When we started hosting financial education camps back in 2002, one of the first thing I noticed was how uncomfortable the kids were when they first came into the room on the first day, as well as subsequent days during the week. I realized early on that if we wanted to keep them comfortable and wanting to come back each day, it was critical to engage them from the moment they get into the door.
We started by having our participants (any age) create their own name tags after they registered for the camp or workshop. Regardless of age, the participants started talking and getting to know each other right off the bat. And it gave them the opportunity to be creative because there are always lots of markers and stickers to decorate the name tags with.
We take it one step further in many programs by showing the first one there how to make the name tag and then letting him or her teach the next person and so on. The best way to learn really is to teach, so even though the activity is easy, it’s great practice for the participants to be learn how to teach the next person the ‘name tag’ ropes.
Over the years we’ve added a few activities, like the one you’re going to see and learn here…we just call it the String Activity for lack of anything more creative. The kids always say, “Are you sure this is possible?” We assure them it is.
What you’re seeing in the video is the following:
1) How to tie a slip know because you need one in each end of the string.
2) How to set up the activity with two people (the rules).
3) How to untangle yourself.
4) Adults participating in the activity.
5) Kids participating in the activity.
The thing to remember about any activity, is that there is always metaphorical lessons inherent in the activity. With a little creativity, you can find a way to tie this fun, active game into a lesson for your particular topic. Have fun.
You know those first few moments when you meet someone for the first time and they say…
“So…what do YOU do?” And sometimes you know what to say but most of the time you walk away knowing you either:
After The Handshake
1) Said too much.
2) Bored them to pieces.
3) Could tell they really weren’t interested at all.
4) Couldn’t wait for you to finish so they could tell you what THEY do.
5) Confused the heck out of them.
6) Or worse?
Exactly. We’ve all been there. But there is a simple way to make sure these awkward moments never (or rarely) happen again.
Want to learn how? Great. Here’s the thing you have to remember:
People are always paying attention to “What’s In It For Me?” Marketing experts refer to this as WIIFM and it’s the most important thing to pay attention to when it comes to communicating what you do to someone you’re just meeting. So, before you go out and meet one more person, personally or professionally, ask yourself this question:
What is it I do for people and how can I communicate this to them quickly and clearly?
Clarity is Key
Clarity is difficult for many people because, well, they’re generally too close to what they do to remember that it doesn’t make sense to others. So what happens is that you start telling someone what you do and they don’t get it. Maybe you use common industry words, like “time-freedom” or ’empower’ or, well, you get it or you forget that there is another person in the room and all you talk about is you.
But it’s not about dumbing it down, so don’t go there. It’s about stating what you do in a way that speaks to the other person. Let’s look at a template I learned years ago that has helped me.
First, create an easily understood 3.5 second (YES, 3.5 seconds) statement that describes the VALUE of what you do, sell, provide for others. In others words, if someone does business with you, what value do you give THEM. Remember, this is NOT about you.
Next, answer these three questions before going on:
1) What do you do? This is not your job title or what you have a college degree in…it’s a verb. For example, “I provide or I help…”
2) Who do you serve, i.e., who is your target market? (Remember, you can’t be all things to all people.) For example, “people who have a certain disease, people serving the public, people who teach, etc.”
3) What do your customers need, i.e., what will they be able to do or accomplish because they’ve worked with you that they can’t now? For example, “make a lasting impression, get more done each day, save 20% on their phone bill.”
Now that you have answered all three of these important questions (you have, right?), put them all together so that the answers look something like this:
“I help parents make sure their children will eventually be able to move out and stay out!” or…
“I teach teens the financial skills they need to know to be responsible with money when they move out on their own.”
“I provide the most effective financial education game on the planet to people who teach kids and teens so that they can send their students out into the world knowing they’ve done their very best to prepare them to handle money wisely.
OK, that last one is a wee bit long, but you get the idea.
Your Goal
The goal of this short elevator pitch is to prompt the person you’re meeting to ask this next most important question:
“How do you do that?”
This is called Hooking them. They are interested in what you do. Great first step.
The Longer Version
After you freaked out about the 3.5 seconds, and you developed this short version, you probably realized there is more to the elevator speech if your new friend asks you that second probing question. Again, you must remember that you have to speak to what they need from you. Never forget that it isn’t about you…it’s about them, their needs, their fears, their problems, them, them, them. If you find yourself using the word, “I” too often, you have forgotten this golden rule, “It’s Not About You!”
One of my favorite activities in our 5-day Train-the-Trainer Workshop is when I teach participants how to get started crafting their first professional elevator speech. You can do this with a group of kids, teens or adults in your programs if you want, AFTER you’ve done it yourself with a couple of friends or business associates.
First, get a partner. It doesn’t matter whether they understand what you do or not. Actually, it’s better if they don’t.
Stand up and face your elevator speech crafting partner. If you can put 6-10 people into this activity, the better. More people = more input and more input = better elevator speech.
Have someone time the activity. You and your partner have 30 seconds max for this first part. All you’re going to do is greet the person as if for the first time. In other words, shake hands firmly (no fish situations), stand straight and tall, look the person in the eyes and say, “Hi, I’m ______.” They will tell you their name and then you’ll say, “Hi, ________, great to meet you. What do you do out in the world?” (or something like that).
Once the first person has done his part, he/she will ask you the same question. Once you’ve said what you’re going to say, and it should be well within that 30 seconds, stop.
The next part is to take a couple of minutes and share, honestly, with each other about what you understood, what you didn’t understand, etc. Give your partner constructive feedback about what he said, whether it made sense and then how he can improve on it so that it is clear and concise.
Switch partners and do it again. The more times you practice what you want to say and get feedback, the cleaner and clearer your message will become.
OK, that’s all for now. Look around and see who YOU can help and who can help you and get those elevator speeches in order for the new year. After all, if you’re going to be out there teaching financial skills with The Money Game®, we want you to be as successful as possible. And feel free to run your pitches by me. Just send them to elisabeth @ innerwealthpublishing.com and I’ll get back to you quickly.
Since compound interest is one of the most important financial education concepts around, I thought it only proper to provide you with this following great Simple vs. Compound Activity Lesson. It’s available for anyone to use with any age group of kids or teens (or adults for that matter…many don’t understand the difference).
I’ve outlined the activity below as well as given you the handout in PDF format. In addition, there are seven cue cards of sorts (8.5 x 11 laminated placards) to use as props so your participants really understand what you’re talking about.
Here’s the activity. Downloadable PDFs are located at the end of the activity.
FINANCIAL FREEDOM PLAYBOOK PAGES USED (from the Camp Millionaire program)
Simple and Compound Interest Pages
Costumes/Props needed:
8.5 x 11 Simple & Compound Interest Signs, students as volunteers. This activity works great with more participants. If possible, put a string on the Sign that says PRINCIPAL so that it can go around the volunteers neck (see below).
Main Objectives:
To show how money grows with interest.
To show how quickly money grows when using compound interest vs. simple interest.
Key Terms, Callbacks:
Simple interest, compound interest, compounding, compound growth, rate of return, return on investment
Principles, Sayings, Declarations:
Interest is only interesting when you’re receiving it.
Suggested Enrolling Questions:
How many of you would like to make money when you’re sleeping? How about when you’re on vacation? Great, you’re going to love this next activity.
Set up/Preparation:
Have the signs ready and ask for one volunteer to start.
Dialogue:
Have one volunteer come up and hand him the sign that says Principal to put around his neck. Ask the participants what they think the word Principal means. Explain that the Principle is the amount of money they invest. It is also referred to as Capital. In this activity, our Principal is $100 which means we’re investing $100.
So we’re going to invest our Principal of $100 at 100% interest using something called SIMPLE INTEREST. Simple interest is when you only earn interest on the initial amount you invest, i.e., the Principle.
Have the Principal hold the sign that says Simple Interest. After the first year, if we invested our principle (i.e., our volunteer) at 100% (and remind them that the initial amount they invested was $100), how many more people do we need up front? Right…One. Can I get one volunteer? (Have the new volunteer stand next to the Principal and hand him the sign that says YEAR 1.) How much money do we have now? Exactly…$200. Let’s keep going.
After the second year, remember, we’re still investing the principal at 100% using SIMPLE INTEREST so, again, we need one more person in front. Can I get another volunteer? (Have him stand next to Year 1 and hand him the sign that says YEAR 2.) How much money do we have now? Right…$300. Our original $100 plus $100 in interest from Year 1 and $100 in interest from Year 2.
After the third year, we invest the principal again at 100% using SIMPLE INTEREST so we need one more person up here. (Get volunteer who now holds Year 3 sign) And after the fourth year, we invest the principal again at 100% using SIMPLE INTEREST so we need one more person. (Get volunteer who holds Year 4 sign).
After four years we have five people total, each worth $100. If you started with $100 (your principal) and each year you EARNED $100, at the end of the fourth year, you have $500. Not bad. Everyone except for the Principal can take a seat.
You will have a line of volunteers that look like this:
Is everyone ready for some fun now? Great. Has anyone ever heard of something called Compound Interest? This is how it works…
We’re now going to invest our Principal of $100 at 100% interest using COMPOUND INTEREST. Hand the Principal the Compound Interest Sign now.
First, let’s learn the difference between Simple and Compound Interest. With Simple Interest, you only earn interest on your Principal. With Compound Interest, you earn interest on your Principal AND the Interest you earn along the way. In essence, your Interest becomes more Principal. After year one, how many more people do we need up here to represent the interest earned on your principal? Right…One. Get one volunteer and have him stand to the right of the Principal and hand him the Year 1 sign.
After year two, using COMPOUND INTEREST, which means we are investing our principal and the INTEREST we earned on the principal the first year, how many more people do we need up here? (Get two volunteers and stack them front to back Hand them the Year 2 sign. See photo on next page.) Right…two. Please stand in a line, Year 2s. Our $100 has become $400 in just two years.
After three years of COMPOUND INTEREST, how many people do we need? Yup…Please stand in a line, Year 3s. (Get four more volunteers and stack them front to back.) Now our $100 has become $800!
After four years of COMPOUND INTEREST, how many people do we need up here? Yes…eight! (Get eight volunteers if available.). Please stand in a line, Year 4s.
And what is your $100 investment worth now? Exactly…$1600!
Your group now looks something like this:
Compound Interest Example With Kids
So, which kind of interest would you rather get on YOUR investments? COMPOUND, of course. Luckily, most investments pay compound interest, but why do you think it’s important to know the difference? Exactly, so you can analyze your rate of return or return on investment and know how well your money is working for you.
Let’s take this one step further, even though we’ve been talking about compound interest, it’s actually the concept of COMPOUND GROWTH that we’re talking about. Not all investments or assets make you money because of interest; some simply grow in value over time like stocks, mutual funds, ETFs (exchange traded funds) while others actually pay you interest because they are using your money for something. It’s referred to as compound growth when the appreciation in value (value going up) is added to the principle so you have more shares of mutual funds for example, and then those shares go up in value also
The simplest example is when you put your money into a bank account. The bank lends your money out to people who need to borrow money. They charge those people more interest than they pay you in interest to borrow it. This is one way banks make money.
REVIEW:
Review by asking your participant to tell you the difference between Simple and Compound Interest.
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY:
It’s great to follow this activity with The Magic of Compound Growth, available in the Camp Millionaire Curriculum Binder or look for it to be available in your Major League Players Program soon.
So, here’s a great and fun way to expose your participants to budgets. Have a great time! (more…)
You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression
But what does it have to do with money and wealth? Plenty!
We constantly make judgments about people relative to how much money we think they have or don’t have when in actuality, the type of person they are often has nothing to do with their financial situation.
This activity helps your participants begin to see how many judgment they are making all of the time about people around them and helps them understand, from the person being judged’s point of view, how that feels. Kids, teens and adults alike seem to really understand and GET this activity.
A side note not mentioned in the actual lesson…if you’re willing to work with them on a very personal level, you can point out that the person in our lives that we usually judge the harshest is ourselves. Feel free to do a process with older teens and adults which might include a written exercise where they write down their harshest personal judgments and then share them with a partner. A group share is best for adults however.
Some of the most important lessons can be taught via story. In all of our Camp Millionaire or Creative Wealth for Adults programs, we always tell a very funny version of “The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg” and it really teaches people not to kill their goose…i.e., don’t spend the money that’s paying you every month.
This is your retirement money and the assets that are producing your passive income. I like to tell the story in a cowgirl hat and do it with a little southern drawl…the kids love it and laugh. And if you have older kids (15ish), just admit it’s a silly story but ask if they’ll just play along! Works ‘most of the time’.
Here it is…embellish as you wish and tell it with gusto! I tell it with lots of fill in the _______ (blanks) so it’s more interactive. Try it…it’s a lot more fun that way.
The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg
Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who worked the fields day and _________ (night). Every day he worked so hard he went to bed plumb tuckered. Plumb what? (tuckered). He did this for many years and was getting really tired of working in the fields.
One day he decided to take a break and go for a walk and as he was walking along the road he heard the loudest racket coming from a ditch. He looked down and there was a goose with a broken wing. The poor farmer took pity on the goose and decided to take it home and nurse it back to health. So that night, the farmer put the goose in his chicken coop and went to bed.
The next morning, when the farmer went to go collect his chicken eggs from the chicken coop for breakfast, what do you think he found? A golden egg. The farmer took the egg in his hand, wondering if this could possibly be real. He found an axe and chopped the egg in half and it was gold through and through. The farmer jumped up and yelled, “I’m rich, I’m rich, I’m rich!!” and immediately went to the bank to exchange the gold for money. That day, the farmer didn’t go to work—instead he bought everything he’d always wanted to buy—a brand new tractor for his farm, new tools for his garden, an ipod to put all his music on, a laptop, a flat-screen TV and a new surround sound stereo system. That night the farmer went to bed and thought, “Wow, today I got to do everything I’ve always wanted to do and I didn’t have to work. This was probably the best day of my life. I will always keep it in my memory.”
But the next morning, when the farmer went to collect the eggs from his chicken coop, lo and behold, he found another golden egg. This time the farmer didn’t even have to check if the egg was real, instead he just jumped up, screamed, “I’m rich, I’m rich, I’m rich!” and ran to the bank and exchanged the gold for money. This day, the farmer bought even more things that he wanted, including trips he’d always wanted to take and dinners he could never afford before and lots and lots of jewelry for his loving wife, and a speedboat for good measure. That night, the farmer went to bed under his brand new comforter and thought, “Wow, two days in a row where I didn’t have to work and could do anything to my heart’s content. I will always keep these two days in my memory.”
When the farmer went again to collect chicken eggs from his chicken coop, though, he found yet another golden egg, and the day after that another golden egg, and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and this went on for a while and pretty soon, the farmer became really good at spending this money – so good in fact that the money was running out faster than the day. So the farmer got an idea. He thought to himself, “I bet if I went into the coop and killed the goose and gutted it, then I could have all the eggs at once!”
The farmer went into his brand new tool shed that be bought with the golden goose egg money and grabbed the shiny new axe that he bought with his golden goose egg money and went into the new goose coop that he bought with his golden goose egg money and hoisted the axe above his head and CHOPPED the goose’s head off and GUT the goose in half…and what do you think he found inside? Nothing but goose guts.
And so the farmer went back to working the fields day and night for the rest of his life and his wife ended up leaving him for the golden goose farmer across the street.
So what’s the moral of the story? (Let them tell you.)
Exactly. Don’t kill the goose that’s laying the golden eggs, especially if it’s producing your passive income.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Let’s face it…without a handle on how much money is coming into our lives each month (from both earning and making money) and how much is going out (spent on living expenses), it’s hard to get a grip on having extra money in your life.
We’ve all experienced times when we thought we had more money than we did. WHAT? How did THAT happen? is usually our response…though we know inside what happened…
WE JUST WEREN’T PAYING ATTENTION TO OUR MONEY!!!
The term ‘budget’, however, has gotten a bad rap as of late. People see or hear the word and immediately think DIET and following that with RUN AWAY! So you see, we have a wee bit of a challenge teaching people what a fabulous rich tool a budget really is.
