Campbell (Day 2)

This morning we are introducing our next two projects:

1. The Founding Father Principles project: The project will help each group explore a "founding father" principle (the values that George Washington and John Adams championed) that support entrepreneurship in this country.
   
2. The Virtual Trade Mission: This project places the companies in the position of "International Development Manager" in an American company seeking to expand it's exports to the next big emerging market! Each company will virtually (theoretically) export a product to a foreign country!

More projects! I know! Most companies haven't even gotten to start on their first assignments - that's okay! The students probably want to start thinking about how they're going to delegate responsibilities. All a part of being successful! Both of these projects are due on the final day of FELC - but I wouldn't procrastinate!

The FELC students are in for a real treat today! Mike Stuart, an attorney with the Federal Aviation Administration, paid a visit to Campbell University to talk about a man that has made a huge impact on his life - his grandfather, the Senator and the inspiring man of character, Jesse Helms. 

Stuart had two portions to his presentation - Jesse Helms, the senator and Jesse Helms, the grandfather. (For those still wondering, yes, we're talking about the same Jesse Helms who is responsible for the Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge!) Stuart talked about his grandfather's morals and personal values as a man and how he was an "unmovable mountain" when it came to testing his values and "laws of life," even as a man of political power and leadership. Below is a video called "The Courage of his Convictions" (Parts one and two) that tells the story of the life of Jesse Helms.

"Courage of his Convictions (Part 1)"

"Courage of his Convictions (Part 2)"

Debates are an excellent way to improve public speaking skills and is particularly helpful in providing experience in developing a convincing argument. Today, we will begin our FELC debate competition! Each team will be posed a specific question on a controversial topic and will be given either a "negative" or a "positive" response to support and argue (even if the argument is opposed to the individual student's personal opinion!) The best way to get better at arguing your personal viewpoint is to know how the opposition would best argue against you! The basic debating skills include the style in which you communicate, the speed or pace that you communicate with, the tone and volume you deliver your message, the clarity of your content, sufficient use of notes and eye contact, and the case as a whole!

The teams will have three minutes to prepare their arguments and select who will represent their company (three students at a time). Once both teams have presented their argument, each team will have a chance to pose a rebuttal to their statements. The topics covered today are the following:

• Should citizens be allowed to carry a firearm on private properties, such as restaurants?
• Should citizens be forced to pay for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act?
• Should municipalities, public school boards, be allowed to open a meeting if they choose, with a public prayer?

The teams will be judged on all of the debating basics and given points for each category. Remember, it's not ALL about the content! Though logical content weighs a heavy amount, it takes exceptional public speaking skills to deliver a good speech!

On to our next assignment! The speech contest!

1. Speech Contest: Two representatives from each company will get a chance to shine! Each person will have 3-5 minutes to give a well-developed speech on a specific topic with logical thoughts and arguments.

The students have until Wednesday at 1 PM to decide on their speakers and hope they use all of the public speaking skills we learned today while presenting their speeches. This year's topic is "does capitalism encourage greed?" The students could say "yes" or "no" but what the judges were looking for is how they supported their theory. Was it logical? Were their points clear? We also looked at public speaking skills such as body language, clarity, appearance, eye contact, etc.

Our second speaker of the day was Pearce Godwin, founder of the Listen First project. The Listen First project is a nonprofit advocacy group who believes in the power of listening to transform our discourse and change the world. Pearce gave the students invaluable advice on how to learn simply listening rather than talking. In the midst of trying to cooperate, coordinate, and communicate within the student's newly created companies, I'd say learning to LISTEN to our fellow peers is a lesson critically needed! Some of the "golden rules" taught by the Listen First project include the following:

• Listen as you want to be listened to.
• Let the other person speak first.
• Come with an open mind.
• Don't assume anything!
• Seek to discover common interests
• Be fully present and engaged.
• Don't plan or anticipate your own response.
• Don't interrupt!
• Physically engage yourself.
• Tune into subtext.
• Restate what you heard them say ti clarify.
• Ask a thoughtful or respectful questions!

Check out these awesome tees!
'Merica!

After dinner, you could tell the students were itching to get going! Tonight is our first evening of making money for our companies! One of the concession company's, called "Snacks on Stack's" is organizing a pizza party! Not to mention, they're selling Starbucks! The style company, #Merica, is taking a different approach to styling T-Shirts! Instead of using the same FELC T-shirt we were given at the beginning of the week, #Merica is buying plain white tee's from the store and spray painting the American flag on them! Way to advertise, right? Because everyone loves America! The entertainment company, Insane to Entertain, is hosting a "Neon Man Hunt!" It's like "hide-n-seek" but with fun, neon paint and glow sticks. Later this week, I've heard rumors of a karaoke party, basketball tournament, and a raffle for snacks and cash prizes! I'm overwhelmed with all of the ideas spewing from this group of FELC students!