As with most people, public speaking does not come naturally to me. As a teacher, I was able to put on my ‘teacher voice’ and knowing the topic, motivate students to learn. But distilling the climate and ecological, even more, the poly crisis, down to 90 seconds while imparting important climate information, sharing about my personal journey, and about Extinction Rebellion? That would take some help.
So I joined a workshop offered by Extinction Rebellion Boston.
After a quick review of Extinction Rebellion’s demands and principles, we got going. I had my version of the demands succinctly in my head.
1) Tell the Truth
2) Act Now
3) Promote Democracy
4) Move forward with a just transition.
We were presented with the following prompts with which to organize our thinking.
In your 90 second (or less) speech tell:
Who you are
Why you joined Extinction Rebellion (this could be any activist group)
What you’ve done with XR
What speaks to you or motivates you.
There were several people in the workshop who agreed to share what they had drafted in the 7 minutes we’d been given to write out thoughts. Here was my favorite.
Pretty impressive for a 7 minute free write.
I liked how Grant started with how making good lifestyle choices isn’t enough. It seems that many people are still stuck in the fantasy that if they just recycle better all will be well. They think we can handle this problem through our personal choices.
Just last week I heard from someone concerned with losing trees in Seattle that since she had solar panels and drove an electric car, her lack of engagement in the work of protecting the trees was somehow justified. There was enough guilt to come to the meeting but not enough to take part.
By stopping with individual actions, folks are missing the forest for the trees. In order to fight systems we need to band together. Grant included the important point that it feels much better not to be acting alone.
Here was my draft:
I won’t be in an elevator when I try this speech out, more like a light rail station. Who knows if anyone will even stop to listen. But maybe you can write your own short speech to explain how you are taking action. Or maybe you can join an Extinction Rebellion chapter near you after hearing these two.
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This post was previously published on Age of Awareness.
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Photo credit: iStock