DECA Direct | March-April 2016

DECAdirect MARCH-APRIL 2016

THE HOW TO ISSUE HOW TO PERFORM A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

www.decadirect.org

HOW TO INTERVIEW LIKE A PRO

HOW TO MAKE YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT EPIC

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DECA DIRECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECA DOESN’T STOP IN THE SUMMER

STAY LINKED UP, GET LINKEDIN

WHY JOINING COLLEGIATE DECA WAS THE BEST DECISION

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EDITORIAL

Publisher Paul A. Wardinski Editor Christopher Young Managing Editor Janelle Scudder Editorial Committee Jeff Collins, Sarah Williams Advertising Cindy Allen, Nick Edwards Design Frank Peterson

3 YOUR EPIC YEAR ISN’T OVER YET

DECA EXECUTIVE OFFICERS President Alec Romero North Atlantic Region Vice President Tara Nath Central Region Vice President Ashton FIlburn Southern Region Vice President Tyler McBee Western Region Vice President Marizza “Mitch” Mitchell

COLLEGIATE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

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6 STEPS TO PERFORMING A DECA SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

President Jaimie Thimmesh Rachie Vice President Savannah Bice Vice President Alura Carbrey Vice President Matt Weingard

STEPS TO A PERFORMING SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Jacklyn Schiller President-Elect Kevin Reisenauer Secretary Pam O’Brien Treasurer Shanna LaMar Members Marsha Bock, Mary Peres, Ev Vaughan, Ryan Witzig NAB Chair Ken DiSaia Ex-Officio Members Tammie Brewer, Wayne Kutzer Paul A. Wardinski

EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE DECA Direct Magazine 1908 Association Drive Reston, Virginia 20191-1594 communications@deca.org

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CHAPTER BUZZ

USING THE MIRRORING TECHNIQUE FOR INTERVIEWING

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MARCH-APRIL | 2016

DECA Direct (ISSN 1080-0476) is published four times each year—September/ October, November/December, January/ February and March/April. Copyright ©2016 by the Distributive Education Clubs of America, Inc., 1908 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 20191-1594. All rights reserved. Annual non-member subscription rate is $5.00. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon, Virginia and additional mailing offices. $1.00 of membership fee goes toward subscription to DECA Direct, a publication of DECA, (USPS 566-200), Volume 4, Number 4.

Postmaster—Send form 3579 for change of address to: DECA Direct, 1908 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 20191-1594.

HOW ONE COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT MADE AN EPIC SPLASH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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DECA DOESN’T STOP IN THE SUMMER ALEC ROMERO

HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

@alecdeca

MARCH

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Association Administrator of the Year Award recipients due Association Chapter Advisor of the Year Award recipients due ICDC competitors’ final membership eligibility Advocacy Campaign due

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Advisor scholarship applications postmark deadline

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ICDC registration and hotel rooming list/deposit due from chartered associations Piper Jaffray Taking Stock with Teens Spring Survey ends

Executive Officer Candidate applications due

The school year may be coming to an end, but now is the best time to begin planning an EPIC 2016-2017!

Don’t let your absence from the classroom hold you back from getting a head start on the DECA-packed year ahead! Preparation is the key to victory, so utilize the spare time you have this summer to build the foundation for a successful year for you and your chapter.

A great way to start is by meeting with your fellow DECA members and officers from your chapter! You all can spend some time training for your competitive events and/or cluster exams, and/or search for a local charity or organization that you can volunteer at to attain community service hours. You could also develop your short and long term goals, like doubling your membership or completing all of DECA’s Chapter Campaigns!

Of course, it is summer and fun is a requirement! Plan a day at someone’s house for a barbeque, swim or movie night. Or, have everyone meet up at a bowling alley or water park. If you’re really up for an adventure, then pack your gear and embark on a chapter-bonding trip to the woods. Whatever it is, adventures outside the classroom will benefit you as a leader and your chapter as a whole.

It’s going to be a great year for DECA, but this is your chance to get a head start.

APRIL

23-26

DECA International Career Development Conference, Nashville, TN

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

The 2015-2016 Executive Officer Team thanks you for an amazing year and wishes you an EPIC ending to this year’s incredible DECA journey.

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YOUR EPIC YEAR ISN’T OVER YET JAIMIE THIMMESH RACHIE COLLEGIATE DECA EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

@jaimie_tr

It’s hard to believe that the 2015-2016 Collegiate DECA year is coming to an end! With spring approaching and the end of the semester continuing to get closer, it’s easy to think your EPIC year is done.

The truth is that there are still plenty of ways you can make sure this year is the best one yet.

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Association Administrator of the Year Award recipients due Association Chapter Advisor of the Year Award recipients due Leadership Passport Award submission deadline (chapter and individual) Community Service Award, Chapter Leadership Award, Advocacy Campaign and Mentorship Campaign submission deadline

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Advisor scholarship applications postmark deadline Executive Officer Candidate applications due ICDC Registration (to DECA Inc.) ICDC Housing (to Hotel) due Recipients of student, advisor and chapter recognition announced through DECA Direct: Collegiate Edition and posted online at www.collegiatedeca.org.

APRIL

If you haven’t already done so, take some time to apply for a few last minute internships or jobs. The experiences you’ve had this year have probably shaped your dreams and aspirations for your future. Make sure to seize the moment and follow up with a recruiter or reach out to a new connection. You never know when the right opportunity will present itself!

Additionally, make sure your LinkedIn page is up-to-date with all your accomplishments and achievements from this past Collegiate DECA year. Did you conduct a successful campaign or project? Did you volunteer with a new organization? Maybe you were elected to a new position or qualified to attend the 2016 International Career Development Conference! All these accolades are ideal to add to your online resume.

Speaking of ICDC, are you ready for the most EPIC weekend of 2016? #DECAinDC will be an experience unlike any other. Get ready to connect with other members, learn from industry leaders and network with business professionals. Remember to share every moment of your trip on Instagram and Twitter too using #DECAinDC. Lastly, be sure your incoming officers are ready to take on another incredible year this fall. Planning an officer training weekend, before everyone leaves for summer break, is a great way to start the new school year off strong and ensure your next year will be just as EPIC as this past year.

The entire Collegiate DECA Executive Officer Team wishes you an incredible end to your year and we can’t wait to see you in D.C. this April!

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

MARCH

16-19

Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference, Washington D.C.

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NOW TRENDING: #beDECAepic

[1] WISCONSIN DECA

@wi_deca Wisconsin DECA is recording their IMPACT videos while here in Madison! #beDECAepic @decainc

[2] NEVADA DECA

@nvdeca Your state officers just had an EPIC chapter visit with @wcta_deca! #WeAreNVDECA #beDECAepic

[3] SOUTH SALEM DECA

@southsalemdeca nine days until we take over #beDECAepic

[4] RYAN DONECKER

@rdonecker Just getting to #bowtietuesday now. #beDECAepic

[5] IRVING MARTINEZ

@irving_alberto.martinez Ready to show our competence at #NSORegionals2016 with these two lovely ladies! #beDECAepic

[6] HARIKET BILODIA

@hariket_bilodia “Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they’re ALWAYS there.” #deca #ohiodeca #ohiodecateam72 #beDECAepic

[7] UDONNA DALESLIE

@udonnaa When you’re counting down DECA State Conference #13daystogo #beDECAepic

[8] PITT DECA

@pittdeca #epicsaturday for Pittsburg DECA receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award this past Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce Banquet! #beDECAepic @texasdeca

[9] BRADLEY ROBINSON

@bradrobinson There is nothing better than getting 1st place with my best friends, and getting elected into state office in the same day! #beDECAepic

[10] CLAIRE FOREST @fisheylass Prediction has been confirmed. First Place in Advertising Campaign. Watch out DC, this duo is coming for you. #beDECAepic #micollegiatedeca @thomas.b95

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DECA Announces #DECAICDC 2016 Opening Session Entertainment http://bit.ly/ laurenalainaicdc

Share your photos all year long for a chance to be featured in the next issue!

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What Do Hiring Managers Look For In a Candidate?

3 Reasons Why You Should Take DECA To College

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Tips For Taking DECA Exams http://bit.ly/decaexamtips

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STAY LINKED UP, GET LINKEDIN As a generation of tweeters, Snapchatters, and Instagram-ers, it seems today’s students are never disconnected. With graduation and summertime just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about finding a way to stay connected to DECA after high school and college.

Seems like a daunting task, right?

Luckily, LinkedIn makes connecting to DECA and business professionals as easy as sharing a tweet!

So what exactly is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a networking service for professionals; essentially, it’s the professional version of Facebook. You can build your network of business connections, upload your professional profile, create your online résumé and connect with DECA alumni and members from around the world.

To most high school students, the idea of managing another social media account is exhausting. So why should you join LinkedIn? Unlike Twitter and Instagram, LinkedIn provides an excellent way to differentiate your professional network from your social network. LinkedIn is also a great way to meet new contacts in your field of interest, which opens countless doors to job opportunities and internships.

MARIZZA MITCHELL WESTERN REGION VICE PRESIDENT

@decavpmitch

LinkedIn also allows you to search for jobs through its online database. When hiring for positions, many managers will search LinkedIn to see what experience and skills applicants possess.

Simply having a LinkedIn can make the job searching process much easier to tackle. After all, business is all about who you know.

Once you create your profile, don’t forget to connect with DECA on LinkedIn too. You can follow the DECA Inc. company page at www.linkedin. com/company/deca-inc-, and join the DECA Inc. group at http://bit.ly/ decalinkedingroup, where you’ll be connected with almost 10,000 DECA alumni, business partners and current members.

Additionally, you should always list your DECA membership and experience in your LinkedIn profile. This not only helps you when potential employers are checking out your profile, but will keep you engaged with the DECA community as well.

LinkedIn is one of the easiest ways to make DECA a part of your professional future.

Get linked up today with other professionals, find jobs and careers, and don’t forget to get stay connected to DECA!

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WHY JOINING

COLLEGIATE DECA WAS THE BEST DECISION

The future is in your hands with Collegiate DECA!

Continuing your DECA journey in college allows you to jump-start your career, engage with students from around the world, share ideas with students in different majors and gain invaluable leadership experience.

Plus, Collegiate DECA members get to participate in competitive events, attend exciting conferences like the Collegiate Leadership Academy in New York City and discover internship opportunities through incredible networking events with business professionals.

Check out why the 2015-2016 Collegiate DECA Executive Vice Presidents say that joining Collegiate DECA was the best decisions they ever made:

@decavpalura

“Collegiate DECA has given me a unique competitive edge in the global job market. By networking with college students and business professionals, I have had the opportunity to advance in my career and improve my social skills.”

MATT WEINGARD @decavpmatt

“Collegiate DECA was the one organization that helped shape my college career. The countless friends and memories I made throughout my four years could never be forgotten or replaced. Some of my best friends that are still with me after graduation are a part of my life because of Collegiate DECA. Collegiate DECA truly takes you places, whether it is conferences, internships, or even careers!”

Collegiate DECA helps emerging leaders develop their passion and give them expertise in their career path. By attending conferences and specialized academies, members are provided a unique opportunity that differentiates them from competition in the job market.

What are you waiting for? Embark on the Collegiate DECA journey!

SAVANNAH BICE @decavpsavannah

“Collegiate DECA has helped me succeed in my career path by giving me the skills and opportunities to obtain a highly competitive internship at Northwestern Mutual. Collegiate DECA truly helped me bridge the gap between college and career.”

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

ALURA CARBREY

Learn more about joining or starting a Collegiate DECA chapter on your campus by visiting: www.deca.org/college-programs/ membership-college 11

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STEPS TO PERFORMING A In anything, from school to sports and even DECA, it’s hard to decide what you need to work on if you don’t have a good idea of where you’re falling short. That’s why performing an audit is a great way to determine your strengths and weaknesses in a certain area.

Your chapter or association’s social media pages are so important for many reasons! Whether your profiles are used to inform members, attract business partners, connect with your community or deliver announcements, it’s crucial that you understand how well your profiles are performing in order to properly carry out your social media goals.

Here are six steps to help your chapter or association perform a social media audit and find out exactly what you need to work on to create an EPIC online presence.

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT

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CREATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT WORKSHEET. The DECA Social Media Audit Spreadsheet (on page 16) will help you organize your social media profiles and give you a clear picture of how your profiles are performing! Feel free to use the page in this magazine, or go to bit.ly/decasocialaudit to download a printable worksheet to get started!

EVALUATE EACH OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES. For each of your social media profiles, use the 10-point scale below to determine your profile’s strength. Each item has a point value assigned. If you can answer YES to the question below for your social media profile, give yourself the appropriate number of points. If you answer NO to the question, do not add or deduct any points, but move on to the next question. Total your points at the end, and check your results.

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Does your social media profile name clearly indicate your school/chapter name and include DECA? (1 point)

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Is your profile photo a registered DECA logo that adheres to DECA’s branding guidelines? (1 point)

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Does your bio clearly explain who you are, where your school/chapter is located and/or DECA’s mission statement? (1 point)

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Is there a link to either your chapter’s website, your DECA association’s website, or deca.org in your profile and/or description? (1 point)

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Have you posted at least once this month? (1 point)

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Have your posted at least once this week? (2 points)

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Have you posted more than once today? (3 points)

IF YOU SCORED….

1-3 POINTS Your social media profiles are weak and need more work.

4-6 POINTS Your social media profiles are moderately strong, but some areas still need work.

7-10 POINTS Your social media profiles are strong! Keep up the good work!

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Seeing which questions you answered yes or no to is a good way to determine where your social media profiles need work.

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MAKE SURE YOU PROFILES CLEARLY CONTAIN THE DECA BRAND.

It’s important that when visitors come to your social media profiles, they get a clear indication that you are part of the DECA brand.

Whether it’s an official chapter logo (email communications@deca.org to get one for your chapter), using a DECA cover photo or header image, or adding a DECA background, branding your profile is an important step to validating your online presence. Don’t be afraid to use images from the official DECA Inc. social media accounts, or if you’re looking for something in particular to help your profiles, ask @jjscudderdeca on Twitter for help!

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So one of your DECA officers creates all your social media accounts, keeps them updated and branded appropriately, and gains a large follower base. Then, he or she graduates, and the incoming officer team cannot get access from the previous owner for the password information. All the effort to create an awesome social media presence is now down the drain, and the new officer team has to start from scratch.

Does this story sound familiar? It happens to so many DECA chapters and associations, but can easily be avoided!

First, it’s wise to create a master list of all your social media accounts with all your usernames and passwords. Save this list in a safe place, like in an officer team Google Drive or with your chapter/association advisor. The incoming officer team should then have access to the list once their term begins and old officers should be removed. If any changes are made to usernames or passwords, or when a new social media profile is created, this master list should be updated.

To keep your profiles consistent, it’s imperative that they can continue year after year. Creating a master list and centralizing ownership of your pages is the best way to ensure your profiles can continue to grow.

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CREATE A STREAMLINE POSTING START PROCESS. POSTING, TWEETING AND SHARING!

Now that you have a better understanding of your social media profiles’ strengths and weaknesses, it’s a good idea to put in place some guidelines to either maintain or strengthen your pages. Has one person been responsible for posting content on all your pages? Is everyone collaborating on content that can be posted? Who is in charge of scheduling posts for the upcoming week or month?

Determine with your officer team and advisor which individuals should be responsible for what tasks and on what profiles. If one person is passionate about all forms of social media, perhaps they are best suited to take on the responsibility for maintaining all your profiles. If one person loves Twitter and another is all about Instagram, maybe it’s best to divide and conquer!

Additionally, it’s a good idea for chapter or association officer teams to meet monthly and determine what announcements can be scheduled ahead of time, leaving room of course for the occasional live tweet or post. This way, your social media pages will be filled with timely reminders for the entire month and you won’t have to panic when you realize no one has posted anything in two weeks.

After your complete this DECA Social Media Audit, you should feel more confident about where your social media pages stand! Understanding the areas where you need to improve and focus more time will give your chapter or association a clear set of goals for the upcoming DECA year.

Additionally, creating a streamlined process for gathering and storing account information, as well as determining a process for posting content, sets your profiles up for continued success!

Have any questions about chapter or association social media?

Reach out to Janelle at janelle_scudder@deca.org or on Twitter @jjscudderdeca!

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

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CENTRALIZE THE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR PROFILES.

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Social Media Audit Worksheet Use this worksheet to evaluate your chapter’s or association’s social media pages and discover the areas in which you excel or need some extra work.

10 POINT EVALUATION Profile

Total Points

Areas of Strength

Areas of Weakness

DECA Web Site Links on Profile

DECA Branded Photos on Profile?

PROFILE BRANDING Profile

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DECA Logo as Profile Picture

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT WORKSHEET

OWNERSHIP Profile

Username

Password

Creator

STREAMLINE POSTING PROCESS Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Now that you’ve conducted your social media audit, you’re ready to start tweeting, posting and sharing like a pro!

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MARCH-APRIL | 2016

How One Community Service Project Made an Epic Splash on Social Media Alexi Manley

South County High School

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It is hard to deny how close childhood hunger is to home.

While this issue is not necessarily something that people see as a problem in the United States, it is actually a very real concern for much of the population.

PGA Tour pro golfer Jason Dufner decided to get behind the efforts to end childhood hunger through his personal charitable organization, the Jason Dufner Foundation, and his sponsor, Vineyard Vines. Together, the foundation and Vineyard Vines developed a very simple way to help a very big cause - decorate a whale, post it on social media, and for every post, one healthy lunch would be donated to a child in need.

Vines’ decorate-a-whale campaign. The students were encouraged to depict something that was important to them or something represented who they are, on their whales.

If students wanted to share their whale on social media, they would earn one service-learning hour for that one healthy lunch that would be donated to a child in need in their honor.

This small effort was something that Mrs. Woodson, a marketing teacher at South County High School (Lorton, Va.), recognized as an opportunity to show how marketing, sponsorship, and sports could shine a light on a cause, and come together to create a positive, helpful outcome.

Mrs. Woodson created a lesson plan using this campaign as inspiration, and then each marketing teacher at South County took her plan and evolved it to fit their individual marketing courses and levels.

At the beginning of each school year, the South County High School marketing classes create an activity for students to introduce themselves and show what is important to them. This is a great way for the students in each class to get to know each other a little bit better. This helps to not only foster relationships for learning, but it helps to identify how to create lessons that are meaningful for students.

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This year, with Mrs. Woodson’s creative idea in mind, the teachers changed their usual “get-to-know-you” activity to incorporate Jason and Vineyard

Pretty soon after students started sharing their whales, the Jason Dufner Foundation, Vineyard Vines, and even Jason Dufner himself started noticing all of the posts coming from South County High School, and even started to retweet and repost the students’ photos!

Students posted photos of their whales using the hashtags #WhalesForACause and #SoCoDECAcares, and tagged @SoCoDECA on various social media accounts too. If a student did not have a public account, teachers offered to post photos for him or her on the @SoCoDECA account with the student’s permission.

Vineyard Vines also contacted South County High School directly to get permission to use one of their photos to show the conclusion of their campaign – it currently has over 40,000 likes on Instagram!

In conclusion, the campaign donated over 5,000 lunches to children in need, and 10% of all those lunches came from South County marketing students! The finished whales are displayed in all of the marketing teachers’ classrooms.

The students not only learned about promotion, retail and sponsorship, but also were able to apply it to a current, real-world issue, and most importantly – make a difference.

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

Follow South County DECA on Twitter @SoCoDECA and on Instagram @stalliondeca.

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MIRRORING USING THE MIRRORING TECHNIQUE FOR INTERVIEWING MARK MUNCEY Director of Fundraising, AMCM

As humans progress in ways to communicate through technology, we are somewhat regressing in our ability to communicate face-to-face.

Technology such as texting, social media and email has stripped the importance for non-verbal communication. Did you know that 90% of what you say is how you say it?

This is becoming a serious problem, especially for Millennials and later generations who are the most addicted to communicating with technology. AMCM has partnered with experts in non-verbal communication to offer tips on how to nail your interviews by using your body language and one important method: the mirroring technique.

We use mirroring when we aren’t even thinking about it.

When a couple or a group of people are sitting together, you may notice they start to sync with each other by sitting alike and making similar movements. Ever been on a lunch date where both of you grabbed the water at the same time? That’s mirroring!

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Mirroring is being the mirror image of someone when communicating with them. We do this naturally with people we already feel connected with, but doing this consciously can help establish and reinforce a connection between two people who are meeting for the first time. If implemented correctly, it is a very powerful technique for interviewing.

To use this technique, you can mirror or match facial expressions, posture, pace of speech and gestures. The key is to be subtle. Don’t imitate every gesture, which could get awkward.

For example, if your interviewer leans forward, you lean forward (usually people lean forward when they’re excited about what they’re talking about). If he or she has a slower pace of speech, slow your pace down to match theirs.

By using the mirroring technique, the other person will unconsciously start to feel more of a connection with you.

Remember, practice makes perfect! Let us know if you have questions or if you have a topic of interest you would like us to cover. Check out our blog for more tips at www.amcm-online. com/blog or www.amcmdeca.com for more information on our fundraising program.

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CHAPTER BUZZ ◀ NORTON DECA | Massachusetts Norton DECA topped its membership this year - the highest ever - with almost 150 students that competed at its district competition.

▲ SAMUEL CLEMENS DECA | Texas DECA members from Samuel Clemens High School were all smiles after their EPIC performances at the Texas DECA District 2 Conference.

▲ DANBURY DECA | Connecticut Danbury DECA members had an EPIC time at the 2016 Sports & Entertainment Marketing Conference in Orlando, Fla. ▲ SOUTH FORSYTH DECA | Georgia South Forsyth DECA members Alex Forbes, Ben Braner, and Jack Johnson traveled to Palm Desert, Calif., as finalists in the 2015 Herff Jones Marketing Results Challenge.

◀ WESTLAND JOHN GLENN DECA Michigan Westland John Glenn DECA took home a big win at the Michigan DECA District 5 Conference, with several state qualifiers!

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▼ DESERT VIEW DECA | Arizona Desert View DECA members showed off their dance moves after cleaning up at their first competition of the 2016!

▲ FREEHOLD DECA | New Jersey Check out Freehold DECA’s 48 EPIC state qualifiers, who then competed in the New Jersey DECA state conference at the end of February.

▲ APPOQUINIMINK DECA | Delaware Appoquinimink DECA is squad deep at the 2016 Delaware DECA Career Development Conference.

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

▼ LAMBERT DECA | Georgia Lambert DECA hosted its annual tailgate to raise money for this year’s community service organization, The Wounded Warrior Project.

▲ MIDLAND DOW DECA | Michigan Midland Dow DECA members brought home plenty of gold this past December after their district competition.

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CHAPTER BUZZ ▼ MEXIA DECA | Texas Mexia DECA members showed off their latest public relations project, Go Green or Go Home!

▼ CINNAMINSON DECA | New Jersey Cinnaminson DECA excelled at the South Jersey Regional Conference on January 6, 2016. This small chapter had 18 state qualifiers!

▲ HARRISON DECA | Arkansas Harrison DECA members collected over 500 toys this past holiday season to donate to patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

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▲ PLANTATION DECA | Florida Plantation DECA has had an EPIC year and its members aren’t slowing down yet!

◀ FLANAGAN DECA Florida Flanagan DECA members gathered in the school courtyard around the Falcon for an EPIC chapter photo.

▼ LAKEVIEW CENTENNIAL DECA | Texas The Lakeview Centennial DECA officer team showed off their Patriot Pride before heading to the 2015 #DECAPowerTrip in Austin, Texas, last November.

▶ MARICOPA DECA | Arizona It’s easy to #beDECAepic when you have an incredible chapter like Maricopa DECA!

▲ KLAMATH UNION DECA | Oregon Klamath Union DECA member Juan Oretega Delgadillo got an autograph from Portland Trailblazer player Tim Frazier during the 2015 PDX experience. Four DECA chapters were able to tour sports and entertainment marketing industries in Portland, Ore., including Nike, the Portland Trailblazers, the Portland Timbers and the Multnomah Athletic Club. The event ended with the 125 DECA members attending a Portland Trailblazer basketball game.

MARCH-APRIL | 2016

▼ GREEN HOPE DECA | North Carolina Green Hope DECA had quite the EPIC year with its membership growing from 51 members to over 200! Awesome job!

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CHAPTER BUZZ

▲ GRAND BLANC DECA | Michigan DECA members from Grand Blanc high school had an EPIC competitive event season this year. ◀ LICKING HEIGHTS DECA | Ohio Licking Heights DECA members put their best foot forward at their district competition this spring.

▼ LANSING DECA | Kansas Lansing DECA members rocked their best Hawaiian surf threads during a chapter spirit day.

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▲ MAPLE SHADE DECA | New Jersey Maple Shade DECA hosted an EPIC fundraising event for Operation Shoebox, the New Jersey DECA community service project. To raise money, chapter members asked students and staff to donate spare change at lunch to pie their favorite (or least favorite) teacher in the face. DECA officers pied the top five teachers at the winter pep rally. The chapter raised $600 to donate to Operation Shoe Box.

▲ BLACK HILLS DECA Washington Eight members from Black Hills DECA had an EPIC time visiting the Texas State Capitol during the 2015 Ultimate DECA Power Trip in Austin, Texas.

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