UCLA Extension Instructor Development Recognized

UCLA Extension doesn’t just provide professionals with the skills to succeed in their careers – it also provides its employees with opportunities to excel in their professions. From publications to professional recognition, UCLA Extension employees are active, contributing members of their fields.

This month, the contributions of many dedicated UCLA Extension employees and instructors were recognized with the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Outstanding Administrative Process or Service Award, presented at the UCEA Region West annual conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Extension earned the award for its long-running Instructor Development Program, administered through the dean’s office. The unique program, which includes a quarterly New Instructors Orientation and a series of 10 weekend seminars, “is not about teaching instructor policies and procedures; it’s about demonstrating behavior in the classroom and showing how to teach adults across different learning styles,” said Extension Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Karim Cherif. “We’re one of the few institutions with a program this comprehensive.”

Taught by UCLA Extension “master instructors” (including Pamela Kelly, who teaches Classroom Presentation Skills) who have earned consistently high student evaluations and are capable of teaching across disciplines, the program’s value is attested to by its popularity: not only have professors from other institutions requested to take it, but also professionals from other fields.

Why Passion?

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Can you imagine the Berlin Wall coming down if President Reagan’s words had lacked passion? No way. It was Reagan’s burning desire and sense of expectancy that brought down the Berlin Wall.

Passion is the juice that drives powerful result-producing communication. When we combine a burning desire to contribute with the expectation of success, we become unstoppable. Passion keeps us in the game, withstanding failures and sharpening our skills until we succeed - like Canada’s first hockey superstar, Maurice Richard, who returned to the sport after each injury better than ever. This steely perseverance sustains us over time and separates the wanna-bees and fly-by-nights from the greats.

I’m reminded of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi. They endured many failures throughout their lifetimes, but their inner fires were not diminished. Each held his vision steadily before him and persisted in communicating, leading and taking bold actions that eventually would change the course of history.

With passion in your belly, you can change history too. Whether you’re leading a nation, a company, a team, a family or just yourself, the same principle holds true.

TIP: To Be a Powerful, Result-Producing Leader and Communicator, Tap into Your Passion.

I call this passion the “juice” and it’s natural to communicate with juice when we’re talking about something we love – getting engaged to be married, a pet hobby or project, a breakthrough in productivity, bringing a job in early and under budget. But sometimes in life and in business, the juice isn’t there and we feel like we’re just going through the motions. What can we do? Here are some approaches for tapping into your passion. Try them out and see what works best for you.

TIP: Discover Your Big Purpose.

It’s easy to be passionate when we’re fully invested in a purpose larger than ourselves. A big purpose engages and inspires us, whether it’s having a career that we love, providing for our family or solving climate change.

To assist you in clarifying your big purpose, look for a theme as you ask yourself, “What do I want to BE, DO and HAVE in each of these areas?”
Personal Life
Professional Life
Friends and Family
Organization
Community
Nation
Planet
Universe

Put your theme into words that inspire you, write it down and read it often. Abraham Lincoln would have written, under “Nation”, “Having the states united and everyone free!” Under “Professional Life,” Maurice Richard might have written, “Be Canada’s first hockey superstar!”
Your big purpose becomes your personal pipeline to passion and the context for all your communications and actions.

• Remember a time when you were going through the motions. Feel the deadness.


• Next re-play that experience AS IF you have a big purpose, such as “Being all that you can be!” Feel the vitality.


• Now fan the flames and actually play your life full out, being all you can be.


• To add rocket fuel to your passion, visualize your purpose as if it’s occurring right here, right now!

TIP: Visualize and Stand In Your Purpose – Right Here, Right Now.

Visualizing yourself standing inside your big purpose – right here, right now - makes it real and turns up the heat. I recommend making a vision poster or dream board of your big purpose. Paste pictures and words that mirror your big purpose on a board. This is a powerful creative process that combines passion, vision and action to program you for success.

When John F. Kennedy boldly affirmed that the United States would put a man on the moon within 6 years, his clear vision and white-hot passion kicked off powerful communications and actions that successfully launched human beings to the moon and back!

Remember the protagonist in “Slum Dog Millionaire?” He visualized winning and took bold actions, fueled by passion. This led him to communicate brilliantly, which changed the course of his history. Follow his lead and you can do it too.

TIP: Clarify Your Contribution to the Quality of Life.

Another way to tap into your passion is to ask yourself, “How does my communication contribute to the quality of life? Of my listeners’ lives?” Find the words that inspire and fully engage you and focus on them.
When I teach a class or coach a client, I intend to have my students leave with more than what they came for. I want to see, hear and feel them blossoming into better, more powerful communicators, leaders and teachers than I am. This takes the focus off me, opens up my creativity and floods me with passion.

Think of Sister Helen Prejean in “Dead Man Walking.” She did whatever was necessary to bring a state of inner peace to a murderer facing execution. As his life ebbed, she sat near him, holding his gaze, calming his spirit, communicating love and forgiveness.

Our communications may not be as lofty as Sister Prejean’s, but by fully engaging yourself in how they contribute to the quality of your listeners’ lives, you too can pipe into your authentic passion.

TIP: Prepare, Practice and Act AS IF You’re 10 Times More Passionate.

Whenever possible, prepare and practice your communication out loud. To access your passion, you may need to break out of your comfort zone by acting 10 times louder and more excited. This rehearsal technique is liberating and fun, gets your voice and body moving, your breath and energy flowing and your inner fire burning. It blasts you out of your caution, engages your whole personality, expands your self-expression and connects you to your passion. Try it with these exercises to express enthusiasm, confidence and sincerity:

• I’m glad to be here!


• I know what I’m talking about!


• I care about what I’m saying!

When you have a presentation or important communication, practice being 10 times louder and more excited, until you feel freed up and on fire. Then put this rehearsal technique aside and be yourself. Notice the difference.

These are some approaches to connect you to your passion. What they all have in common is your full engagement – in your big purpose, your contribution to the quality of life and to being 10 times louder and more excited. Passion is the full-strength juice that drives powerful result-producing communication and bold action. When we combine a burning desire to contribute with the expectation of success, we become unstoppable. Whoever we are and whatever our title, we can change the course of history by harnessing the power of passion.

Dorothy Breininger Sweeps Up in "Hoarders!"

Have you caught “Hoarders” yet? My former student and client, Dorothy Breininger, appeared on the August 24 episode as the organizational consultant for one of 2 hoarders featured on the show (You can see her again this Monday, Aug 31). These hoarders are not just people with clutter who need help getting organized – like many of us. The two hoarders (whom I’ll call Greg and Mary) on this hour-long show have domiciles filled almost from floor to ceiling with mountains of stuff, making easy navigation, sitting, sleeping or going to the bathroom impossible. Dorothy’s task is to prevent Greg from being evicted by eliminating all the crap (figuratively and literally) from his apartment. She does much more.

Dorothy understands that the layers of detritus stuffed into Greg's apartment are a reflection of the unconscious and unexpressed experiences, decisions, memories and recordings that have piled up in his mind since early childhood. Unless he deals with it, he'll end up on the street. Her mission is not just to clean up the physical mess, but to help him see what the mess represents (sadness about his parents’ divorce, depression and slow suicide), get complete with it and let it go; then to get in touch with his desires and vision for the future (to be a writer, to have friends and nature in his home) and to be in action about it. She takes Greg on an inner transformational journey.

Rather than have Greg physically clean up the tons of junk himself, Dorothy does the dirty work and he gets to experience the process vicariously. As she labors, she describes what's there and asks probing questions, triggering Greg to share his emotional responses and flashes of insight, which are many. There's no shame or blame and their on-going dialogue is punctuated by Dorothy's trademark bear hugs and words of appreciation and encouragement.

When the apartment is finally emptied and scrubbed, a writing space is created to support Greg’s vision, with a new bookcase, desk and chair; river rocks are placed on the back of his toilet to remind him of nature; and a friend is brought in to complete the celebration. At the end of the show, it's stated that Greg is writing everyday and keeping his home clean.

I note this final result because it contrasts with the other featured hoarder, Mary, who abandons her home before completing the cleaning. Her consultant’s style is very different from Dorothy’s - conceptual, detached and hands-off - where Dorothy’s style is engaged, caring and hands-on. I question the omission of the caring kinesthetic vibe when working with someone who’s addiction is all about stuffing their homes and burying themselves under physical objects.

Additionally, Dorothy focuses on helping Greg create a big purpose for himself, based on his own desires and vision. Mary’s coach, on the other hand, focuses on Mary's physically sorting through and discarding the mountains of clutter herself, an exhausting process, with the end goal being to sell the house, per a divorce agreement. No wonder Mary weeps when she discovers her grown children’s baby clothes, gets cranky with her son, when he tries to help, and eventually abandons the house altogether. I'm left worrying about Mary's future.

"Hoarders" is mesmerizing; it powerfully juxtaposes real people who have real addictions with the possibility for transforming their lives. Will they or won't they? With Dorothy Breininger's powerful coaching, Greg is off to a fortuitous start.

Be sure to catch Dorothy on the Aug 31 and Sept 21 episodes of "Hoarders!"

PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR PROFESSIONALS – WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Access Services hosted the “Public Speaking Workshop” on May 28 and 29, 2009. The workshop was presented by UCLA Extension and was attended by 20 representatives from public transit agencies, regional centers and non-profit organizations. Access Services staff Evie Palicz, Luis Garcia, Steve Chang, Geetu Banerjee, Jeff Mora and Charace Thompson also participated.

The two day workshop provided each participant with a solid foundation in public speaking. The course covered several aspects in improving presentation delivery such as connecting with an audience, responding to questions and interruptions, body language and the dynamics of voice and pacing. As part of class exercises, participants gave several presentations that were video-taped. Coaching was given in a supportive and positive environment.

Some feedback received from attendees:

“This class was the best public speaking training that I ever received. I'm definitely going to use the technical tools that we learned in the class for my future presentations.” Art Ida, Culver City

"Public speaking is one of the most feared things. As professionals we sometimes have to give reports and present information in front of an Executive Board, City Council Members and the General Public. The structure and methodology of delivering a precise message is the key. Through this course, I learnt several methods and exercise that will assist me in delivering an effective presentation. I feel more confident in giving presentations and thank you Access Services for facilitating this course!” Dietter Aragon, Foothill Transit

“This was an excellent workshop. The instructor kept us motivated and engaged.” Wayne Wassell, Metro

For Teachers: Make a Plan, Then Improvise - On Purpose!

After teaching for 30 years, I know it works to have a lesson plan for where you're going. It doesn't work, however, to be too attached to how you get there. You have to stay open and improvise (when isn't it that way?).
I shared an extraordinary session with my "Public Speaking for Professionals" class at UCLA Extension a while back. There are nearly 30 enrolled and, at this particular session, only 3 were prepared. I fought a shotgun impulse to make the others wrong and remembered my objective of having them all know how to prepare, rehearse and deliver effective presentations. This particular night was vital to that process, so I sent the 3 prepared students into a second room to rehearse together while the remaining students stayed in our classroom putting the assignment together. One by one, as they completed this ground work, they joined the prepared group in the other room to rehearse. Meanwhile, I circulated, answering questions, coaching, managing both groups and the time. Eventually the majority of the students had trickled into the second room to rehearse. At this point, I put everyone to work in small groups with each other, integrating some new instructions from me, coaching each other and polishing up their presentations. As I continued to circulate, I could see, hear and feel that they were benefiting from all the coaching they were giving and receiving - they were in great shape and we were on track! This process took up almost all our time and only four speakers got to deliver their presentaitons to the whole class, with the remaining scheduled for the following week. But now they were all prepared and the challenge would be to keep it fresh. This evening has been experiential, exhilerating and fun. We arrived at our destination because we went with the flow and improvised - on purpose.

Beauty before me, Beauty behind me,

Beauty to the right of me, Beauty to the left of me,

Beauty above me, Beauty below me,

Beauty all around me... I am on the perfect path.

Know Yourself, Then Give it Away! Synchronicity, Story and Psychic Coaching

"If you have built castles in the air,

your work need not be lost;

that is where they should be.

Now put the foundations under them."

- Henry David Thoreau -

There are no accidents. Wherever you are can lead you to where you want to be. Recently I had an extraordinary psychic experience with a client.

This client is a lobbyist with a huge, well-known corporation. As we discussed his upcoming presentation and the effect he wanted to have on his audience, an image emerged in which he appeared to me as an early American scout, leading a group of settlers through the wilderness, clearing a path in the thick undergrowth and looking out for danger. As their lobbyist, he was clearly a path into the future for his company. This metaphor spoke to him and he loved it; it became the unifying idea for his presentation. He had been concerned that his audience would think he was expendable, but instead, they came up afterwards, congratulating him and expressing their appreciation.

This "psychic coaching" is really the sensory acuity that has resulted from my years of both working on myself and training and coaching students and clients. As I asked the lobbyist questions about his presentation and purpose, my mind connected the dots and the visual appeared. Then we did the work. Castles in the air and foundations on the ground came together.

Are you visualizing your intended outcomes and then taking the actions to get you there? And are you loving it? These are the 3 essential aspects of a result: a visual, the passion and action.

Join Queen of Hearts Sheryl Roush and her Court of Contributing Authors to Celebrate Mother's Day in San Diego!

Corporate consultant and UCLA Extension Master Teacher, Pamela Kelly, is joining Sparkle Presentations’ Sheryl Roush and other contributing authors of Roush’s Heart Book Series for book signings in San Diego on Saturday, May 9. Roush’s Heart Book collection of inspirational books for women, mothers and women in business also includes CDs with readings and music.
Kelly contributed “Being the Right Person in the Right Place at the Right Time” to Roush’s Heart of a Woman in Business and will also be signing Speak with Passion, Speak with Power!, her workbook based on 20 years of teaching professionals from all walks of life how to replace the fear of public speaking with energy, know-how and results.
Other authors who have contributed to Heart of a Woman, Heart of a Mother, and Corazon de Mujer (in Spanish) will also be joining Roush and Kelly. They will be signing their own books and the Heart Book Series from 11am to 2pm at The EarthblendTea and Coffee Bookstore, located at 6020 Santo Road, Suite A, San Diego, CA 92124, Phone 858-571-6000.
From here, the party will move on to Borders Eastlake, where they will be signing only the Heart Book Series, from 3pm to 6pm. This location is 878 Eastlake Parkway, Suite 710, Chula Vista, CA 91914, Phone 619-482-9883.
Come ready to have fun, be inspired and find the perfect Mother’s Day gifts as the authors read from their books, speak, answer questions and share the beautiful Heart Book music.