[Music]
hi thank you my name is dawn and I’m
gonna start off with a question asking
you a question
imagine if somebody asks you what the
purpose of your life was big question
right how would you answer how do you
think you would answer it was a question
that was asked to me in preparation for
this talk so I had to have a think about
it but I had a little bit of help
because there’s a famous quote that I’ve
always followed and known about for a
while and it’s this the meaning of life
is to find your gift the purpose of life
is to give it away and that’s by Pablo
Picasso the meaning of life is to find
your gift and the purpose of life is to
give it away let me tell you a little
bit about me very quickly I started off
I went to drama school for three years
and I became an actor I worked
professionally as an actor a producer
and a director on theatre in TV and film
in the UK and in the US and then I did
some other businesses some were
successful some failed that was fine and
two and a half years ago I found myself
here in Krakov
I came for personal reasons as opposed
to professional reasons so being here in
Krakov I thought what can I do what am I
going to do so I looked around and I
wondered how I could fit in and what
skills I could use what skills I had I
could contribute to life here in Krakow
and so I looked around and I came up
with two options the first was theater I
have a great passion for theater and
I’ll speak about that a little bit later
the second was workshops in fact it was
working with young people I loved
working with young people have a passion
I had two passions theater and workshops
and that’s what I decided to do the
workshops
let me explain very briefly about the
world shops how I started 15 years ago
in London my production company asked
was we were asked to do a promotional
film for a business that went into
schools to 14 to 19 year old students
delivering business and enterprise style
workshops
and so for my visa research I went into
and I followed them and I was shocked I
was truly shocked because they were
awful they were dreadful I had I I saw
the students these bright students
thoroughly disengaged and they were
being spoken to not with spoken to by a
professional person from the banking or
finance industry someone who knows about
their business very well is a great
professional person but they were not
engaging with the students that were not
bringing them into that real world and I
thought you know what with my
entrepreneur hat on I think I could do
this better so that’s what I did and I
created a couple of workshops and those
workshops started going into schools now
our workshops are very emotional driven
we really get to the heart of the
students and we really engage with the
students we want to engage with them we
want to motivate them and we really
wanted to challenge them our workshops
are a bit like if any of you know
Dragons Den Meets The Apprentice if
anyone’s aware of those two TV shows we
kind of blend them together and the way
we work is very simple one of us
normally there’s five six seven of us we
go into a school and one of us will work
with a group of thirty students for the
entire day from the beginning to the end
giving them tasks and exercises now as
we’re working through the day with them
we do not touch on the real skills of
business finance or laws or anything
like that we are more interested in the
soft skills the skills that get people
noticed and recognized now I’m sure
you’re all aware of what the soft skills
are and some of them that we concentrate
on are just listed here so it’s about
team spirit it’s about communication
it’s about empathy now I have no idea
why they call them soft skills because
they’re really really very hard skills
you try teaching a bully empathy the
his colleagues that’s a tough sell you
try telling a person who’s shy to stand
up and communicate with a group of
people that’s really tough so if you’ll
go along with me now I think we should
rename them I think we should rename
them really difficult and hard skills
and not everybody can get ok we’ll sit
there soft skills in that’s fine so we
go into the schools and it’s the soft
skills that we focus on now we also want
the students to start thinking
differently so we tell them this is no
longer a classroom that this is their
office space and what we want to do is
to challenge the students now I’ve been
doing these workshops as I said for more
than 15 years and how our businesses
worked with more than 30,000 students in
the UK and now here in Poland and I can
tell you is an absolute fact there is
differences between students age 14 to
19 in different countries there
absolutely is but I can also tell you
there’s two things that unite all of
them whether they like it and whether
they know it or not I know this as a
fact the first thing that unites all of
them is hard work students want to work
hard students want to learn this is a
picture of a group of students at the
end of a very very long day with us
they’ve had it tough they’ve had it
difficult but they’re smiling my god the
second fact I know as an absolute truth
students want discipline they want to
know what the rules are but more
importantly imp than that they need to
know what happens if they break their
those rules they want to know what the
consequences are is no good just saying
keep off the grass well why should I
keep off the grass because it won’t grow
and make your shoes muddy whatever they
need to know what the consequences are
so we go into the schools with our soft
skills
we do give them discipline and we do
give them the urge to want to learn now
we also want to change their behavior
change their behavior patterns so we
need to challenge them from the moment
we get into the room with the students
cuz it’s a really very scary place to be
at the beginning of the day
and we challenge them very quickly we
want them to take responsibility for
example one student asked to me as a
what was in the class and they were
filling out the questionnaires he put
his hand up and he said sir
do you have a pen I’m very clear with my
answers and I said to him yes I knew
where this was going
so he put his hand up again sir can I
borrow the pen there’s a pattern
emerging now he’s a student he sees me
as a teacher I’m not a teacher teachers
jump all over that problem they see a
student without a pen they’re gonna help
that student find a pen do what they
need to do I’m there to teach him about
real-world real-life responsibilities so
I just gave a one-word answer no
I have a very nice pet and I don’t lend
it to students know automatically his
thinking was starting to change now and
as I said it’s a very scary place to be
in a classroom of 14 to 19 year olds
whatever age range because they can
smell blood I’m sure you can remember at
school I certainly can’t remember when
your teacher wasn’t there and the supply
teacher would walk in and it’s like yeah
Easy Street they think we’re like a
supply teacher to start up so we have to
get their attention and we have to be
tough with them very very quickly so one
thing I want to do is get them out of
their comfort zone as you can see
they’re sitting around desks that’s not
how we operate at the beginning they
then know me behind their desk as usual
so we give them an instruction stand up
stand at the front of the room in a line
quickly and quietly very clearly quickly
and quietly we’re taking them out of
their comfort zone behind the desks
where they used to and we’re putting
toward them to a place where they’re not
used to being so one workshop it was a
girls school really tough girls school
in Islington which is North London the
students stood at the front and one of
the girls who had seen earlier because
you have to look at everyone else
they’re coming in and doing their stuff
because you have to see what’s going on
she was talkative let’s say she stood at
the end of the line and she went we’ve
all done that we’ve all side no problem
so all I did I pointed to the girl and I
said please leave the room what you’re
kicking me out of the room because of
the way I’m breathing yes
I don’t like the way you breathe so she
left the room think of what the other
the other student that thing what it’s
like we breathe oh my god it was fine
though I knew the way our workshops are
geared I spoke to them for a few more
minutes and I stepped outside so I knew
that I could speak to her and that’s
very important because that’s where the
magic happens I think on one-to-one or
working with a small group of people for
me that’s where their magic I get to be
emotionally engaged with the students so
I asked her I needed to get to know her
quickly I asked her what you want to do
in life what job do you want to do and
she said she wanted to be a pilot which
was great she could have said anything
and I would have used that against her
sorry but she said a pilot for me that
was great as well so I said a pilot
wouldn’t do that a pilot needs to be
professional at all times they need to
be responsible they need to be ready for
emergencies you are not acting like a
pilot you are gonna go back in that room
Pam for the rest of the day I am gonna
treat you as if you are a pilot I am
gonna treat you like a professional
person you’re going to be responsible at
all times I also don’t like you very
much now because you’ve given me a hard
time so I’m gonna pick on you even more
in that room so I’m going to add stress
to you as well do you understand that
yes
so she went back into the room and she
was just absolutely beautiful she took
control she did everything she took
control of the groups that she was with
she led it through beautifully now she
was a troublemaker the truck the
teachers had labeled her a troublemaker
talkative argumentative
she lived up to that it’s her fault as
well she lived up to that she put that
blanket got label around her and she
said yes that’s who I am all I did is
when I spoke to her outside I gave her a
new label I told her she was going to be
professional she was going to be
responsible and she lived up to it so
easily so that was great having that
kind of influence that’s why I love
doing our workshops that’s why I love
getting emotionally involved but it also
enables the students to be one way it
enables the teachers as well to see the
students another way again doing the
workshop we split them into groups of
six those six become a company they all
have a job label in a school working
with the five companies the teacher saw
how they were working the teacher knows
the students very well and mid-morning
break they’ve got the five companies
mid-morning break the teacher comes to
me and she said to me I know which group
is going to win Wow I thought great I
asked her to write it down she wrote it
down piece of paper I put it in my
pocket forgot about it we carried on
working at the end of the day the
teacher came back in saw the students
doing their presentation she was amazed
at what they did which was great the
students then left and the teacher came
to me so who won so we’ve got out a
piece of paper and the five companies
that she had listed were in the correct
order of what she had listed but in
Reverse so the students that she knew
were talkative argumentative what
disruptive whatever those were the ones
that rose to the top that day and that
were brilliant that’s why I love doing
these workshops because it can change
everyone’s thinking those in such an
emotional value of being involved with
the students to do this I did a workshop
a few weeks ago here in
Poland here in Krakov even at school
number two and again they were just
brilliant I received an email after the
workshop from one of the students and it
was from a chap called Camille I loved
the heading can you see the heading
there Camille the ambitious guy from the
workshop it’s true he is an ambitious
guy he was brilliant but it’s the final
line I’d like you to say and that’s
what’s important to me that might be
funny but whenever I meet you
yeah we met only two times haha I go
back to home with a huge dose of
motivation and that’s what our workshops
can do we emotionally engage with the
students and we can get them to be
someone else they could want to be the
person they really want to be enough so
much pleasure let me talk very quickly
about the theater company so two and a
half years ago I arrived about a year
and a half I wanted to go and see some
theater there was no theater for me to
go and see because I only speak English
so I thought hey let’s start a theater
company because that’s what people do
right so I started a theater company
called the Krakoff Kings players and we
perform only in English and theatre has
the same connection for me as workshops
do we get to engage with our audience
very much the first play we did for
example it’s called a data to remember
it’s very challenging plays a drama and
it deals with issues of loss but more
importantly deals with issues of suicide
and after the play we were in the bar
and some people had seen the play they
came into the bar a wall mingling and I
was introduced to two guys and one of
them said that he had booked the play
without realizing what the play was
about so when it started and very
quickly become became apparent it was
about suicide
because the friend he had bought with
him his brother had committed suicide
two years earlier so it was very
uncomfortable for him but the friend
said how wonderful it had been what a
great experience because he’d gone
through this terrible informatics time
and he’d been able to sit in the dark
and watch these actors portray emotions
that he probably felt himself
he couldn’t always show himself and
people didn’t understand so it really
resonated with him and thankfully it was
a very positive
maybe cathartic experience for him
that’s why I love theater because it can
engage on so many levels
we also do a play called tram 2311 we’re
performing actually this weekend and
that’s a great play people die they get
transported on a tram at 2311 you can’t
get the picture but again it resonates
with the audience because it gives the
audience the ability to see what happens
when they die and it gives the audience
the ability right now to make those
changes to do things like tell their
partner I loved you to engage with
friends they have an engaged with for a
while that’s what happens when they see
this plane is a great play and I love
theater very much for these reasons that
again that can connect on an emotional
level it can have an emotional impact on
what’s going on but getting being
inspired to make an emotional thing
impact isn’t easy because you have
choices maybe you have hurdles in front
of you and so I’d like to share with you
a trick that I use to help me overcome
some choices it’s a very simple trick
that guy there it’s a deathbed and
that’s me
on my deathbed surrounded by friends
thank you and on my deathbed this is
what I do I fast forward my life when I
have a choice to make I fast forward my
life to my deathbed and when I’m on my
deathbed I’m thinking regret would I
have regretted doing that or not doing
that and that helps me understand
whether I should be doing something or
whether I should not be doing something
it helps me look back in time if you
want and know do it don’t do it because
regret can be terrible
and the final message I want to leave to
you lovely people here at TEDx Kazimierz
is this whatever inspires you whatever
you feel you want to do do it and think
about the emotional impact not only on
other people but think about the
emotional impact on you how
it makes you feel because feelings are
real feelings are tangible they’re not
just numb life isn’t about numbers and
assets and material world it’s about
your feelings right here right now so to
go back to mr. Picasso please when you
find your gift do the best thing you can
absolutely do and give that gift away
thank you very much
[Applause]
hi thank you my name is dawn and I’m
gonna start off with a question asking
you a question
imagine if somebody asks you what the
purpose of your life was big question
right how would you answer how do you
think you would answer it was a question
that was asked to me in preparation for
this talk so I had to have a think about
it but I had a little bit of help
because there’s a famous quote that I’ve
always followed and known about for a
while and it’s this the meaning of life
is to find your gift the purpose of life
is to give it away and that’s by Pablo
Picasso the meaning of life is to find
your gift and the purpose of life is to
give it away let me tell you a little
bit about me very quickly I started off
I went to drama school for three years
and I became an actor I worked
professionally as an actor a producer
and a director on theatre in TV and film
in the UK and in the US and then I did
some other businesses some were
successful some failed that was fine and
two and a half years ago I found myself
here in Krakov
I came for personal reasons as opposed
to professional reasons so being here in
Krakov I thought what can I do what am I
going to do so I looked around and I
wondered how I could fit in and what
skills I could use what skills I had I
could contribute to life here in Krakow
and so I looked around and I came up
with two options the first was theater I
have a great passion for theater and
I’ll speak about that a little bit later
the second was workshops in fact it was
working with young people I loved
working with young people have a passion
I had two passions theater and workshops
and that’s what I decided to do the
workshops
let me explain very briefly about the
world shops how I started 15 years ago
in London my production company asked
was we were asked to do a promotional
film for a business that went into
schools to 14 to 19 year old students
delivering business and enterprise style
workshops
and so for my visa research I went into
and I followed them and I was shocked I
was truly shocked because they were
awful they were dreadful I had I I saw
the students these bright students
thoroughly disengaged and they were
being spoken to not with spoken to by a
professional person from the banking or
finance industry someone who knows about
their business very well is a great
professional person but they were not
engaging with the students that were not
bringing them into that real world and I
thought you know what with my
entrepreneur hat on I think I could do
this better so that’s what I did and I
created a couple of workshops and those
workshops started going into schools now
our workshops are very emotional driven
we really get to the heart of the
students and we really engage with the
students we want to engage with them we
want to motivate them and we really
wanted to challenge them our workshops
are a bit like if any of you know
Dragons Den Meets The Apprentice if
anyone’s aware of those two TV shows we
kind of blend them together and the way
we work is very simple one of us
normally there’s five six seven of us we
go into a school and one of us will work
with a group of thirty students for the
entire day from the beginning to the end
giving them tasks and exercises now as
we’re working through the day with them
we do not touch on the real skills of
business finance or laws or anything
like that we are more interested in the
soft skills the skills that get people
noticed and recognized now I’m sure
you’re all aware of what the soft skills
are and some of them that we concentrate
on are just listed here so it’s about
team spirit it’s about communication
it’s about empathy now I have no idea
why they call them soft skills because
they’re really really very hard skills
you try teaching a bully empathy the
his colleagues that’s a tough sell you
try telling a person who’s shy to stand
up and communicate with a group of
people that’s really tough so if you’ll
go along with me now I think we should
rename them I think we should rename
them really difficult and hard skills
and not everybody can get ok we’ll sit
there soft skills in that’s fine so we
go into the schools and it’s the soft
skills that we focus on now we also want
the students to start thinking
differently so we tell them this is no
longer a classroom that this is their
office space and what we want to do is
to challenge the students now I’ve been
doing these workshops as I said for more
than 15 years and how our businesses
worked with more than 30,000 students in
the UK and now here in Poland and I can
tell you is an absolute fact there is
differences between students age 14 to
19 in different countries there
absolutely is but I can also tell you
there’s two things that unite all of
them whether they like it and whether
they know it or not I know this as a
fact the first thing that unites all of
them is hard work students want to work
hard students want to learn this is a
picture of a group of students at the
end of a very very long day with us
they’ve had it tough they’ve had it
difficult but they’re smiling my god the
second fact I know as an absolute truth
students want discipline they want to
know what the rules are but more
importantly imp than that they need to
know what happens if they break their
those rules they want to know what the
consequences are is no good just saying
keep off the grass well why should I
keep off the grass because it won’t grow
and make your shoes muddy whatever they
need to know what the consequences are
so we go into the schools with our soft
skills
we do give them discipline and we do
give them the urge to want to learn now
we also want to change their behavior
change their behavior patterns so we
need to challenge them from the moment
we get into the room with the students
cuz it’s a really very scary place to be
at the beginning of the day
and we challenge them very quickly we
want them to take responsibility for
example one student asked to me as a
what was in the class and they were
filling out the questionnaires he put
his hand up and he said sir
do you have a pen I’m very clear with my
answers and I said to him yes I knew
where this was going
so he put his hand up again sir can I
borrow the pen there’s a pattern
emerging now he’s a student he sees me
as a teacher I’m not a teacher teachers
jump all over that problem they see a
student without a pen they’re gonna help
that student find a pen do what they
need to do I’m there to teach him about
real-world real-life responsibilities so
I just gave a one-word answer no
I have a very nice pet and I don’t lend
it to students know automatically his
thinking was starting to change now and
as I said it’s a very scary place to be
in a classroom of 14 to 19 year olds
whatever age range because they can
smell blood I’m sure you can remember at
school I certainly can’t remember when
your teacher wasn’t there and the supply
teacher would walk in and it’s like yeah
Easy Street they think we’re like a
supply teacher to start up so we have to
get their attention and we have to be
tough with them very very quickly so one
thing I want to do is get them out of
their comfort zone as you can see
they’re sitting around desks that’s not
how we operate at the beginning they
then know me behind their desk as usual
so we give them an instruction stand up
stand at the front of the room in a line
quickly and quietly very clearly quickly
and quietly we’re taking them out of
their comfort zone behind the desks
where they used to and we’re putting
toward them to a place where they’re not
used to being so one workshop it was a
girls school really tough girls school
in Islington which is North London the
students stood at the front and one of
the girls who had seen earlier because
you have to look at everyone else
they’re coming in and doing their stuff
because you have to see what’s going on
she was talkative let’s say she stood at
the end of the line and she went we’ve
all done that we’ve all side no problem
so all I did I pointed to the girl and I
said please leave the room what you’re
kicking me out of the room because of
the way I’m breathing yes
I don’t like the way you breathe so she
left the room think of what the other
the other student that thing what it’s
like we breathe oh my god it was fine
though I knew the way our workshops are
geared I spoke to them for a few more
minutes and I stepped outside so I knew
that I could speak to her and that’s
very important because that’s where the
magic happens I think on one-to-one or
working with a small group of people for
me that’s where their magic I get to be
emotionally engaged with the students so
I asked her I needed to get to know her
quickly I asked her what you want to do
in life what job do you want to do and
she said she wanted to be a pilot which
was great she could have said anything
and I would have used that against her
sorry but she said a pilot for me that
was great as well so I said a pilot
wouldn’t do that a pilot needs to be
professional at all times they need to
be responsible they need to be ready for
emergencies you are not acting like a
pilot you are gonna go back in that room
Pam for the rest of the day I am gonna
treat you as if you are a pilot I am
gonna treat you like a professional
person you’re going to be responsible at
all times I also don’t like you very
much now because you’ve given me a hard
time so I’m gonna pick on you even more
in that room so I’m going to add stress
to you as well do you understand that
yes
so she went back into the room and she
was just absolutely beautiful she took
control she did everything she took
control of the groups that she was with
she led it through beautifully now she
was a troublemaker the truck the
teachers had labeled her a troublemaker
talkative argumentative
she lived up to that it’s her fault as
well she lived up to that she put that
blanket got label around her and she
said yes that’s who I am all I did is
when I spoke to her outside I gave her a
new label I told her she was going to be
professional she was going to be
responsible and she lived up to it so
easily so that was great having that
kind of influence that’s why I love
doing our workshops that’s why I love
getting emotionally involved but it also
enables the students to be one way it
enables the teachers as well to see the
students another way again doing the
workshop we split them into groups of
six those six become a company they all
have a job label in a school working
with the five companies the teacher saw
how they were working the teacher knows
the students very well and mid-morning
break they’ve got the five companies
mid-morning break the teacher comes to
me and she said to me I know which group
is going to win Wow I thought great I
asked her to write it down she wrote it
down piece of paper I put it in my
pocket forgot about it we carried on
working at the end of the day the
teacher came back in saw the students
doing their presentation she was amazed
at what they did which was great the
students then left and the teacher came
to me so who won so we’ve got out a
piece of paper and the five companies
that she had listed were in the correct
order of what she had listed but in
Reverse so the students that she knew
were talkative argumentative what
disruptive whatever those were the ones
that rose to the top that day and that
were brilliant that’s why I love doing
these workshops because it can change
everyone’s thinking those in such an
emotional value of being involved with
the students to do this I did a workshop
a few weeks ago here in
Poland here in Krakov even at school
number two and again they were just
brilliant I received an email after the
workshop from one of the students and it
was from a chap called Camille I loved
the heading can you see the heading
there Camille the ambitious guy from the
workshop it’s true he is an ambitious
guy he was brilliant but it’s the final
line I’d like you to say and that’s
what’s important to me that might be
funny but whenever I meet you
yeah we met only two times haha I go
back to home with a huge dose of
motivation and that’s what our workshops
can do we emotionally engage with the
students and we can get them to be
someone else they could want to be the
person they really want to be enough so
much pleasure let me talk very quickly
about the theater company so two and a
half years ago I arrived about a year
and a half I wanted to go and see some
theater there was no theater for me to
go and see because I only speak English
so I thought hey let’s start a theater
company because that’s what people do
right so I started a theater company
called the Krakoff Kings players and we
perform only in English and theatre has
the same connection for me as workshops
do we get to engage with our audience
very much the first play we did for
example it’s called a data to remember
it’s very challenging plays a drama and
it deals with issues of loss but more
importantly deals with issues of suicide
and after the play we were in the bar
and some people had seen the play they
came into the bar a wall mingling and I
was introduced to two guys and one of
them said that he had booked the play
without realizing what the play was
about so when it started and very
quickly become became apparent it was
about suicide
because the friend he had bought with
him his brother had committed suicide
two years earlier so it was very
uncomfortable for him but the friend
said how wonderful it had been what a
great experience because he’d gone
through this terrible informatics time
and he’d been able to sit in the dark
and watch these actors portray emotions
that he probably felt himself
he couldn’t always show himself and
people didn’t understand so it really
resonated with him and thankfully it was
a very positive
maybe cathartic experience for him
that’s why I love theater because it can
engage on so many levels
we also do a play called tram 2311 we’re
performing actually this weekend and
that’s a great play people die they get
transported on a tram at 2311 you can’t
get the picture but again it resonates
with the audience because it gives the
audience the ability to see what happens
when they die and it gives the audience
the ability right now to make those
changes to do things like tell their
partner I loved you to engage with
friends they have an engaged with for a
while that’s what happens when they see
this plane is a great play and I love
theater very much for these reasons that
again that can connect on an emotional
level it can have an emotional impact on
what’s going on but getting being
inspired to make an emotional thing
impact isn’t easy because you have
choices maybe you have hurdles in front
of you and so I’d like to share with you
a trick that I use to help me overcome
some choices it’s a very simple trick
that guy there it’s a deathbed and
that’s me
on my deathbed surrounded by friends
thank you and on my deathbed this is
what I do I fast forward my life when I
have a choice to make I fast forward my
life to my deathbed and when I’m on my
deathbed I’m thinking regret would I
have regretted doing that or not doing
that and that helps me understand
whether I should be doing something or
whether I should not be doing something
it helps me look back in time if you
want and know do it don’t do it because
regret can be terrible
and the final message I want to leave to
you lovely people here at TEDx Kazimierz
is this whatever inspires you whatever
you feel you want to do do it and think
about the emotional impact not only on
other people but think about the
emotional impact on you how
it makes you feel because feelings are
real feelings are tangible they’re not
just numb life isn’t about numbers and
assets and material world it’s about
your feelings right here right now so to
go back to mr. Picasso please when you
find your gift do the best thing you can
absolutely do and give that gift away
thank you very much
[Applause]
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