At a parent conference I once attended as a principal, a former drill sergeant who was the parent of a child in my school shared an idea that has stuck with me ever since…
As a drill sergeant, this parent was use to barking orders. Even though he had left the military and was now a civilian, he often found that his drill-sergeant ways came across to people he met. He noticed that people would even back away from him as he spoke. He said he didn't feel good about their reaction, so he changed his way of communicating.
This former drill sergeant told me that he started to whisper when he talked with others. By doing that, he noticed that he was able to draw people closer to him. He also noticed that people seemed to pay more attention to what he was saying when they were not being intimidated by the volume of his voice.
The teacher who was sitting in on that conference took this parent's suggestion back to her classroom. Just a few weeks later she reported its success at a faculty meeting. Other teachers who tried the technique found success with it too. Later, I included a short message in a parents' newsletter about what our teachers were doing. Some parents told me that they had adopted the approach at home. One parent reported, "My children were tuning my husband and me out when we yelled, but they were curious to hear what we had to say when we whispered."
Read more practical tips from George Pawlas…
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Meet Dr. George E. Pawlas
George E. Pawlas has written the book on PR for school principals -- literally! In The Administrator's Guide to School-Community Relations, Pawlas presents a treasury of practical tips and strategies for principals. The book includes hundreds of principal-tested ideas, illustrations, and templates to help you
create successful school newsletters and other communication tools;
use the media to your school's advantage;
enhance parent and family involvement;
work with the community and local businesses;
deal with crisis situations; and
much more.
Pawlas has been an educator for nearly four decades. He has served as an elementary school teacher and principal, a district administrator, and a state education department consultant. Currently he is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Central Florida. In addition, Pawlas has authored dozens of articles and coauthored three editions of a book on educational supervision. He is a frequent presenter at local and national conferences.
George Pawlas's
George E. Pawlas has written the book on PR for school principals -- literally! In 