GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS
GENERAL INFORMATION
It’s often the number one fear in business but it’s also one of the most important and desired skills for who people who plan to advance in their profession.
I seek to change some of the common perceptions about public speaking. Speaking is a natural human skill. Yet when many people get in front of an audience speaking suddenly becomes a threatening and difficult process.
Ironically much of what many people have been told about being a good speaker actually hinders rather than helps. The keys to becoming a good speaker are the right kind of preparation, reducing the fear and flexibility.
Through more than 25 years of experience and teaching, I have developed the techniques to help you master public speaking. Here are just a few of the other errors I often see.
- Not knowing your audience as much as you know your speech
- Being self-conscious rather than idea-conscious
- Using jargon and acronyms
- The opening joke. It’s rarely funny anyway
- Attempts to control your gestures. i.e. hands in pockets.
- Trying to do too much i.e. the shotgun approach, which hits everything but the target
- Being inflexible because something will go wrong!
SEMINAR INFORMATION
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN & HOW
Public Speaking: Small group – large group – keynote
What you’ll learn:
- The biggest mistake most speakers make
- Ways to overcome fear that actually work
- How to organize a presentation
- The art and science of persuasion
- Proper use of humor
- Jargon removal
- Tips and tricks of professional personalities
- The right way to practice
- How to increase warmth and credibility
Speaking on camera: Teleconference – News Media
Speaking on camera is no longer strictly the province of television personalities. Today there are tasks such as in-house or external communications, teleconferencing, recording messages for use on company websites, or speaking to the media. No longer can the skills to do these things be taken for granted.
What you’ll learn:
- Similarities and differences between live and remote audiences
- Understanding and dealing with the media (broadcast)
- What makes a ‘soundbite’ and how to manage what you say
Individual Coaching:
Perhaps you have a specific upcoming presentation that needs to be refined, focused and polished, a new product launch, or investor -shareholder meeting. Now you can have one on one coaching that will help you with content well as presentation skills.
What you’ll receive:
- Specific help with content, organization and strategy for a single or series of presentations.
- Coaching and practice sessions
- Video analysis
- General hand holding as needed!
CLASSES & FEES
AVAILABLE CLASS FORMATS
SEMINAR / RETREAT
½ day (3 1/2 hours) Lecture only for up to 10
1 day (7 hours) Lecture and individual analysis with video tape for up to 10
2 day or retreat (14 hours) Lecture and individual analysis with video tape for up to 15
CONSULTING / COACHING
Individual skills assessment, coaching and personal video analysis with video tape
REFERENCES UPON REQUEST
FEES: Seminar fees are based on the number of participants in addition to standard charges for 1/2, 1 or 2 day classes. Coaching fees are hourly for individuals up to 5 participants. A detailed proposal is provided for prospective customers.
ABOUT STEVE POOL
Steve Pool has more than 30 years of experience as a communication consultant. He has given hundreds of speeches and helped hundreds of people to be comfortable and effective in front of an audience. He has worked with everything from major corporations such as Microsoft, Key Bank and Boeing to small high-tech startups to improve the speaking skills within organizations.
Steve is also a renowned broadcast veteran with the ABC affiliate in Seattle Washington. His awards include Seven Emmy Awards, a Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalism award, New York International Film Festival Gold and Bronze Medals, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, American Scene Award, a “Telly” Award, the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, and an Academy of Religious Broadcasting Lifetime Achievement Award.
He has appeared more than seventy times on ABC’s Good Morning America and is also part of the news team that was the 2001 and 2008 winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for the best newscast in America. In 2004 he was inducted into the University of Washington Communications Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Silver Circle In 2014.