RUNNING A “NOVICE LINES”/INTRO TO ACTIVIST SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE SESSION

version 1.0 13th July 2014

Marc Hudson

askfortheworld.net

Below are a series of suggestions for how I would structure an intro to “novice lines” and Activist Skills and Knowledge session. It’s based on my experience of having done it a bunch of times. But of course, you have to figure out ways that work for you…

The assumptions are –

– you have a group of people who have chosen to come to the workshop or are “up for it” as part of their attendance at a day of workshops/conferences. Thus resistance to doing new stuff is minimal.

– you have a big enough room for people to move around in, and flat, not tiered.

PART ONE – “Who has and wants what skills” (approx 8 mins)

As people are mingling, chatting, walk around the room handing out a coloured sheet of A5 and a white sheet. You don’t have to explain what they are for – an air of mystery can help!

“Let’s find out some of the skills we have in the room! Write down something you’re good at on the white paper and something you’d LIKE to be good at on the coloured bit of paper. Write in big block letters – other people have to see what you’ve written. Then we are going to hold the sheets up and walk around seeing if anyone gets a match.

“If we do get a match, shout and wave your arms. And swap contact details.

To read the whole article, click here to go to the “ASK for the World” website.“