Stand & Deliver’s Post

Invest in Your Future through Practice and Collaboration: a rave review of Speak to Inspire NYC I am still exploding with energy from participation in Stand & Deliver’s #NYC Invitational. 50+ professionals from companies like Microsoft, PepsiCo, Cisco, Valmont Industries, Inc. & more, including smaller entrepreneurial ventures like my own, showed up in order to level up their skills. It is great to see companies investing in their leaders' development. There were 2 FULL days of practical frameworks & customized presentation refinement in a fun, hands-on, motivating setting. *Plus, on a personal note, I got to celebrate my birthday in the hustle, bustle & shining lights of the Big Apple. I left feeling confident in my strengths & ready to take action on my opportunities. If you know me at all, you can trust I took many notes😉 Here are a few standouts: - "Top performers know that the best & worst days don't have to be accidents. They have a strategy." - Appropriately balance Content, Delivery AND your State - Overcome the "curse of knowledge." Your audience is the main character, not you. Shift away from what you want to TELL them to how you want them to feel. - "Be evocative with art. Be clear in business communication" ...plus so much more ... A huge shout out to the facilitation team. These experts served as both shining examples of the practice of inspiring communication AND thoughtful guides to help us meet our individual goals. Ari Butler, Brittani Ward, Rob Baedeker, Alex Moggridge, Avanthika Srinivasan, Nawal Bengholam, Manoel Felciano, Mike McGowan, & Rebecca Hirota : “WOW." You were incredible! Thank you to my breakout group for their thoughtful feedback & brave collaboration. It takes a lot of guts to practice & improvise in real time in front of others. Watching you perfect your skills helped me grow as well! Kevin B., Neelam Patel, Partha Ramachandrula, Priscila Viana The crowning jewel of the event was crafting a team pitch for an innovative business of the future with only a short time to put it all together. The time pressure proved that sometimes over-preparation isn't helpful or necessary. I must say that Brian Ragone, Michelle Merritt, Mark Conrad, Edward Betts, & Rishi Gaind knocked it out of the park with our mock pitch to Richard Branson. The real Richard would have been proud & I have a sneaking suspicion he would really like aspects of our bold, somewhat outlandish idea ;) Cheers to Ashley Anderson for being a great dinner buddy as well! If you are interested in learning more about Stand & Deliver, please check out their site as well as their founders' book, "As We Speak." They do so much more than these invitationals by supporting companies around the globe. In fact, their strategic partnership worked wonders in creating a united narrative for change in one of my previous corporate roles. #speakingskills #leadershipdevelopment #confidence