Second person: "Oh, an orange."
Then the second person passes it on to the 3rd person having the same conversation, but while it’s happening the 1st person is sending another object to the 2nd, so you end up having 2 conversations at once.
#2 - Speaking Without Thinking
When we blurt out our thoughts without thinking, we can say things we don't mean, we can hurt people and we can lie. Spend the minute to think out what you mean before you just speak
GAME: Speak for a minute on...
When it’s the person’s turn, they get a topic and have to speak about it right away for 2 minutes.
Suggested topics: Dragons, Shabbos, bananas, USA, the color green, fire, shoes, telephones, music, etc...
#3 - Body Language
We can communicate strongly through our body language: We can send messages, comfort people, intimidate people and scorn people just by not saying anything at all
GAME: Charades
#4 - Lashon Hara
The spread of gossip... what happens when a story gets passed around and around? It can spread to people we never thought it would reach, and the story could get distorted.
GAME: Association/Broken telephone
First play a round of broken telephone.
The 2nd time around, play Associations: First person thinks of a word and whispers it to the 2nd person, the 2nd person has to think of a word that is associated with the first and whisper that to the 3rd person, the last person should say the word outloud and you can see how different it is from the first. (For example: Apple > red > fire > engine > dalmatian...)
#5 - Impediments
Moshe Rabbeinu was the Jewish quintessential leader even though he had a major lisp. Limitations to our speech are hard, but can be overcome.
GAME: Taboo
#6 - Change of Tone/Language
Sometimes we just need to take a step back and change our tone or form of speech. The message that comes across can be totally different.
For example: Instead of yelling, take a deep breath and speak calmly. This can stop things from escalating into a bigger situation.
GAME: Anagrams/Bananagrams
Using the Bananagrams tiles, put 5 letters in the middle of the table. Teens try to come up with a word using those letters. If they see a word, they take the tiles and make a word with them. You keep adding tiles, and if anyone sees a word with the new tiles, they can take them. You can also add tiles to someone else's word, and take it from them.
For example: if there is a S, T, E and A in the middle, Player 1 can take the S, T, A and make the word SAT, but then player B can take the SAT, add the E, which will spell EAST....
Each word has to be at least 3 letters long, and you cannot change the word by adding an S (ex. CAR into CARS).
#7 - The Power of Our Tongue
Our tongue is very powerful. We can use it to build people up or cut people down, just like we are careful about what we put into our mouth (we wouldn't eat mud-covered food). We should be careful about the words that come out of our mouth.
GAME: Taste Test
#8 - Ambiguity
Don’t tell white lies or leave out important details. Learn how to be direct. Don't hint around an issue; face it head on so that it won't turn into a whole situation.
GAME: Mad Gab