1. Ohio Youth Advisory Board
Officer boot camp

2. Agenda
9:00 am - Set Up
10:00 am - Youth Arrival and Marshmallow Towers activity
11:00 am - Officer Professionalism
Noon - Lunch
1:00 pm - Public Speaking
2:00 pm – Effective Advocacy
3:00 pm - Debriefing
3:30 pm - Youth Departure

3. Marshmallow towers

4. Officer professionalism
• Professionalism is learned
• We all make mistakes!
How did I NOT notice my shirt is SEE
THROUGH??

5. Professional attire
Flip Chart:
How do YOU want the
OHIO Youth Advisory Board
(and foster youth in general)
to be represented when it comes to
the way officers dress?

6. Professional attire

7. Professional attire
• Watch wearing clothing with words or
offensive messages

8. Professional etiquette
Flip Chart:
What impression do you want
youth officers to make on others?
Role Play:
Introducing yourself in a
professional environment

9. Meeting
etiquette
Quarterly Meetings:
How would you like to see OHIO
YAB Officers present themselves
during statewide meetings?
Conference Calls:
What do you consider to be
professional behavior on the call?

10. Meeting Etiquette Tips
• Prepare in advance for meetings (review prior
notes, etc.)
• Put meeting in your calendar (use phone with
reminder or paper planner)
– What is helpful to put in the meeting reminder?
• ALWAYS bring pen and paper for notes

11. Email Etiquette

12. Social media
Flip Chart:
How do YOU want the
OHIO Youth Advisory Board
(and foster youth in general)
to be represented on social media?

13. Social media Don’t post anything about your employer unless
you are sure that it is your company policy.
 Don’t post photos that are inappropriate.
Although your profile may be private, there is
always a way that information can be accessed
by others.
 Don’t accept those that you don’t know.
 Don’t take it personally if recruiters or HR
professionals from organizations do not accept
you as connections…they may draw a line with
candidates.
 Don’t post any updates that you are not
comfortable with all future employers seeing.
 Post any inaccurate information about prior jobs.
Consider this to be a public resume and ensure
that everything can be validated.
 Reach out to someone you don’t know and use
a mutual connections name without checking
with them first.
 Ensure that your Facebook page is private.
Often times your profile is set up so that friends
within friends or group members can see your
information.
 Scrutinize what you and your friends post
on your pages.
Consider modifying your settings so that you have to
approve posts. You never know what someone is
going to write on YOUR wall.
 Google yourself.
Make sure that the results that come back are
favorable. If they aren’t go through the process to
try to get these removed. You want to make sure
that your first impression is as positive as possible.
 Manage pictures and tags.
Pictures say a thousand words. Ensure that your
pictures communicate an image that you what you
want to say.
 Get involved with media.
Newspapers, magazines, local TV is a great way to
be positively exposed. It always sounds like a good
idea to be interviewed by the local news, just make
sure the topic is neutral.

14. PUBLICSPEAKING:
Need to know
1. audience
Who is my audience? How many people?
2. purpose
What is the venue? What is the topic?
3. preparation
Write down what you plan to share.
Practice – practice – practice.
Test out your presentation on someone else first.
4. Debrief afterward
What went well?
What could be improved on for next time?

15. Public
speaking
tIPS

16. Role plays –
for/against
1. Role Plays in small groups
Self Awareness: The purpose of this exercise is to know
your strengths and things you need to improve on.
Do you talk too fast? Or too softly?
Do you say “ummm…..?”
Is your message clear, concise and to-the-point?
Do you have a good stopping point at the end of your
message?

17. Public
speaking
2. Escape hatch
“That’s a deep subject to cover, that we might not have time
for me to cover here.”
“I haven’t really experienced that – does anyone else in the
room want to share?”

18. Public
speaking
3. Presenting with others
On a panel: The audience needs to hear a balance of
different voices.
With a co-presenter: Knowing yourself and the people you
are presenting to… why is that important?

19. Effective
advocacy

20. Is conflict avoidable?

21. WHAT’S Your CONFLICT STYLE?

22. ISSUE VS. RELATIONSHIP

23. APPRECIATING YOUR STRENGTHS, andguarding
against “overuse”

24. Handling each situation
the best way possible

25. Short-termand
long-termimpact

26. Impact on the other person

27. Caring about your feelings

28. Handling emotions
in the moment

29. AssertivE vs. aggressive

30. What you Say –
And How You Say It

31. Tips for
Effective advocacy
effective requests
1. What do you want?
2. Who do you want it from?
3. What is the timeframe?
4. Do you both agree on what the outcome should look
like?
5. Might require negotiation: yes vs. no vs. counter-offer

32. Think about
the impact on
the board

33. Ohio yab leadership
• Conflict negotiation skills are an essential part of holding a state