The Sound of Your Voice
Frequently Asked Questions
Individual
Coaching
Do
you ever work with someone by phone?
How long does it take?
How do you usually work with an individual?
Do you work with just high level executives?
Do corporations send you people?
Will my medical insurance cover my work with
you?
Workshops
How
long are the workshops?
Could you come to my company and give a workshop?
How many people can you take in one of your workshops?
Audio
Tapes
Did
you produce these tapes yourself?
Can I buy them in book stores?
What's in "The Serious Business of Small
Talk"?
What about "The Sound of Your Voice"?
Q:
Do you ever work with someone by phone?
A:
Yes! Many communication concerns lend themselves to phone discussion.
In many cases, I can identify problems and issues quickly, offer
you objective and nonjudgmental feedback, so that you can grow to
new levels of function, in business or in social life. We start
with a preliminary phone interview to determine suitability and
to obtain pertinent information. You will then send me an audio
(or video) tape of yourself that I will analyze. The follow-up phone
conversation reveals my findings and recommendations for you. This
package is priced at $500.00.
This
is a perfect solution for some of you who want to get started on
self-improvement but are unable to get to San Francisco easily."
I sometimes have to give presentations and I just dread them! Can
you help me by phone?" Both speech preparation and the handling
of stage fright can benefit from phone consultations. My job is
to get you out of your emotional state, into your more rational
side. We can do this with talk. I can talk you into a really good
presentation and I can talk you out of a case of stage fright. Lucky
for us, there is a lot we know that is really helpful that can be
available to you where ever you are. This counseling is billed at
$250.00/hour.
Q:
How long does it take?
A:
It depends. You may need just one session to clarify your concerns.
Or you may want to work with me over months to achieve certain goals.
You will proceed at your own pace as follows: What's your starting
point and how far do you want to go? How motivated are you? How
much are you willing to practice? The variability stems from the
fact that I'm working with an individual, not presenting organized
material to a group.
 Top
Q:
How do you usually work with an individual?
A:
We start with an individual evaluation (Profile of Communication
Abilities) that allows me to get the sense of your speech, voice,
language and nonverbal impact. I tell you what I get from you: your
general communication impact, what you're doing well and what you
could improve, if you want to. Of course, this all depends on the
reason for your visit. My response will be different if you are
seeing me to prepare for your oral exams, or for giving a presentation
at your company, or for figuring out what you're doing that irritates
somebody else. It always depends on your individual needs and the
context of your request. On the basis of the initial evaluation,
I can design a training program just for you that will lead toward
your goals.
People
normally see me at least once a week, in a 50 minute session, while
they are working on some aspect of their personal communication
skills. If someone is coming from some distance, I like to work
with them in larger blocks of time. One person came from Costa Rica.
We worked two hours in the morning and two hours in the late afternoon.
People in the radio/TV broadcast professions may see me several
times a week (They're in a hurry!). If you are expecting some kind
of 'schoolmarm experience, you will be surprised. I am your coach,
your guide, your helper, and you are usually much more critical
of yourself than I am. So don't expect a laundry list of all your
faults from me. Expect me to be focused, supportive, but persistent.
Top
Q:
Do you work with just high level executives?
A:
Goodness me, no! Communication skills are needed by everyone
who needs to deal with other people. My clients may be people looking
for promotion, facing new work demands for presentations, job seekers,
people who are facing their oral exams for a professional license,
attorneys, professionals having to present papers, young adults
interviewing for their first job.
Q:
Do corporations send you people?
A:
Yes, sometimes people can use a little grooming as they function
at new levels of their work. They may be working at a social level
with which they are not completely comfortable - they got there
because they were smart and worked hard! Communicative behavior
is formed in the early years of development. If you were in a working
class family/neighborhood, it is likely that you were exposed to
patterns that do not work well in the business world. In this case,
the referring individual sees potential waiting to be developed.
And sometimes there are individuals who are not fitting into their
work setting and the boss decides: "It's something about the
way he talks that causing a problem". Her voice is too loud
(or soft), he doesn't represent the department with a positive demeanor,
she doesn't mix well at meetings with clients, etc. Here we have
a "problem" to be solved. This requires all the skill
a speech coach can muster, but the coach can act as the intervening
element to solve interpersonal communication problems so that both
parties are satisfied with the outcome.
Top
Q:
Will my medical insurance cover my work with you?
A:
problem, like a stroke or cancer of the mouth. Typically, my clients
do not have medical conditions, they simply want to get good. However,
if your work on communication skills is work related, it will be
tax deductible. (All expenses of communication development and of
continuing management education to maintain and improve professional
skills are tax deductible - Treasury Regulation 1-162-5, Laughlin
vs. Commissioner, 270F2d307).
Q:
How long are the workshops?
A:
Anywhere from one hour to six hours, depending on the constraints
of the company or organization. For example, I have taken the content
of the "Small Talk" Workshop and formed it into six "one-hour-one-idea"
presentations, suitable for the 'brown-bag format'. This works very
well in corporate situations where many people are unable to leave
their jobs for longer periods of time. On the other hand, if there
is a group retreat for example, where the people are somewhat removed
from their jobs, the six-hour format allows for continuity and increased
depth of material.
Q:
How many people can you take in one of your workshops?
A:
Some topics lend themselves to large groups: "Does Your Voice
Wear Blue Jeans..." or the "Stage Fright" talk, for
example, works well with large groups. Workshops in presentation
skills should have no more than twenty. Of course, those workshops
that focus on accent reduction need to have much smaller groups
in order to offer individual attention during the class.
Q:
Could you come to my company and give a workshop?
A:
Sure can. And do. First I need to find out what kind of concerns
or challenges you have at your company so I can tailor the presentation
to meet your immediate needs. For example, one bank was considering
my workshop on "Personal Professionalism" and how they
could make that work for their front-line customer service personnel.
I turned the material into a workshop called, "In the Public
Eye", focusing on the employees behavior and appearance as
it related to the bank's image.
Top
Q: Did you produce these tapes yourself?
A:
Oh no! In both cases, I was approached by producers who wanted to
make my material available to more people. Both audiocassette series
were professionally produced with high performance standards, and,
let me tell you, took a lot of time to get right.
Q:
Can I buy them in book stores?
A:
Many places carry "The Sound of Your Voice" (Simon &
Schuster) but you can get "The Serious Business of Small Talk"
only through SkillPath Publications and me.
Q:
What's in "The Serious Business of Small Talk"?
A:
These tapes are all about social conversation, our anxieties and
misgivings, of course, but also the tremendous advantages and pleasure
that comes from becoming skilled in small talk. You will be amazed
how much there is to know about light conversation, the nonverbal
elements that are so important, how you can avoid the most painful
pitfalls of conversation and how you get to be a person that people
enjoy speaking with. There's even a section for parents who want
their children to grow more comfortable and fluent in social conversation
(knowing how important this will be for them as they look for their
first job or interview for school).
Q.
What about "The Sound of Your Voice"?
A.
This material came from an eight week course I taught at the University
of California Extension. This was a thorough course, involving many
aspects of communication concerns: breathing, voice production,
resonance, articulation, pitch and quality issues, nasality, fluency,
you name it, we worked with it. I was approached by a producer of
high-quality audio products, Cindy Spring, who asked if she could
produce a series based on my course. Flattered, I allowed her to
attend my course and tape each session. She transcribed it and "made
it better" and then sent it to me. I reeled from the shock
of her "improvements" and made my own changes. I corrected
her mistakes, she took out my academic, dry language and back and
forth we went until - a year and a half later - we were both finally
satisfied that we had a solid product that we both could be proud
of. It has been a solid seller at Simon & Schuster for ten years
now, so we must have got it right. See for yourself.
Contact
us
today to discuss how our workshops, coaching and training products
can improve your Personal Professionalism and Communication
Impact.
Top
|
