2008 Woodie Awards
'Real-life Hitch' offers real-life advice for dating
Angela De Fini
Issue date: 12/8/05 Section: Features
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"Never let anyone take your power." This bit of advice was echoed throughout the PAR Thursday, Nov. 17 when David Wygant spoke at his "What's Your Excuse? Social Dating with the Real Life Hitch" lecture.
Wygant is recognized as the world's foremost dating authority. David has directly affected the lives of thousands of people in many countries with his books and audio courses, public-speaking engagements, one-on-one coaching, and media appearances. For more than 10 years, Wygant has served as an advisor to actors, celebrities, multi-millionaires and everyday people on how to transform the quality of their lives by meeting "that special someone." His book, "Always Talk to Strangers," aims to help readers strip away faulty philosophies and theories they have adopted over the years and replace them with realistic, productive methods that will help them achieve what they really want - companionship.
Wygant's lecture kept the audience interested in and comfortable about a seemingly awkward topic. Beginning with telling students to walk slowly into a room instead of "running with your head down, eyes on the floor," Wygant went on to encourage guys and girls to be themselves, be natural, and be confident. He went on to say that anything can be a conversation starter - "That's a really interesting ring, where did you get it?", "I see you are wearing a Marist sweatshirt, what are you studying there?" - the easiest thing for anyone to talk about is themselves, because they know themselves the best.
Picking people from the audience, Wygant mediated role playing activities that put members of the opposite sex in common situations where they might feel too awkward to talk to "the one they are crushing on," such as before class or at a coffee shop. Senior Kerri Dempsey was selected to "make an impression" on a guy 30 seconds before class starts. Ending her 30 seconds with "So, do you want to get together sometime to do the homework?" Wygant called her "gutsy," saying that that sort of statement would be every guy's dream for him to get to know a girl better. He also squashed the rumor that guys only talk to girls with the motive to sleep with them. "Men want to talk to women, get to know them as people and start meaningful relationships with them as much as women do," he said.
By keeping the audience involved through lots of question-and-answer and role playing, Wygant definitely kept the crowd's interest.
Senior Brooke Hiethoff said that Wygant's presentation was appealing because of his credibility and positive attitude.
"David was a genuine speaker who really cared about the self-confidence of the students," she said. "I appreciated that he stressed the importance of conversation, above all other factors, in meeting others. The students that were there were participating and asking lots of questions; they seemed to really enjoy the lecture."
Dempsey said that Wygant's knack for speaking encouraged her to speak up as well.
"I usually don't enjoy audience participation aspects of presentations," she said, "but David made everyone feel at ease."
Wygant is recognized as the world's foremost dating authority. David has directly affected the lives of thousands of people in many countries with his books and audio courses, public-speaking engagements, one-on-one coaching, and media appearances. For more than 10 years, Wygant has served as an advisor to actors, celebrities, multi-millionaires and everyday people on how to transform the quality of their lives by meeting "that special someone." His book, "Always Talk to Strangers," aims to help readers strip away faulty philosophies and theories they have adopted over the years and replace them with realistic, productive methods that will help them achieve what they really want - companionship.
Wygant's lecture kept the audience interested in and comfortable about a seemingly awkward topic. Beginning with telling students to walk slowly into a room instead of "running with your head down, eyes on the floor," Wygant went on to encourage guys and girls to be themselves, be natural, and be confident. He went on to say that anything can be a conversation starter - "That's a really interesting ring, where did you get it?", "I see you are wearing a Marist sweatshirt, what are you studying there?" - the easiest thing for anyone to talk about is themselves, because they know themselves the best.
Picking people from the audience, Wygant mediated role playing activities that put members of the opposite sex in common situations where they might feel too awkward to talk to "the one they are crushing on," such as before class or at a coffee shop. Senior Kerri Dempsey was selected to "make an impression" on a guy 30 seconds before class starts. Ending her 30 seconds with "So, do you want to get together sometime to do the homework?" Wygant called her "gutsy," saying that that sort of statement would be every guy's dream for him to get to know a girl better. He also squashed the rumor that guys only talk to girls with the motive to sleep with them. "Men want to talk to women, get to know them as people and start meaningful relationships with them as much as women do," he said.
By keeping the audience involved through lots of question-and-answer and role playing, Wygant definitely kept the crowd's interest.
Senior Brooke Hiethoff said that Wygant's presentation was appealing because of his credibility and positive attitude.
"David was a genuine speaker who really cared about the self-confidence of the students," she said. "I appreciated that he stressed the importance of conversation, above all other factors, in meeting others. The students that were there were participating and asking lots of questions; they seemed to really enjoy the lecture."
Dempsey said that Wygant's knack for speaking encouraged her to speak up as well.
"I usually don't enjoy audience participation aspects of presentations," she said, "but David made everyone feel at ease."