• will become future parents, educators, business people and leaders
• will learn 5 skills (1st Impression, Interpersonal, Communication, Presentation, Selling) that will give them a Competitive Edge in life
• will confidently transition from the me world of academia to the we world of life 
• will meet, earn support from and work effectively with people,the #1 Resource in life
• will gain important information, knowledge and wisdom as they grow 
• will discover what they are good at and enjoy doing that in their life
• will set goals for themselves and pursue them  
• will learn something important from every job they have in life
• will have dreams which can come true with support from people
• will overcome challenges and problems when people choose to help them 
• will become Adaptable, Resilient and Confident as they grow up
• will gain Optimism, Belief in themselves to earn Opportunities in life
• learn test scores and grades are not as important as relationships in life
• will realize that a Career Path may change direction as they navigate it 
• will learn there are many ways to become an educated human being
• will school is not the only path to being a happy and accomplished human being 
• will realize that “follow-up & keep your word” are 5 words that matter in life
• will learn that character, honesty and integrity help build self-confidence and self-esteem
• will realize people’s differences need to be understood and respected 
• will realize that when they Help Other People Excel®, they help themselves as well

                                                                                               Bob Wolf, Life Skills Educator © Bob Wolf, July 2016

 

Here is how I came to that conclusion that students matter to me…a lot!

24 years ago, I spoke with college graduates at the gym and asked how they were doing. They said they couldn’t find jobs, so I asked them why. They told me they sent resumes, but never get any responses. I asked them, “what else they did to improve their chances,” and they asked, “what else can we do?” I began to suggest strategies they stated that they never learned in college.

I gave them advice on getting interviews that helped me many times during my career, like:

• sending a self-addressed, stamped envelopes with a resume, 
• calling people they sent resumes to see if their resume arrived, 
• going to the company they sent the resume to see if the person they sent it to received it.
• If that person wasn’t in, to speak with the secretary and ask for an appointment, followed by sending a hand-written thank-you note to the secretary. 

They followed my advice and it worked! One student wanted to be an art teacher in college. He went to the college, met the head of the art department and was hired. He couldn’t believe it. It was that simple and we’ve been friends ever since!

Then I spoke with other college graduates asking what they do to find jobs. They said the same thing, so I told them about 3 skills they need to get interviews, offers and jobs. I called them ICP Skills: Interpersonal, Communication and Presentation skills because they help students get interviews and job offers.

I contacted a friend at St. John’s University and asked if I could speak at a job fair for student athletes and they said yes. The first thing I did at the presentation was go around the room and meet each student personally; looked them in the eye, shook their hand and said hi! They didn’t understand why I did that, so I said, “to show them respect.” Then I presented the three ICP Skills that will help them get jobs. After that job fair, I continued to give presentations to college students and received very positive feedback from the students and their professors.

The college professors saw the value and liked my presentations and suggested that I give them to high schools, because high school students needed to learn these skills before they attend college. I followed their advice and received amazing feedback from the high school students too. Students loved my presentation style and personal stories about how these 3 IPC skills helped me in my life.

After many months speaking in high schools, a teacher called and asked if I would speak about First Impression skills to her students. I created content on making a first impression, and presented it to her students. The teacher and students, once again, loved it! Now there were 4 Skills I would present and demonstrate that every student would use in high school, college and the real world.

I receive written feedback from every student after each presentation on a comment form. This written feedback was so positive, it helped me present my curriculum to more schools and educators so that they could read what students said about me and what made my presentations unique and helpful.

I thought to myself; why do students really need these 4 skills?  Then I realized that these skills helped students “sell” themselves to people who gave interviews, made job offers, hired and gave opportunities to people.

Now I had 5 skills called HOPE® Skills (First Impression, Interpersonal, Communication, Presentation, Selling) that built upon each other. Students understood them since they made sense. These skills gave them a competitive edge, built self-confidence and strengthened self-esteem in the real world and prepared them to work effectively with people.

My presentations are interactive which students enjoy because they’re involved and engaged. They love hearing stories about my ups and downs in life and how these experiences and skills helped me many times. They believe these 5 skills will help them when they use them.

So many students today are depressed, anxious, stressed and lonely. Student suicide numbers increase each year. They spend hours every day and night using social-media and cell phones. They lack face-to-face people skills which they learn, understand and accept when they hear, see and feel them during a presentation.

When students hear me present and demonstrate HOPE® skills People Skills, they are happy to learn skills they will use in the real world. They accept the fact that they will apply these 5 skills all through their life and  agree that my presentations stress Optimism, Belief in themselves and Opportunities which come from the Power Of People!

In this present day, I give presentations to schools in classrooms, at assemblies and to youth groups, in addition to parents, teachers and businesses. Businesses have me speak with new and existing employees to improve communication and teamwork in order to bridge the generation gap existing in businesses today. This is the type of feedback I get from these groups that supports the importance of learning these skills:  

• HS student: “we need to learn communication skills and have confidence to interact with other people. “
• Teacher: “A lesson on “Engaging the listener” is easy, just watch Bob Wolf! 
• Parent: “One of the key factors in making Bob an excellent teacher and presenter is his passion to help students grow. Keep up your amazing work, many will be able to learn from you.“
• Business: “It is so important that young people of today learn good ‘people skills’ so they may become successful adults in the business world and in relationships with people. I commend you on what you do. 
• Business: “Relationships are more important than test scores”…
• Parent: “As a parent, what you have to say to young people is very very empowering”  

That is how “I Believe in Students” became my passion for the past 23 years! ©Bob Wolf 2016