Lil Blume

Here is an idea of where I'll be in 2006. The workshops at Mohawk College and some of the others are open to the public. Contact me if you are interested in attending or organizing similar workshops.

March 24, 2006, morning The Wellington Nursing & Retirement Home Hamilton, Ontario Teamwork in Senior Care

April 18, 2006, morning Learning and Development Human Resources Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C. Communicating Nondefensively

Are you often on the defensive? Do you sometimes feel attacked? Do your responses tend to make you feel worse? Defensiveness prevents effective communication and, rather than protecting us, usually leads to more conflict and frustration.

If you are defensive or surrounded by defensive people, this fun, interactive workshop can help you get more control of your responses to perceived attacks. You will identify defensive responses in yourself and others and learn how to respond non-defensively to stressful or difficult situations involving supervisors, coworkers, students, or faculty.

April 20, 2006, morning

Learning and Development Dept. Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C. Listening with Empathy

We generally want to make helpful remarks to troubled or grieving people - responses that will open up communication. Yet, well-intentioned comments often have the opposite effect. Our attempt to be helpful pushes others away. This workshop examines techniques for empathic listening and explores what to say when you don't know what to say.

APRIL 19 + 21 half days NRC Institute for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Chicken Soup for the Inner Ear: Effective Listening in a Diverse Community

As part of a diverse research institute, you are in contact with many people including engineers, scientists, staff, graduate students, faculty, and members of the business community. Any of these people might present you with comments, questions, or statements that you find hard to answer. Do your well-intentioned comments sometimes make a situation worse instead of better? Do you engage in conversations where it seems that no one is really connecting. Genuinely listening to one another is often difficult, especially in environments where people's background, education, and expectations might lead to different ways of perceiving and examining problems. How can you think on your feet when you are put on the spot? This workshop can help.

The first half of the workshop will introduce some communication concepts that affect listening. We will use participants’ own examples related to performance reviews and giving instructions. We will

identify positive and negative listening behaviours
explore psychological barriers to effective listening
practice paraphrasing and asking for confirmation

The second half of the workshop will focus on empathic listening in difficult or emotional situations. We will

identify and analyze accepting and rejecting responses
look at the blocks to effective listening and learn tools for unblocking
discover how to communicate helpfully with troubled people

APRIL 22, 2006 all day Soft Skills for Hard Scientists: A Jade Bridges Project YWCA, 535 Hornby St. 4th Floor Vancouver, B.C. Women and Ambition What is the process by which women create, realize, reconfigure, and abandon goals and dreams? Ambition brings together a desire for mastery and a need for recognition. What are the fears and hopes associated with our ambition? In this workshop, Lil will lead women through a series of exercises in which we investigate our feelings about professional advancement and examine issues that arise as we pursue our dreams. We will consider whether our ambitions are discouraged by both internal and external factors and gain tools to overcome the blocks we might face. In this workshop women pursuing professional careers in the sciences will have a chance to articulate and strengthen their ambitions and sense of purpose in a supportive environment. Specific activities will help us explore and uncover:

our attitudes towards ambition and the source of these attitudes
our early ambitions and how they were abandoned or pursued
the components of ambition: mastery and recognition
the vital importance of recognition: are we willing to seek it and accept it when it comes our way?
fears associated with success
our visions of success, blocks to success, and tools for unblocking
our perception of ourselves in our stories
ambition, marriage, and family -- visualizing and negotiating an equal relationship in the context of our professional lives

April 23, 2006, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Vancouver Second Generation Group Vancouver, B.C. Writing Family Stories Stories passed from one generation to the next carry the values, culture, and unique mythology of that family. Knowing our family's stories solidifies our sense of belonging. If you have been thinking of collecting family stories for your children and grandchildren, then this workshop is for you. I will give you ideas for reviving memories and writing and organizing your family story project. Come prepared to do some writing and storytelling.

May 16 and following four Tuesdays, 2006, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. This course will be repeated in October. CritiCALL Hamilton, ON Creating a Supportive Environment In this interactive five-session workshop, participants will learn to

respond nondefensively to a perceived attack
communicate issues through "I" messages rather than through blaming, defence-provoking "you" messages
listen empathically to underlying feelings
check perceptions to prevent jumping to conclusions
respond assertively to passive-aggressive, indirect messages; and
give a clear assertive message in a conflict situation

May 17 and following twelve Wednesdays, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. This course will be repeated in Fall 2006. Computer Science Department University of Toronto Toronto, ON Communication Skills for Computer Scientists

For the following three courses, see http://cecat.mohawkcollege.ca (General Interest Section) for course descriptions; and http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/cecat/reginfo.html for registration options
May 27, 2006, 9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Mohawk College Hamilton, ON Communicating Nondefensively

June 3, 2006, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Mohawk College Hamilton, ON Writing Family Stories

June 10, 2006, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Mohawk College Hamilton, ON Facing Conflict with Confidence
June 23, 2006, 1:30 p.m. CCWESTT -- The national conference for the Advancement of Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology Calgary, AB Women and Ambition co-presented with Donna Dykeman, Composites Group, Department of Materials Engineering, UBC June 24 2006, 1:30 p.m. CCWESTT Calgary, AB Facing Conflict with Confidence

TESTIMONIALS

"I wish you’d come back to Victoria to give the faculty another session. The few hours I got to spend with you were some of the most useful I’ve ever spent on professional development." Lorna Crozier, award-winning poet, professor University of Victoria

“The ability to communicate effectively is especially important in my role as an elected official, and I have Lil Blume to thank. Her communications course has taught me important lessons on how to listen with empathy and communicate non-defensively – skills that are essential whether I am in a boardroom debate, being interviewed by the media, or on the phone with a constituent. Lil is a dynamic and energetic teacher who delivers with passion."
– Shaun Chen, Trustee (Ward 21, Scarborough-Rouge River), Toronto District School Board