Story Two
. . . . . .is of a very different client-.
He was the CEO of a significant resource company who sought us out to help him enhance his influence "in future speeches". Our first meeting with him, showed him to already be a confident and fairly competent public speaker. He also seemed far more interested in pursing any strategies we offered over delving into actual skills. A bit of a puzzler . . . that is until our probing determined that the "future speeches" he was interested in were almost immediate and were absolutely critical to his hoped-for future.
Although he was the CEO of a major corporation, that company was part of a conglomerate which included a few corporations which were considerably more significant than his own and whose CEOs had substantially more influence and paychecks. He had applied to become one of them, and, the annual conglomerate retreat was imminent. He needed to make an outstanding impression.
So we pivoted to ways to make a positive impact with all his interactions: his speech, of course; but, also, side-bar conversations, strategic questions posed, lunch time conversations hallway encounters and direct meetings with potential decision makers.
He got the promotion.
Public speaking is, after all, not just what we say from a stage, but, all the interactions we have with others in a business setting.
Story One
. . .. . . is of a senior politician from a Caribbean island.
He had been pegged for greater promotion as a break-through candidate; and, was sent to us to enhance his speaking style and impact.
He was not exactly shy; but, was very reserved in his general manner. He also carried the natural caution of being a well-respected medical doctor. . . and we learned through our initial assessment session, that he had a great trepidation that we would try to turn him into some kind of bombastic speechifier.
But, that is not how we work.
As we see it, our role is to match your style to your personality and simply give you the skills and strategies to make that style an effective instrument for your success.
With our political doctor, we soon became aware that he always carried a gold pen prominently on display in his chest pocket, and, used to take notes.
That pen became our touchstone:
we built his speaking style around it.
Mostly, our client needed the confidence to believe that he could be himself, and, still be politically successful. Through introducing him to a a series of examples from several countries, polishing his rough edges, and showing him how to be personable and still dignified, we oversaw his development into a distinguished public speaker and highly respected political figure.
Based on his own success, he brought us in to assist some of his colleagues.
Both these clients preferred that we not publicize their names; but, could disclose them to potential clients. We do this for a large majority of both our coaching and speech writing clients. Others may not know of our role; but, there is nothing more rewarding for us than to see a writing client lift our words off the page, and, a coaching client lift the audience to its feet.
We would love to welcome you as the next person to do that.
