The Motivational Speaker

Archive for the ‘Presentation Updates’ Category

I just got this feedback letter:

Dear Ronit,

Our very sincere thanks for your wonderful presentation at our recent Annual General Meeting, on the topic: ‘Helping Children and Young People Address Racism and Prejudice’.

We always try to have at our AGM a speaker who will challenge and stretch our ideas about the way we, as a small interfaith women’s association, can fulfil our aspiration towards building a culture of peace.  Issues of racism and prejudice are at the heart of this challenge.

Your presentation about the Together for Humanity project, and in particular the findings from your surveys of children and young people, as well as descriptions of some of the processes you use in your transformational work, was a truly engaging experience for all those present.   This was evident from the high degree of participation throughout, in questions and comments to yourself and the general discussion which the ideas provoked.

My own hope is that some of our members may have been motivated by your presentation to volunteer for the Together for Humanity project should the opportunity arise.  We look forward to continuing contact with you and your important work.

Sincerely,

Wendy Flannery
Coordinator
Believing Women for a Culture of Peace

I just wanted to share with you some feedback I received from one of my recent parenting workshops. One of them is of particular interest, because he is ... a man! Men are rare in parenting workshops, but this one had a few and they were really happy they came.

Everything was useful. Ronit's stories and humour make the course fun for me. The examples were excellent and the atmosphere was great. Ronit was fantastic. Great lady and with loads of information to help me.

[The workshop] makes you take a step back and look at how you deal with things at home and with yourself. It taught me to believe in myself to help me make the changes to become a better parent and that is also going to help me become a better person.

- A. C. (mother)

I found it enlightening. Work on being happy and the kids will follow. The pink elephants, the wolves, communication styles, positive expectations and self-motivating behaviour with practical, real-life examples, have given me a new and positive perspective on parenting.

Ronit's style was informal and friendly. [She is] easily understood and has the ability to keep all participants interested and involved without being intrusive. The examples were very good and practical. Although I am more visual than auditory, I could have kept listening for much longer. She could respond easily to the participants and keep things moving.

I believe that this Better Parenting Program is exceptional and inspiration in "opening the door" to being a better parent and a happier person with simple and easy to understand techniques that cannot fail to make parenting easier and family life better. Children who grow up in a family that applies this way of thinking must be at an advantage.

- Bruce Thompson

I was honoured to coach A. C. and Bruce and I am honoured by their feedback.

If you want to get the same for yourself, ask your school principal or Parents and Friends association to book my Better Parenting Skills workshop.

See you soon,
Ronit

Were you inspired by the video clips of Irene and her new parenting skills after she attended my Better Parenting Skills workshop? Well, here is the final part of Irene's story, with a message for fathers at the end.

Since we all take our first parenting steps with our first child, most of us make the most parenting mistakes with that child too. In that case, Irene's experience should seem very familiar and now, she knows what to do about it!

embedded by Embedded Video

I believe that fathers are as important to their kids as mothers are, especially for boys. Many men find it more difficult to learn parenting, which is why many of my workshops have an overwhelming female majority, but this has to change!

Girls, show your husbands Irene's video testimonials, especially this one, and ask them to come along to learn parenting. Fathers who have attended have gotten wonderfully close to their kids and are truly happy they have come.

Book this great workshop for your own school or organization.

See you soon,
Ronit

Remember Irene and her exciting new parenting skills after she attended my Better Parenting Skills workshop?

Well, last time, Irene told us how she managed to use her new knowledge of communication styles and love languages to get closer to her son. This time, she is talking about one of her daughters.

Enjoy!

embedded by Embedded Video

Book this great workshop for your own school or organization.

See you soon,
Ronit

The Griffith University Multi-Faith Centre invites members of all communities to its International Day of Peace Commemoration on Thursday, 17 September, 2009, 7:15-9:00pm.

I will be delivering one of the key presentations of this evening.

In 2002, the United Nations designated September 21^st each year as the International Day of Peace (IDP), as a day to encourage all peoples and countries to make a commitment to world unity, a global ceasefire and non-violence.

This event is an opportunity for individuals, communities and organizations to witness and participate in a multi-faith commemoration for peace. In the lead up to the IDP, it will enable participants to link with millions of people and many governments, regional and non-government organizations, faith/religious communities and educational institutions engaged in IDP events.

The Program will include:

• A multimedia, multi-faith reflection on Peace
• Two presentations on peacemaking
  • A lasting peace in Sri Lanka?
    The way forward from a Christian perspective
    - Rev. Pan Jordan
  • The challenge of peace-building among children and youth
    The Together for Humanity experience
    - Ronit Baras
• Musical performances for peace

Please RSVP by September 11
Dianne/Yaseen  3735-7052 or mfc@griffith.edu.au

For MFC location (Bldg. N35) and parking
see map at http://www.griffith.edu.au/ofm/parking/

Full invitation flyer fo IDP 2009

See you there,
Ronit

It can be difficult to demonstrate the results of any presentation, course or workshop. If I write about "the great benefits" and "excellent results" myself, it just gets classified as self-promoting hype.

So at the recent Better Parenting Skills workshop I ran for a school in Brisbane, I asked participating parents "Why are you here?" and captured on video their reasons for coming to the workshop. A month later, I revisited the school and captured on video the great benefits and excellent results they described.

These are real parents telling their personal stories of parenting success.

Here is the first one, the story of Irene (please turn up the volume and excuse the shaking):

embedded by Embedded Video

Pretty exciting, isn't it?

Ronit

I met Elodie at one of my workshops. She had a French accent and was very curious about the concepts of first and second language. Her son was just a baby when she participated in my "Cross Cultural Awareness" course for public administrators in the Queensland government.

As a migrant, Elodie felt the gap at work between locals and migrants was widening. She came to my course to get some insights into possible ways to bridge this gap.

When she left, she said, "I'm so happy I met you when my son is just a baby. Everything so makes sense now and I have full confident about what I need to do".

In the last two years, I've met Elodie a few of times when she was trying to organize a group at her workplace to support migrants and help locals and migrants communicate better with each other.

This week, she sent me this email:

Did I tell you my son can count to 15 in his 3 languages? Just turned 2… Speak to him in one language and he answers in another, never needs translation… It freaks some people, I find it fascinating. You gave me the best advice ever first time I spoke with you. Thanks, it really means a lot to me.

We speak English (all of us), French (me) and Italian (husband and my in-laws).

He spends 1 day/week with his Italian grandmother who only speaks Italian to him (with your recommendation, we asked and she is very happy to comply). I go home once a year where he baths in French and has no problem whatsoever communicating with other kids and adults.

It is the most amazing thing to observe, the non-translating part. For example, he learned face, lips, ears, eyes, etc in Italian and I was thinking oh I need to get him that in French too so we had a mummy/son moment and I was saying them in French and he already knew. Bizarre.

Life in a multilingual environment!

Thank you so much.

Elodie David-Quarta

A/Senior Administration Officer, Compliance Support Unit
Department of Environment and Resource Management

Yet another victory of one more family raising multilingual super kids.

Ronit

Yesterday, a group of excited parents gathered in a big room for a Better Parenting Skills workshop. Some of the parents were also teachers at the nearby Upper Mt Gravatt State School, one was the principal, one was from the Lions Club, who sponsored the event, and the rest were parents from the school community.

I started by asking them why they were there and what they wanted to learn. Here are some of things they said:

• How to handle kids' behavioral problems
• How to support kids with their academic and emotional development
• How to feel well-equipped for parenting
• How to feel like good parents who do the right things by their kids

During the day, there were many "aha" moments. Parents learned about using positive language, recognizing communication styles and love languages and focusing their parenting on the things that are truly important to them.

For example, one parent told the group he'd had friction with his son for spending too much time on specific details, while he'd just wanted "to get on with it". During the parenting workshop, he found out his son wasn't being picky but may in fact be digital. With a bit of patience and an understanding of communication styles, this parent can now improve the communication with his son a great deal.

When asked what she would tell a friend about this workshop, Terri Schneeberg said:

It was like looking in a mirror... Very interesting. I like the way Ronit explains things. Take the time to attend. Invaluable!

Another parent said:

I found Positive Thinking useful. It was fun playing games. It's great to be here with other parents to share and learn in this skill to change yourself to do a good job as a parent.

Derek Brady, the principal of Upper Mt Gravatt State School, summarized by saying:

This workshop was thought-provoking and had a significant meaning for my work life and home life. A fantastic experience that shifted my thinking.

I am happy to know there is now another group of inspired, focused parents out there, making the world a better place, one child at a time.

Ronit

I have just run a cultural awareness workshop for government officers dealing with the provision of housing to low-income families. While I was telling them about cultures, languages and acceptance, they also told me some amazing things.

Low-cost housing is provided to many migrant and refugee families. In fact, as soon as people are recognized as refugees, they are immediately entitled to government housing until they can afford their own residence.

As humane as this may seem, the locals object to this privilege and protest against it as being discriminating against them. They say, "Why should someone come into the country and get something straight away, while others who grew up here don't?"

The obvious answer, "Where would they go if they have no family and no friends here?" But this answer doesn't satisfy some of the locals in government housing, who sometimes abuse the newcomers verbally and even by damaging their property.

If this is not bad enough, reports are that migrant families in government housing are polite, quiet and considerate. They take excellent care of their dwellings and carry out all of their obligations on time, despite the occasional harassment.

Another amazing fact is that in some migrant and refugee units, there are as many as 21 people living in 3 bedrooms! Compared to where they came from, they think it is better, because at least nobody is trying to kill them...

Now, equipped with their new cultural awareness, the housing officers can help refugees and migrants assimilate quicker into society, while making the locals feel a lot better about accepting them.

God, I love my work!
Ronit