Realiteen Talks

It’s impossible to escape the influence of social media. Even for those who don’t participate, it has a measurable impact on our day-to-day lives, from influencers and celebrities to everyday teenagers.

With that omnipresent nature comes potential pitfalls.

Social media is a great tool for meeting new friends, sharing common interests, entertainment, and more, but it’s critical to practice careful stewardship of your online presence and personal “brand.”

That’s the subject of this episode of Realiteen Talks, as host and FranklinCovey Education High School Practice Leader Gary McGuey invited a three-teenager panel of firsthand experts to discuss how they care for their own social brand.

That’s because a person’s “social brand” also extends to the real world and how others interact with them. Everything is intertwined, and people that have never met you can now from an opinion of who you are – or seem to be – simply from digital interactions and content.

In discussing this enormous topic, McGuey and his guests offered several key insights, such as posting about your personal beliefs and convictions, keeping your eye on the wider context of everything you post, and considering how your social brand could affect life choices down the road.

Host Gary McGuey, High School Practice Leader for FranklinCovey Education, is back with another insightful panel of teenage guests to tackle a prominent topic that is not only present during adolescence, but throughout life – hope.

Hope can prove difficult to define, though the panelists agreed that it has a large impact on your overall well-being. As one guest put it, “it’s almost like hope stirs those emotions – it’s that feeling in your stomach of super-strong faith.”

Hope keeps you moving in a positive direction when things aren’t working out as intended or when you start to lose belief that the things you’re working toward will come to fruition.

Still, hope isn’t a magic answer to all that ails you. One guest called hope without a plan “something you wish would happen,” adding that hard work and persistence are needed to fuel hope and eventually reach the desired outcome.

“Wishes don’t come true unless you put the work into it,” she said. “You have to be proactive in how you’re hoping for something.”

In being more intentional and purposeful in hope, you transform it from a word that’s commonly thrown around as a temporary salve into an action and driving force.

On this episode of Realiteen Talks, host Gary McGuey and a panel of teenage guests discuss how to ensure your failures fuel your growth, not set you back.

Everyone fails. Falling short of a goal or expectation is a part of life and part of what makes us human – and learning how to respond appropriately to those failures is key to unlocking your true potential.

On this episode of FranklinCovey’s Realiteen Talks, host and High School Practice Leader for FranklinCovey Education Gary McGuey invited on a panel of three teenage guests to discuss how failure can be fertilizer.

“When [some people] encounter failure, they just give up. They don’t continue,” one guest said. “The way I think of it – and the way I think everyone else should – is to look at it in a positive way.”

The other guests agree, adding that failure helps us grow specifically because it shows us what doesn’t work or, perhaps, why a good strategy or plan failed, even though it has the potential to drive growth and success.

Failure is also a tremendous way to discover new perspectives and engage with others who have been in your shoes. You aren’t the first person to fail in attempting whatever it is you have your eyes set on, and that means there’s someone out there who can help you diagnose that setback and push ahead.

Everyone’s heard the classic advice: say no to peer pressure. In situations where friends or others are trying to get someone to do something dangerous or destructive, that’s the right response – but are there times when peer pressure is actually a good thing?

On the second episode of RealiteenTALKS with host Gary McGuey, McGuey and a trio of teen guests tackled the topic, exploring when being pushed by those close to you can result in personal growth.

There are clearly identifiable traits of positive peer pressure. Friends encouraging one another to work hard and do the right thing is one, as are support in difficult times and affirmation.

There are also red flags in the other direction, the group agreed. Sometimes, friends gradually lose their way and, even you’ve been close to them for years, a gut feeling or feeling of being conflicted about something they’ve asked you to do can tip you off that something’s not quite right.

“Those red flags start to look a little bit yellow if they’ve been your friend forever,” one guest said.

One key to experiencing positive peer pressure, though it can come from anyone, is paying care attention to those closest to you and ensuring that the trust you place in them is based on genuine relationships and a desire to see one another succeed.

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Teenagers face unique and daunting challenges – and listening to the ideas and thoughts of others can be a powerful way to meet those challenges head on.

On the debut episode of FrankinCovey’s Realiteen Talks, High School Practice Leader for FranklinCovey Education Gary McGuey was joined by a panel of teenage guests to discuss a core aspect of every person’s journey: leadership.

Though leadership is often associated with very vocal direction and extroverted personalities, it comes in many forms. In fact, as one panelist put it, there are times to follow and times to lead – and leadership is knowing the difference.

It isn’t about being the loudest in the room but setting the right example and working alongside others toward a shared goal. Selflessness is another critical piece of a well-rounded leader’s personality.

Leadership is a choice, not a position. Everyone can step up and lead – most genuine forms of leadership aren’t driven by a title, but by a person’s character and ability to embody the traits that result in good leadership.

“It’s a choice for people to be a leader,” one panelist said. “A lot of people can do it, and they choose to do it, even if they don’t realize it.”

Join us for powerful and timely weekly discussions about the topics that matter most to students! With a cohort of twelve high schoolers, we ask our panelists and listeners to think deeply, engage fully, and most importantly, speak their own authentic truth.

These young leaders take on thought-provoking, real-life topics every week, and offer up tools, strategies, and hope. Let’s Talk!