With registration now open for National Review Institute’s 2023 Communicators Workshop, I thought it would be a good time to recount my time at last year’s. It was truly a one-of-a kind experience. Various speakers offered young students from around the country a refreshing perspective on civil discourse. All of the talks were incredibly hands-on, engaging, and interactive.
Often, as students, we are used to being lectured at by professors. At the Communicators Workshop, however, we were given the opportunity to take part in the conversation and ask questions. Students, instead of being on the receiving end of an academic filibuster, were active participants in vibrant and relevant discussions concerning contemporary political discourse.
NRI fellow Jay Nordlinger started the day off strong by showing us a memorable compilation of Firing Line clips wherein William F. Buckley Jr. interviewed an eclectic array of guests, from Noam Chomsky and Norman Mailer to Muhammad Ali and Groucho Marx. Buckley, as Nordlinger astutely noted, always conducted himself with remarkable decorum and remained composed, even when his guests got a little heated.
Afterwards, Luke Bolar, the chief external affairs officer at ClearPath, gave an eye-opening presentation on responsible advertising. After each commercial he showed us, we were asked to give our thoughts and critiques. Then, we were broken into small groups and tasked with doing some responsible advertising ourselves. This was a fun and interactive way to demonstrate the power of messaging.
And to close out the day, National Review staff writer Madeleine Kearns spoke about how we can approach sensitive and even taboo topics in a responsible and tactful manner. Needless to say, decorum is a missing component in modern political discourse. Kearns eloquently laid out her nine tips for discussing and writing about fraught topics. The adaptation of these remarks can be found here.
All in all, the day was a great success. Students bonded, networked, and learned invaluable lessons that are too often left out of the classroom. I would advise every politically minded young person — Left, Right, and center — to attend the Communicators Workshop. You won’t regret it!