The Official Web Site of Stephen Willand ...
"I and several other students would like to express our desire for Dr. Stephen Willand, if he is available, to instruct our Capstone course. He is one of, if not the best, in our minds, instructors at the college. He is well versed on all subjects, engaging and an extremely effective communicator. He is not afraid to step out of the box and apply the subject matter to real world situations.
Ther esults being a better understanding of textbook concepts, just discussed in
a vacuum."
Robert T.
Worcester State student
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SELF ESTEEM IN HIGH DEFINITION
Over the course of the past quarter of a century I have been afforded the wonderful opportunity to have worked with, taught and been taught by a wide range of interesting, wonderful and sometimes perplexing people. As I work with them, and especially with students of all ages and degree levels, I have found certain common traits. As I have written in “Self Esteem in Surround Sound,” there oftentimes seems to be a persistent lack of self confidence, self worth and self esteem in people that manifests itself in many non-productive and sometimes harmful ways. It is certainly much easier to preach than practice the philosophy of positive self imaging; yet I think it is important to address the issue as I have in all of my classes.
There are many wonderful books and videos on the market today by exceptional authors, all of whom understand the power of the mind and the power of positive thinking. Shakti Gawain has given us a delightful look at positive images and the power of Creative Visualization, and Dr. Wayne Dyer has written fabulous accounts of the Power of Intention and the ultimate calling of Inspiration. These and many others have taken what I believe is the correct approach to success in life by focusing inward and taking control of ones life simply by believing in ourselves and our ability to create all that we want in life. In my classrooms I have used the principle of the self fulfilling prophecy to inspire the students to create their fondest dream and not their worst nightmare.
It is not surprising that the most obvious manifestation of this principle can be seen in a class on public speaking, or any class at or near the time of final presentations. The closer students get to the presentation or speech the more they see a horror movie playing out in front of their very eyes. They begin to see fainting, fidgeting, forgetting, fear, fright and failure (that’s all the f-words I can think of), and appear to do their best to see that their fears are realized. It doesn’t help when I explain the fight or flight syndrome as a natural response to fear and that fear of public speaking is still listed as Americans worst fear and one more dreaded than death itself. (This is quite amazing in a time of global terrorism, Aids, Avian Flu, global warming and the like, all of which are fearful.)
By this time in class the students are fully prepared to fall apart when they walk up to the podium and are guaranteed of failure because they have a clear vision of just that; their failure. If I am in an impish mood I might complete the negative imagery by telling them that I have brought a camcorder and the speech is going to be videotaped. That should complete the picture so to speak and insure that the ensuing presentation or speech will be a disaster film worthy of an Academy Award. None of this, of course, is necessary and can be undone with a little help and a little practice. Rather than torture them I work diligently with them to create an audio and video masterpiece that they will be proud of and which will reflect proudly on them.
Each student must visualize, in High Definition, a clear, bright and beautiful image of a fabulous presentation. The old black and white analog film on a faded 20 inch picture tube that was showing a movie of failure needs to be discarded and replaced with the 60 inch high definition digital set. The first part of this High Definition blockbuster has the student anxiously anticipating his turn to speak (not dreading it), followed by the excitement (not the angst) of being called upon, followed by a confident and purposeful walk to the podium (not the fearful slumped shoulder foot dragging walk to the gallows) followed by a confident attention grabbing opening (not the “oh my God. Why am I doing this” studder opening) followed by a magnificent passionate and articulate presentation (not the um, uh, well, you know, like….monotone).
If the students have made it this far, they are ready for the ultimate high definition piece. The beginning is important and the body of the speech and all its imagery is equally important. However, the thunderous “1812 Overture finale,” complete with the image of a standing ovation by an adoring audience smiling and clapping wildly is the ultimate High Definition image we aim for. I have found that when we focus on this positive image with clear high definition clarity and believe in that image then that image becomes reality. We all know what we want and yet spend altogether too much time focusing on those people and things that we don’t like or want in our lives. We can focus on love, beauty, kindness, peace and, yes even great public speaking and it can and will come true.
