• Practice public speaking. Videotape each presentation so Explorers can critique themselves. Try giving different types of speeches, such as informative speeches, "how-to" speeches and persuasive speeches.
• Create teaching and visual aids
• Choose an item or product to sell and build a sales plan. Try selling fundraising items such as cookie dough or candy and use the money for post programs.
• Make a phone call inviting an expert or professional to give a demonstration on their skill at a post meeting. Greet the presenter before the meeting.
• Learn how to introduce a guest speaker, and then practice introducing a speaker at a post meeting or other group meeting.
• Conduct a super-activity
• Prepare a news release for an upcoming post activity, such as a community service project, and distribute it to the local media. Another option is to choose a non-profit organization and write a media release for one of their upcoming events.
• Discuss event planning, including the importance of research, setting clear objectives, programming and the evaluation process. Hold an event or work with a non-profit organization and help them plan a major fundraising event.
• Organize a community service project.
• Work with a newspaper, radio, or TV station on a project
• Produce a public service announcement. Take a color slide, photo or video clip that represents what you are promoting, develop a brief script, and submit them to the public service director of a local media outlet.
• Prepare a resume and cover letter
• Research the variety of communication careers, including public relations and journalism. Research the education, typical schedule, skills, training, salary range and job duties of the career of your choice.
• Create a personal or post web page
• Examine the difference between hard news and editorial writing. Present topics and have the students decide whether it is hard news.
• Send an opinion piece to the editor of a magazine or the local newspaper
• Evaluate how facts and opinions function in relaying the news
• Talk about the responsibility of the media to report accurate news
• Examine pros and cons of print newspapers and online media
• Examine obituary writing. Discuss which elements of a person's life are chosen to memorialize in an obituary. Choose a celebrity that is still living. Make them write an accurate extended obituary about that celebrity, making up only the time and cause of death.
• Discuss the importance of accurate quotes and quote placement in a story. Discuss the importance of using quotes in context. For fun, give students a hand-out of misused or funny quotes.
• Discuss important elements of journalism, including accuracy, timeliness, proximity, etc. Give students a list of facts and quotes (both important and unimportant) and have them arrange only the relevant information into a story.
• Discuss AP writing guidelines. Give students a story and let them find AP errors and make corrections.
• Write a feature article
• Practice writing interesting "leads" for a news story
• Discuss journalism ethics. Present scenarios and decide what is ethical
• Discuss interviewing in journalism. Inform youth about proper etiquette, open- versus closed-ended questions, tape recorders, etc. Interview someone and write a feature article.
• Discuss non-verbal communication. Talk about how appearances affect first impressions and the proper way to look at a job interview.
• Stress the importance of knowing current events. Each meeting, let a different youth pick a current even topic to discuss or debate for 15 minutes. Encourage each youth to speak at least once during each session.