If you want to inspire others to participate, you yourself must be passionate about participation. You need to strive for, practice, learn, and apply principles of “good communication.” This means being open, listening, asking questions, really trying to understand what other people are saying, and using so-called “I constructions” ... Yes, all of those things you learned in your training as a youth worker. Because participation, at its core, is just that: interpersonal communication, reaching out to others, understanding others, and coming together to debate, find, and implement solutions. You may have also heard of the importance of speaking the language of young people. Well, if you are used to talking in such a manner in your daily work with young people then, great! But there is no need to try to imitate the language of teens if that isn’t your thing. The most important thing to remember is to be yourself, be authentic, and be honest.