2019-12-18 They didn't fall asleep!!!!

I had a great time speaking today at Daejin Girls' School, those lovely girls cheered and applauded like I was a pop star! Whenever I speak to any group of youngsters below the age of 25, I am never sure what the response will be.

The visit started with me meeting the principal and some of the teachers. It was a nice lovely start.

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Then it was showtime! During my speech I didn't talk much about TNKR. That wasn't the main topic so I didn't focus on it. But that might have been a mistake, because the kids asked me many questions about TNKR during Q&A!

I was on my own without any staff support, so it was a bit difficult handling logistics. I took a camera, tripod, my suitcase with my laptop computer and other items. When I was on my way from a different meeting, I asked the TNKR staff to send some items with quick service to give out to students (I receive the items as I was wrapping up, so the teachers approved bonus time so the students could get some of the gifts).

I need to hire a part-time assistant to help me with such speaking opportunities, so I can focus on the speech and not the logistics.

The students asked me a wide range of questions, including things I showed in my Q&A but didn't discuss at length. It seemed that they might have looked me up, in advance but clearly they were ready to ask second-level questions in English.

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Then it was photo time!

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I received excellent feedback!

1) The kids didn't didn't fall asleep! They have had other speakers who put the kids to sleep. In comparison, they were active today, asking many questions! One time I gave a speech to middle school kids--it seemed that they had passed while they were listening to me. But today? Even the girls in the back rows were paying attention!

That's even though I didn't use any fancy graphics or games to entertain them, just a man with a microphone and PowerPoint.

2) The teachers said they loved my talk. It was for the students, but the teachers said they really enjoyed it! I was delighted when the teachers wanted to take a photo with me. One of them has donated to TNKR. I hope to visit again in 2020.

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