Individual Coaching Offer

Special Offer
Individual Coaching

Have you been considering polishing your presentation skills? But maybe your company doesn’t offer it right now, and you fear that hiring individual coaching on your own will be too expensive.

Effective presentation skills are more important than ever in today’s tough economy.  Whether you’re selling a product, a service or yourself, you want to come across confidently and credibly.

So I’m making a recession-busting offer on individual coaching in presentation skills.  I have revamped my pricing structure so any individual can afford to improve their presence. Normally a $1,000 to $1,500 value in the corporate marketplace, I’ve restructured my offering so that I can convert my fee to an hourly charge, and my rate is no different than a lot of counselors, accountants—even plumbers!

For $100 an hour (there is a $250 minimum + plus the materials charge, below), you can receive specific, customized coaching on your skills, learning where you rock and how you can get even better.

You will receive my Compelling Speaker audio CD/notebook set, plus my Compelling Speaker Audio CDsbook Stand Out When You Stand Up.  That’s a $50 value that I’ll discount to $35. You will use these materials to prepare for our session. Then we’ll get together and fine tune your delivery skills, your content and even your PowerPoint slides.  You can choose how much time you want to spend, but the average coaching time is between two and four hours. By the way, some of this coaching can be done remotely if you want me to tweak your content or PowerPoint.  And I’m also experimenting with “virtual coaching.”  If you’re not located in Charlotte but have a video of yourself making a presentation, I can offer some critiquing of that. Of course, real time coaching is the most valuable.  I do videotaping and offer extensive feedback and coaching on your skills with actionable tips to help you get even better. You will walk away with improved competence and confidence!

Here’s what some people have said about my coaching:

“Barbara Busey understands what it takes to give a Dynamic Presentation.  As a personal coach, she assisted me with my presentation delivery, increased my level of confidence and worked with me on how to immediately create a “hook.”  Barbara’s coaching style is really as easy as reciting the alphabet as outlined in her phenomenal book, Stand Out When You Stand Up.”

“Barbara has a gift of not only her skill, but her heart that shines through. She cares about helping you improve so you can add value to others.”

“Barbara is wonderful! She offered constructive ideas on how I could improve.”

“Barbara is a great coach. Patient, knowledgeable, funny and gave me a sound critique for improvement.”

Please contact me for more information and to schedule your Charlotte-area session.  Or, let’s talk about “virtual coaching”!

704-527-8210

bbusey@presentationdynamics.net

Published on Wednesday February 10, 2010 in Presentation Skills and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Guidelines for Dealing With Those in Need

I’d like to hold forth a little on a topic brought to mind because of my own recent experience:  I had surgery last month (a cervical fusion to alleviate horrific pain). And my experiences with those wishing me well and wanting to help compelled me to review some guidelines for helping those in need, whether they’re dealing with surgery, illness, injury or grief.

Here is my favorite, number one, over-riding guideline:

Make specific offers. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough, especially if the one in need is someone you know fairly well. Many people, before and after my surgery, said or emailed to me: “Call me if you need anything” or “Let me know how I can help” or “What do you need?” I know it’s meant well but I can tell you that I won’t call you or let you know if I need something. When we don’t feel well, or are hurting, or are going through grief, we may be too embarrassed to ask for help or we frankly may not even know what to ask for. A specific offer is so welcome. If you have a conversation with the one in need, you will learn exactly the level of need so you could figure out what would be an adequate offer. Let me share some of my favorite offers that came through before and after my surgery:

  • “I’m picking up a pizza after work tomorrow. Let me know what you want on it, I’ll bring it by around 6:30”
  • “I just tried a new recipe and you get to be the guinea pig. I’m bringing it by this evening.”
  • “The girls and I have decided to set up a hospital care team to give Jim a break and ensure that you are never alone in the hospital. After you find out how long you’ll be in, let me know and we’ll coordinate the watch.”
  • “We’re going to bring you lunch. If you’re just not up for company, we’ll just show up, hand you the lunch, and give you gentle hugs if you can handle them, and be on our way.”
  • “I’d like to bring you lunch. I can do it this Wednesday or next—which one would you prefer?”

Do you see the pattern here? These were specific offers. I had the option to say ‘no thank you,’ but I was not put in the awkward position of asking for something. The offer was made, I could accept or not. Of course the nature of the offer will depend on a number of things—how well you know the person in need, how serious the incapacitation is, and whether the need is long- or short-term.

There were a few other gestures I have deeply appreciated before and after my surgery.

  • Phone calls. So often our tendency is to think we’re bothering someone if we call. But I simply can’t tell you what it meant to me to have people call just to see how I was doing. If I couldn’t talk because of pain or sleeping, it was still heartwarming to hear someone’s voice mail message asking after me.
  • Cards or notes. I admit, I’m a sucker for this kind of gesture. In today’s overwhelmingly digital world, a card or hand-written note is really a stand out caring gesture.
  • Visits. My pain sidelined me a good bit before the surgery, and since then I have been housebound because I can’t get in a car for several weeks. So having visits from friends is really a balm.

Finally, don’t forget the care giver—the person doing most of the care-taking. It could be a spouse, a parent, a child or another family member. Caregivers could need a break. Whether you offer to spell them for awhile or make them a meal or run an errand for them, don’t forget to make them a specific offer.

By the way, my surgery was a success—it got rid of the pain I was experiencing. I spent about two days “under water,” but then I was up and about, gradually increasing my strength every day. I am feeling whole and healthy, and most importantly, pain-free again!

Published on Monday February 1, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Don’t be in the Dark

Recently I was the speaker for a large group in a Convention Center break-out room. When I arrived early to check everything out, the room was dark. Not because no one was in it — no, there were probably a couple hundred people there listening to a speaker. But they were sitting in the dusk. And the speaker was virtually in the dark at the front of the room. Now, the screen, oh yes, you could see the screen…

When that session broke up and I began my set-up, I asked several different people what could be done about the lighting. Every single one of them responded to me by saying, “The lights are turned down so the audience can see the screen.”

Aaugh! Let me pose this to you:

You’re an expert on something. You’ve been invited to speak to a group of hundreds of people about your expertise. It’s an opportunity for exposure, for credibility-building, for connecting with and relating to people about your subject matter. Given that, what’s more important? That your audience be able to see your PowerPoint slides? Or that they see you?

If you had no PowerPoint slides to show, would you stand in the front of a room in the dark?  When you’re sitting in an audience looking at these bright visuals on the screen, can you see the speaker at all, who often is simply silhouetted against the bright screen? When you attend an event or a program or a convention session, do you go because you can’t wait to see the PowerPoint slides?  Have you ever heard audience members exclaim before a presentation, “Man, I can’t wait to see this speaker’s visuals!”  Or afterwards, have you ever heard any of them say, “Wow, weren’t those PowerPoint slides really worth the time?”

No, no, no, no and no.  So why do speakers and venues do it in the dark?

One of my continuous refrains in my training business is, as a speaker you want the focus on you. So what if the screen is not quite as bright as it could be in a dark room? Trust me, with today’s bright lumen projectors, most screens are very visible in room with normal lighting. If you have good visuals (that’s another topic for another day!), you don’t need to turn the lights off or even down low. Your only concern is to make sure there are no spots or other lighting shining directly on the screen. If you’re speaking in a small- to medium-sized conference room, classroom or auditorium, you can probably take care of this yourself with a few tests of the light switches. In a larger facility that specializes in hosting speaking events, the staff should be able to work with you on this.

Other than the obvious difficulty created when lights shine right on the screen, I’ve never seen a problem with keeping normal lighting in the room. Remember, the objective is for the audience to see you.  And, don’t forget, it helps for you can see the audience.

Ironically, at this convention I was at recently, after I had to ask three or four people how I could get the lighting changed, my conference host ended up having to pay a convention employee to do it! That, of course, should not have been necessary. For a speaker to be in the light should not be an extra charge!

Published on Tuesday September 22, 2009 in Presentation Skills and Visual Aids. 0 Comments Tags: , .

My Book Wins Award and Publishing Contract

A few years ago, I decided to self-publish my book, Stand Out When You Stand Up.  There is still somewhat of a stigma about it out there in the publishing world — like it’s not a “real” book.  But the reality is that it’s extremely difficult to get a publisher to take on a first-time author.  Self-publishing is a great way to get your book “out there” and to see what the market thinks.

I’ve been blessed to receive all the validations an author yearns for: One is when someone else “legitimate” gives accolades and recognition of the quality of your work.  And this year, my book won an Eric Hoffer Award,   First Runner-up in the Business Category!

Another validation is when a publisher sees its values and chooses to option it. And that has just happened for me! A publishing house called InterPub Group is taking on marketing and distribution efforts and has been granted exclusive, worldwide rights for publication of the next edition. Read more about these two great events here.

The final validation, of course, is how much it sells and what readers think about it. And I am honored every day by the sale of my book and the feedback I receive from it.  Here’s one of my latest testimonials, from Angela, an arbitrator and mediator in Canada:

Barbara – what a fantastic book! You have so many good ideas and suggestions in there that it will definitely have a special spot in my reference collection.  I had many “uh huh” and “ahh” moments while reading it. I especially liked your discussion and examples about “the hook.”  And I really liked your ideas on humanizing – some of them I incorporate, but the way you explain the use of anecdotes, stories and analogies is a key for me. In addition, your information on “resting places” was very helpful for me – and the differences about being symmetrical and asymmetrical while standing vs. sitting was something I had never heard about – really helpful!

Lastly, I must tell you that I thought your A – Z format was brilliant. I thought the book, based on the title, might be more like a long set of discrete tips, but the content in this format had incredible flow and connection, was very comprehensive, and yet at the same time, it will act as a neat reference guide if I have to look up something quick. I wanted you to know how much I truly enjoyed your book and the sharing of your knowledge – you have a real gift, Barbara! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

My thanks to all my readers and clients!

Published on Friday September 18, 2009 in Presentation Skills and Products. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Humanizing Example: Brainteaser

A psychologist on how our brains don’t always work the way we think they do…

“Without stopping to think, add these numbers in your head: Start with 1000. Add 40. Now add 1000. Add 30. Now add another 1000. Add 20. Now add another 1000. Add 10. What’s the total?”

[Answer: Did you get 5000? The correct answer is 4100!]

Published on Monday June 22, 2009 in Hook-Humor-Humanize and Humanize Examples. 0 Comments Tags: .