MaryBeth Smith flash talk 2016
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Flash talk given to fellow Feldenkrais Practitioners at the 2016 Conference of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America. Topic: what finding our "tipping point" REALLY means. Go to <https: /> to see speaker notes. YouTube video coming soon!
![MalcolmGladwell,2002
How little things
can make a big difference
[and they might not be
What you think!]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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MaryBeth Smith flash talk 2016
- 1. TheTippingPoint... TheUNTOLDStory By MaryBeth Smith, GCFP, www.HoustonFeldenkrais.com
- 2. MalcolmGladwell,2002 How little things can make a big difference [and they might not be What you think!]
- 5. popularity
- 6. F#*% POPULAR
- 7. Thepowerofthefew... Strategic influencers and allies IN YOUR BACK YARD Connectors Mavens Salespeople
- 10. #FAIL Go after people Just for what You want them To do For YOU
- 11. #FAIL
- 12. #FAIL
- 15. 2-Teachandempowerotherstobecontagious,too! How to practice How to talk about their own experience
- 16. 3-findaffinitygroups Think Psychographics Instead of Demographics Who shares our vocab? Who seeks quality over quality?
- 17. Whattodonext?
- 20. Be Contagious MaryBeth Smith, GCFP www.HoustonFeldenkrais.com
Editor's Notes
- Isn’t it exciting? Systemic change is underway within our organization,And recognition by the public is growing. We could be at a tipping point! BUT there’s something YOU must do OR ELSE we won’t tip!
- BACKGROUND: Here’s the best-seller where Malcolm Gladwell identified the mechanisms whereby diseases and epidemics spread. He says that fads, trends, and ideas can spread in the same way, and he showed us how.
- We thought we would go viral on May 26, 2016, when 6th grader Jairam Jagadeesh Hathawar Correctly spelled FELDENKRAIS to co-win the Scripps National Spelling Bee
- We were catapulted out of UTTER obscurity Into RELATIVE obscurity. I realized that it’s the intersections and overlaps with many small communities where we find our vectors for transmission.
- If you’ve ever said you wished the Feldenkrais Method were more popular, think about this. Popularity is externally referenced! You’re always in pursuit of the approval of the COOL KIDS. The pursuit of POPULAR is not sustainable.
- Erica Napoletano wrote a book called “the Power of Unpopular.” She says, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE POPULAR! You want people to value, respect, and LOVE you. And when they do, they’ll spread the word like chickenpox at a daycare. Let’s let go of popularity as our aim!
- Everyone in your class is “patient zero.” Gladwell says you have connectors, like Paul Revere, who know EVERYONE. Mavens, who collect and curate modalities, and natural salespeople, always recommending movies and restaurants to their friends. These people are INFLUENCERS, and YOU need them.
- Your students are OUR vectors to spread the Feldenkrais epidemic. If we are not contagious, we can talk about the tipping point all day, and nobody will be bitten by the bug! Your students are OUR vectors to spread the Feldenkrais epidemic. If we are not contagious, we can talk about the tipping point all day, and nobody will be bit by the bug! Your students are OUR vectors to spread the Feldenkrais epidemic. If we are not contagious, we can talk about the tipping point all day, and nobody will be bit by the bug!
- Many practitioners would like to wash their hands of this responsibility. They dream that big ad campaigns or a national spokesperson will do it for us. This is part of the thinking that makes us FAIL.
- FAIL #1: we fantasize about getting celebrity endorsements from the ULTIMATE COOL KIDS. That’s a lot of work! You have people in your classes who are ready to go!
- FAIL #2: We make people wrong. “No, it’s NOT exercise!” We can be dogmatic and inflexible in how we speak about our work. This shuts down people’s newborn enthusiasm.
- FAIL #3: We talk amongst ourselves about ourselves, and we think that since WE are talking about us a lot, other people must be, too. Outside the echo chamber, nobody cares about the spelling bee anymore. They have moved on.
- SO We have to get busy infecting people! Rhett and Scarlett here are about to have a big old kiss! Here are some ways that you can be contagious.
- First, we can ask better questions. Ask students what they experienced. Ask them what differences they noticed. Let them practice making verbal approximations. Help them to feel SEEN and SAFE - and heard.
- Secondly, teach the movements, AND show that you value their reflections and applications off the mat. Help to provide a bit of structure and intention for a daily practice, such as journaling.
- Thirdly - birds of a feather flock together. Not just people in somatics - we share vocabulary and values with the slow food movement, and wine tasters. I’m finding connections to my Quaker practice, and to the Alternatives to Violence project. Who is your flock?
- You’re not a baby bird any more. It is time for you to feed others! Our goal in this method is maturity. If we don’t mature, we can’t tip!
- By all means, hire a business coach. By all means, improve your skills! Be the best you can be. That is not enough if you are not ALSO willing to be contagious. Otherwise, we are all spinning our wheels, instead of tipping our point.
- You have everything you need to start right now. Your current students are your best allies. The door is wide open, but YOU have to walk through it. You have one job to do -
- Achoo!