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Case Histories

A female conductor for a major symphony orchestra suddenly confronts a new job requirement! She is supposed to speak to the audience, illuminating their listening, throughout nearly every concert. Never at a loss for words, they nonetheless tumble out of her mouth disordered and jumbled. We work on clarity, slowing down her speech and directing her gestures. We research each vignette of public talk until she is comfortable with the words, rehease the dialogue until she acquired authority, and design humorous interactions with the audience to create a warm relationship with them. We play with somber moods during a concert dedicated to Veterans on Memorial Day Weekend. We add banners and confetti to a 4th of July Concert. The more fun we have, the more theatrical the concerts, the better her speaking skills and relationship to her audiences become.

A Fortune 500 executive-turned-marketing consultant, currently President of his own company, contacted me when suddenly scheduled to make three major account presentations and conduct a new seminar within the same week. An experienced speaker with a great deal of charisma, he called me the night before the first presentation to ask, "What do I do with my hands?" We talked through the entire event, including how he would move and gesture, how to increase his volume, how to use the space in the room to his advantage, and how to handle his audience. The presentation was a "hit"--he is now considered by one client to be an "expert" in presentations--and he has since referred people to me.

An articulate, knowledgeable government executive was assigned to market new technologies in her region using a prepared presentation. Because she had been picked on as a poor speaker in her youth, and because she had only a high school education, she felt inadequate to the task. First we rehearsed handling the materials--slides and
overheads--until she was comfortable with them. Then, to develop confidence, we did some exercises in which imaginary audience members asked tough questions of her. We rehearsed ways to handle the variety of spaces in which she might present. Soon she felt ready to approach one community organization--an organization that immediately agreed to try the technology.

Fox Broadcast Employee: An attractive, personable young woman working in research and development for a major broadcast network was referred to me. She wanted to go into network sales but was too nervous whenever she had to speak to more than one person at a time: even the speakerphone, on which bi-coastal company meetings were conducted weekly, held terrors for her. We confronted her stage fright through improvisation and role-play and rehearsed her prepared presentation thoroughly. In a few months she lost most of her fear and was able to tone down mannerisms that made her seem stiff and impersonal. When she finally began to enjoy herself, her natural charm appeared. She got compliments on her speaking style--even over the speaker phone!

Minister: A congregation loved their minister. The man he was and the things he had to say were just right for their sensibilities. However, they felt as a speaker he often had trouble connecting with them-seemed too reserved, too distant. When he and I talked about this he admitted he was used to a large church, not the intimate space he was currently in, and it scared him to be so close to people. This fear admitted, he was able to find ways to increase eye contact and reach out to those in the small room while still feeling the protection of a bigger space. Both he and his congregation benefited greatly by his new style.

New York City Actor: An actor who once trained with me lives in New York City. He auditions regularly and studies at American Place Theatre. Occasionally his acting teacher gives him feedback he later finds he does not understand. We discuss what he thought he was doing vs. what the instructor says to him and I suggest possibilities that might satisfy what she seems to want from him. On three scenes so far the suggestions have been "right on." We are now discussing a book about acting. One other thing-when cutting a monologue for an audition, I suggested cutting the lines differently for a stronger ending to the monologue and it worked! He was much happier with the cutting and his agent found it to be very effective.