Delivery Exercises

In developing the ability to deliver communications to somebody else, there are several elements we need to exercise.

First, the student needs to be able to get any message at all to arrive with somebody else. We do this by exercising sending a simple message across varying distances, always making sure that it arrives with the recipient, adjusting the intensity of the delivery as necessary.

Secondly, the student must get to feel comfortable just talking to somebody else about anything at all. We will exercise that too.

Thirdly, the student must be able to get specific messages across to another person. This might be messages that the student wouldn't naturally say, but a certain technique might require it. So, she must be able to deliver messages naturally, as if she just thought of them, even though it might be something she has learned as a technique.

A process facilitator is using her communication to get people to change. She needs to be able to get through to another person, to impinge with her communication, and be understood.

A process facilitator must be prepared to say anything whatsoever that might be useful for the session. She must do so naturally, delivering messages as her own, without any reactions.

Exercises

- The student and a trainer will stand first a short distance from each other. The student says "Hello" to the trainer. If the trainer feels that the Hello really reached her she says "OK". If not she either ignores it or she explains what was wrong with it. When the Hello arrives at a short distance, the trainer moves further away. She will also begin to put her attention elsewhere, so that she isn't looking straight at the student. The student must get the trainer's attention with the Hello. This is stepped up until the student can comfortably get the trainer's attention from 50 feet away when she is occupied with something else. The object is not particularly to shout. It is to deliver the exact intensity and intention that will reach the person. You can get through to somebody simply with your intention, without even raising your voice.

- Next exercise is simply about talking. Student and trainer sit down in front of each other. The student must talk to the trainer, continuously and about anything whatsoever. The exercise is for the student to keep talking, without running dry and without getting embarrassed or react in any other way. She can talk about her experiences, her opinions, about French cooking, it doesn't matter what. The trainer will not contribute, but will look attentive and interested. Do this until the student feels more free about communicating.

- Now, the student takes verbal statements from a list or book and delivers each one naturally to the trainer. She takes the sentence from the book, understands it, makes it her own, and delivers it clearly and naturally. The trainer must feel that the communication really reaches her without her having to strain or use any effort. The communication must sound like it is coming from the student as something she just thought up, not as something she has read. The student should really feel it and mean it and deliver the message as if she does. And the trainer must really receive the message. The exercise is continued until the student can comfortably say any kind of canned statement as if it were her own.

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