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UT Participate 2019 │ One persuasive afternoon Wednesday 25 September

The second annual employee and student participation UTparticipate was all about how we can further strengthen decentralized employee and student participation. We look back on a great turnout. During the keynote and the various workshops, the attendees received tips and tricks to increase their influence in different ways.

In the welcome speech by Mirjam Bult and Herbert Wormeester, they emphasized on being respectful and open-minded during discussions. Whatever case you want to bring forward, keep in mind that we all have the same goal.

Keynote: Pacelle van Goethem
What makes people persuasive? Are they hyper intelligent? What helps you to be heard and what could be helpful? Pacelle van Goethem, authority in the field of persuasion strategies, answered this in her keynote. In very short, the key is to relax the other person, make a good first impression (and second:), show no doubt and smile!

If you relax, you have all the charisma you need!  Pacelle van Goethem

Workshops
After the Keynote there were different smaller workshops. One by José Franken (BMS) about the various perspectives to look at a case. Does everyone have the same information and what are the common thoughts? Laurens van der Velde (M&C) went further on the persuasive topic and used examples used in advertising. What appealed to you and why? In one-on-one talks the particpants also got the assignment to stay neutral and ask questions without judgment and with an open mind. Hans van den Berg and Cornelise Vreman (CES-CELT) talked about a collaboration model. With a tree as a metaphor for the program committee (PC) they worked together on what the PC needs to yield the fruits. What do you need to work on together and what does the PC need? And how do we define a good outcome?

The afternoon was closed off with drinks and snacks and the announcement of a new edition of UTparticipate to be held next year!