Jim Signorelli

Introduction: Regardless of your level of experience. No matter whether you are an extrovert or an introvert. No matter how stage-fright you are anytime you stand up in front of a group. By the time we are done working together, you will become the speaker you are meant to be. You may not have the foggiest idea of who that is yet. Making costly errors is one way to find out. I will guide you along a much safer route. I'm a fully an accredited presentation and keynote coach having studied with CraigValentine and other notable public speakers. Before this, I was the CEO of a national advertising agency and an award-winning author of two best-selling books. I'm an in-demand keynote speaker and workshop moderator. My coaching practice is founded on the belief that to become a good public speaker, one must get the help required to find their individual voice. For this reason, I do not teach TOASTMASTER-type rules or any other "right way" of speaking. I do provide methods that enhance audience interest and engagement. I do show ways to make points more persuasive. However, when speaking, NOTHING is more important than authenticity or being seen as a real person audiences can relate to. My Story Thirty-five years ago, I started my career as an entry-level account manager at a major advertising agency. The pressure to perform was intense, especially when it came to giving presentations. To survive and grow in the advertising business, you must be a "confident and engaging" presenter. I studied hard, practiced relentlessly, and fought my fear demons. It took a number of failures until I realized something incredibly important. I was much better off getting all those constraining rules out of my head and start becoming the authentic person I am. That realization eventually helped me to relax an focus. It helped me to connect with my audience in ways I couldn't imagine possible before. And it eventually propelled me to become one of the agency's go-to presenters whenever the stakes were high. Years later, I took on the responsibilities of a CEO at what became a highly successful agency in Chicago. Among my many challenges, the biggest was to help my people advance their presentation skills. Show me an agency that can't win a new business pitch, and I'll show you empty office space for rent. Agencies live or die on new business pitches. Certainly, there are methods that one must learn about clearly and cogently transferring information. But how it gets transferred is as individual as the sound of a person's voice. While other agencies were coming up with presentation gimmicks, we would consistently win new business pitches largely because we came across as genuine and sincere. I can't count the number of times clients told us "Your team comes across as very real and trustworthy." I held that CEO position for 16 years before deciding to sit back and enjoy retirement. That ended when too much "sitting back" left me (and my wife) clinging on to sanity. So now, I'm very active helping people find a short-cut to the long road I traveled. Go to adobe.ly/2s3JlQn Either way, let's talk if for no other reason than to become clearer about what it is you're looking for.