Workshop/ Workweek ideas
 

I'm VP of Membership for my chapter and we have our first workshop coming up in a few weeks.

Does anybody have any ideas that would help my girls practice conversation?
We always do the normal "one pretending to be a PNM and the other a DZ," but I think the effectiveness of that exercise is limited, becasue you aren't actually talking with a stranger but with a sister.
Any convo ideas? Or any ideas or workshop exercises in general?




There are 24 letters in the Greek Alphabet...
....Only 2 matter...
DELTA ZETA

I attended a Phired Up! workshop/presentation (the ones who wrote I Heart Recruitment) and they had great ideas on conversation topics and sisterhood building, as do most of these threads.
But what I'm looking for are ways to practice conversation

Pair up with another sorority, practice conversation, then have Dairy Queen (our rush/workweek usually falls when they do a huge campaign for Children's Miracle Network).

Ask your alumnae or sisters from a nearby chapter.

With either of these groups I'd write up certain scenarios that are difficult and have the whole group watch it being handled. Put them in a bag or hat and draw at random. Make it difficult and just random stuff as well.

Examples:
I heard you circle the fat, or I have to do X with X members of X fraternity
I heard your (or another chapter) is closing
I am a fourth year freshman studying to be a veterinarian because I love children, and my GPA is lower than my BAC, what is your scholarship program like?

You get the picture.

This is one of the most effective approaches IMO. Each chapter goes to each other's house (or wherever) and acts just like a real party from beginning to end. Keep time, check the traffic flow, see how the bumps go, etc.

Bonuses: Everyone gets to meet girls they maybe didn't know before and it demonstrates Panhellenic spirit/cooperation.

Is there a nearby school with a chapter of your sorority?

It's one thing to have a "pretend to be a pnm and the other pretend to be a DZ" conversation when you probably KNOW all/most of the girls in your chapter. If you do the same thing, but with women you don't know very well, it might have a more authentic experience.

My chapter did this with a nearby chapter one time, and it was a lot of fun. We helped each other and made new friends in the process :)

We used alum last year and it was really good because they were all older and had a vast wealth of knowledge. Most of us didn't know them either so it was a lot of fun.

A little suggestion for conversation practice: give all of the girls an index card and have them write down a difficult question. Then mix them up and have someone ask it (while pretending to be a PNM, of course).

One way to work on conversation skills (if you aren't able to work with another chapter) is to have one conversation among your entire chapter. Have everyone form two lines, facing each other, with the same number of people in each (or form two circles, one inside, one out, also facing each other). You designate one line (or circle) as the PNM, and the other will be the active sister. You tell the first sister in line to start the conversation off with a question. For example "What is your major?" The 'PNM' answers. The next sister asks another question and/or makes a statement about what the first PNM said, and then the next PNM in line would respond. See if you can get to the last 'PNM's' comment without the conversation dragging. And to make things even more interesting, before the conversation starts, you could have the people acting as the PNMs privately discuss what kind of PNM they're going to be (the shy, one word responder; the overly excited, kinda scary one; the 'I'm too good for this sorority' PNM, etc). After the exercise, and having a few conversations run down the whole line, talk about the good comments, the bad, what made things difficult about it, what came easy, etc. Then discuss ways each conversation could have been improved/come out better.

I really like the circle idea. I'll try it out in a few weeks and let you knwo how it goes!

We take the PNM's that are already signed up and one person pretends to be that PNM while the other is the DZ. Then you practice and learn about the PNMs at the same time.

Wait...what? I am either not reading that correctly or things are just way different at your school than they were at mine. I've never heard of groups using actual PNM's for conversational practice during workweek.

Maybe they use the names only? Like role playing?

Ohhhh I think you're right. That makes much more sense. I totally misread it the first time.