FAQ
Individual Coaching
Do you 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?
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 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. People will contact me saying “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 phone conversations. 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.
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.
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.
Q: Do you work with just high level executives?
A: 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. I also work with people who want to improve their communication skills with family members and friends.
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.
Q: Will my medical insurance cover my work with you?
A: Typically, my clients do not have medical conditions, they simply want to meet certain goals by improving their communication skills. 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: Each workshop is customized to fit in with the goals and objectives of the company. It varies from one hour to six hours, depending on the individual needs. 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: I 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.
Q: Did you produce these tapes yourself?
A: In both cases, I was approached by producers who wanted to make my material available to more people. Both audio cassette series were professionally produced with high performance standards.
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. See my “Products Page” on my website.
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, who asked if she could produce a series based on my course. It has been a solid seller at Simon & Schuster for 25 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.
