• Optional: Newsprint, markers and tape
• Optional: Paper and pencils/pens
• Optional: Participants' Notable Thoughts notebooks

• Decide how to structure the activity, for the learning styles in the group and the time available.

Participants practice talking about their faith.

Remind participants:

An elevator speech about being a UU is a short explanation of what being a UU means to you.

Say that youth probably speak more often with others their age on school buses rather than on elevators. Ask them to imagine they are riding a bus home from school on a Friday, thinking about their plans for the weekend. When they mention a church event, someone asks, "What is a UU, anyway?" How would they describe Unitarian Universalism or their UU congregation to a friend who is not a UU? Invite the youth to develop brief "school bus talks" about being a UU. (It does not matter if youth actually ride a bus to school. The talk can be used at any time or place.)

You can do this in three different ways:

• Distribute paper and pens/pencils. Have individuals simply write their own brief school bus talks, then share them with the group.
• Use newsprint to collect ideas from the whole group and develop a school bus talk together.
• Form groups of three and four. Ask each small group to develop a school bus talk to have one volunteer share when the full group regathers.

If the group has been using Notable Thoughts notebooks, they might be helpful in this activity.