services

Voice

Your voice has an immediate and significant impact on how you are perceived and how successful you can become. To be heard and understood, whether in person, on the telephone, in presentations, or in personal relationships, your voice must be clear and melodious. It must reflect your meaning and intent.

Remember when you heard your voice and wondered, "Is that how I really sound?" Now imagine, if you are not pleased by how you sound, then how does that influence your listener? You can polish your voice and upgrade your vocal skills to maintain a healthy voice with proper pitch, appropriate volume, clear articulation, and pleasing resonance.

Also important are the techniques of pacing, correct emphasis, well placed pauses, gestures, and body language that reflect your meaning. We combine these attributes with a series of important, professionally used methods to improve your vocal influence and let your voice be an invitation to listen to your message.

Comminication Skills

Your ability to communicate your ideas, thoughts, feelings, and intentions determine your success in business and interpersonal relationships. Good communication skills have an effect on how you are perceived in the world, and whether your needs are understood and met.

Working together, we identify the specific areas that will help you express yourself effectively, such as body language, eye contact, vocal skills, and ideas and belief systems.

We integrate practices and skills to develop your special qualities, and to communicate information and ideas with confidence and ease.

Presentation Skills

In today's environment of movies, commercials, and video games, we are challenged to captivate and hold savvy audiences with little patience for boring, disorganized presentations. It's simply not enough to be an expert in your field, the president of a company, or have an interesting topic.

A motivating, persuasive presentation is a combination of knowledge, organization, preparation, and entertainment. Your delivery must be polished and properly staged; your visuals concise and supportive. Whatever the content of your speech, it must be engaging and memorable.

As a good speaker you can bring a dry subject to life, and you can breathe new life into a presentation that you've made far too many times. If you are a nervous or fearful speaker, addressing your fears and helping you develop dependable skills and techniques with a supportive coach will give you confidence and make speaking a joy.

Using a combination of acting, performance, and public speaking skills, plus an organizational system, voice techniques, body language, and interpersonal communication tools you will deliver your message clearly and approach your topic with interest and passion, making your next presentation an inspired, masterful performance.

Confidence

Confidence is the internal relationship we have with ourselves. You can be compassionate and supportive with yourself, or critical and inhibiting. You may experience a general sense of confidence, but be challenged by a situation such as making a presentation, interviewing for a job, or speaking up in a group. You may have a general sense of not being enough: pretty enough, smart enough, or good enough.

Developing a sense of confidence is key to communicating clearly and effectively. Your sense of confidence will determine how you sound, the communication skills you use, your body language, visual cues, and the information and ideas you are able to access and deliver. Building a sense of confidence is a process. Through discussion and breathing exercises, and by generating dependable tools, you will develop a positive and validating approach to difficult situations and your overall experience of self worth.

Services to Individuals

The Speaking Bridge offers private, personalized training and coaching in the following areas:

• Voice development and management
• Confidence and life skills
• Developing and delivering presentations
• Communication skills for interpersonal and business relationships

We begin the process of working together with a one-hour evaluation. We discuss your background, training needs, personal goals, timeline, expectations, how to measure achievement, and cost.

The Speaking Bridge can conduct sessions in Hayward, San Francisco (Union Square), or at your business. For more information, please call (415) 395-8355 or email Deborah@thespeakingbridge.com.

Testimonial

“Deborah was worth every penny and every minute of time. Just the right combo of professionalism, warmth and compassion. Felt like a different person coming out of there. I’d recommend her in a heartbeat!”

Services to Businesses & Organizations

The Speaking Bridge offers a variety of training and coaching programs to corporate teams and individual employees. Deborah can also create retainer programs that meet ongoing business needs.

If your organization has different training requirements, we can custom-develop a program to meet your specific needs. For more information, please call (415) 395-8355 or email Deborah@thespeakingbridge.com.

Executive and One-on-One Coaching

This private, confidential coaching focuses on personal goals, which are typically not addressed in a group setting. A preliminary session determines the focus of the coaching—whether product or sales presentations, interview skills, communication challenges, or confidence building. At your option, The Speaking Bridge can provide a professional videographer at an additional charge.

Special Projects

Training/Coaching/Collaboration (TCC) is tailored to situations that require a unique and creative approach.

Examples include:

• Creating a presentation image and style
• Working with the CEO, managers, and breakout speakers for a sales kickoff
• Developing strategies for a group sales presentation
• Preparing an expert witness for trial
• Coaching upper-level managers with speaking fears

Business Communication

How you communicate can make the difference between success and simply maintaining your current position. You may need to develop special skills around voice quality, delivery, silent messages, professional image, and how you organize and implement your ideas. This custom training can address any or all of these areas.

Speech Preparation

This program works with those who wish to collaborate on ideas, structure, delivery, language, visuals, and all the other elements that are part of preparing for a presentation.

Presentation Coaching

Coaching for a presentation is similar to directing a performer. We work with you toward delivering a specific presentation—addressing everything from speaking style to the best time to pause or move. Our mutual goal is to design an effective, professional, and entertaining presentation.

Retainer programs

These flexible programs are custom-designed for those who have made an ongoing commitment to improving their presentation and communication skills. They require a six-month commitment and can be conducted for a group, one-on-one, or for groups and individuals.

Prepared and Custom-designed Workshops

We offer half-day, full-day, or two-day workshops, depending on your goals and preferences. Consider a prepared program, such as Presentation and Delivery Skills. Or, we can create a workshop to meet your specific goals.

At your option, The Speaking Bridge can provide a professional videographer at an additional charge.

Presentation and Delivery Skills

This workshop is ideal for groups that need instruction in speaking and presenting. In this entertaining and information-packed two-day course, you will learn:

• The value of defining your audience
• The importance of honing your vocal and physical delivery
• Effective ways to organize information
• Strategies that support your points and ideas
• How to handle questions and awkward situations
• How to create effective visuals and PowerPoint presentations
• Techniques to help you connect with an audience
• The finer points of creating authenticity, improving listening skills, and building confidence

Attendees also have the opportunity to practice their skills and receive individual feedback from the instructor.

Using your Voice as a Sales Tool

Learn proven, professional skills that add polish and professionalism to your vocal image and delivery. This workshop covers:

• The basics of good speech
• How to manage volume, pace, and articulation
• Pauses, emphasis, inflection, and other voice techniques.
• Adding vocal variety and excitement to your delivery
• Eliminating irritating vocal habits such as filler words and uptalking
• The value of silent messages, such as eye contact, body language, and gestures
• How to tailor your voice to different venues such as the phone

Assertiveness Training

This one-or two-day workshop covers passive, aggressive, and assertive behavior and how to identify it. You’ll learn how to be assertive and what to do when your assertiveness is challenged. In addition, you’ll learn role playing that is designed to handle specific situations.

Conquering your Speaking Fears

Public speaking is truly fear-provoking for many people. CEOs and engineers alike try to avoid presentations or just grit their teeth and get through them. In this lively, interactive workshop, participants will learn to calm both physical and emotional responses through:

• Understanding the foundation of a good presentation
• Developing practical and emotional tools to handle nervousness
• Practicing real-life scenarios
• Receiving personalized coaching that builds confidence

Keynote Speaking

Whether as a keynote speaker or presenter at a breakout session or brown bag lunch, Deborah can speak to your group on a variety of communication-related topics:

• Building confidence
• Improving speaking skills
• Improving presentations
• Developing a warmer, more pleasant speaking voice

Testimonials

“I forgot how funny you are.”

“Out of three days of presentations, you were voted our favorite and most valuable speaker.”