What People are Saying About Susan Trivers
“Working with Susan I learned to fill my presentations with springboard, future and organizational-values stories. Now the scientists and researchers in my audiences stay totally tuned in, ask great questions and call me later for more information.” Clare Allocca, Chief, US Measurement System, NIST
“I could see the audience sit up and pay attention as I set the scene for my opening story. Susan helped me craft the story and seamlessly transition into my key points. She freed me from the straightjacket so many technical presentations are constrained by. Best yet is that I've gotten people excited about a new area they previously shied away from.” Joe Houck, Fortune 100 Company
“For my promotional talks Susan helps me craft and tell dramatic stories about cases my clients won or the opponents lost because of their pre-trial jury research strategy. I've really differentiated myself from my competitors this way. This helps me persuade my audiences without having to “sell” and I get at least one new client from every audience.” Carolyn S. Koch, JD, Jury Solutions, LLC
“There is no substitute for an expert, like Susan, to upgrade and coach me to express what I know. Susan turned me around to weave a story and stick to a framework – helping me to both have confidence in what I was saying, and being comfortable in presenting a message. My first “new and improved” presentation went splendidly, with the promise of more opportunities to come.” Louise Sabol, Director of Technology Solutions, Design + Construction Strategies
“Every time I work with you I am reminded how much better I can be
when giving my speeches.” Diana Davis Spencer
“I wanted to let you know the talk went very well. I even got a new client out
of the talk. A visitor who heard the talk has set up an appointment with me today.”
Daniel Gilliland, CPA, Gilliland & Associates, PC
“I have been a professional speaker for over 17 years and I have had great success as a speaker. I was hired for a speaking opportunity where I wanted to “raise the roof.” I hired Susan for coaching. The talk I gave was a huge success. From the moment I opened with the compelling question to the closing refrain, I literally had people sitting on the edge of their seats. I have heard only outstanding comments and rave reviews. I encourage anyone who is an average speaker or an excellent speaker to hire Susan immediately.” Joan Fletcher, President, Winning Ways, Inc.
“All too often I hear agencies talk about themselves and their abilities, backed up with anecdotes of how they have helped others. Clients actually are not interested. What they want is the solution to their problem. OK, a "spoon full of sugar" in the form of a carefully crafted vision after the treatment helps them to accept the recommendation, but it is the cure for their ills that they are actually paying for.” Rob Hook
“I personally love using stories because it shows the audience that you're human and helps you connect better with them. I think the two real dangers are as follows:
- Telling too many stories and not providing the audience with any useful info.
- Revealing too much "personal" information about yourself that can adversely affect the audience's opinion of you.”
“Thank you Susan for bringing the value of humor as a life skill to your subscribers. Yes, developing or re-discovering your sense of humor and using it appropriately in your personal and professional life provides opportunities for stress and tension reduction, creates cohesion, and improves our leadership skills. When you can accept life's challenges with a sense of humor, you are able to get emotional distance, realize you can choose your approach to solving your problems, and still laugh about them. You realize you have a sense of control over your life. There is healing power in humor and laughter. It lifts our spirits and we live with joy another day. Roz Trieber
“Susan, thanks for your coaching and for giving me my voice. My client audience members said they found my opening story authentic, compelling and engaging. Your method helped me not only craft the story and link it to my topic; I learned things about my own life and perspective. Thanks!” Terri Nimmons, Principal, Stone Lake Leadership Group
“You are dead on: tailoring your presentation to your audience is key to being relevant; using stories helps to make you seem more authentic and presentable; and using power-point as a visual aid instead of a text-dump will vastly improve presentations.” Terry Gault
“Youre so right. It is rather a simple concept but hard to understand for many. The sooner you help everyone else get what they want, the sooner you will get what you want. Thanks for the statistics.” Jonathan Steele from Speechmastery
“Sometimes when speaking in auditoriums or depending on who you are speaking for, it
is just not possible to have an open dialogs with the audience.
What you said about getting them to raise their hands is the next best thing.
All it takes is a well thought out question that will tap into the minds of the audience. It
is an excellent way to connect with the audience, without them saying a word.”
Jonathan Steele of Speechmastery
“I agree completely about putting the audience first - many speakers make the mistake of giving a speech that makes them feel good about themselves.” James
“I'm so thrilled to find someone in our line of business who puts the Mehrabian 7/38/55
numbers into context. Delivery is important, but to state that it's 93% of the information received
is a complete distortion of the study. To think you can demote structure and content to
just 7% is patently ridiculous.
PS: 'Natural, passionate, authentic.' You should get t-shirts printed. :-)”
Andrew Lightheart
“Susan, you are so right. But I never really thought that the new (marketing and PR) rules apply directly to speaking. Thanks for pointing that out.
Since the book has come out, I've been getting an average of one speaking gig invite per day. I accept about one paid gig a month and except for some book sales, speaking is my only revenue source. I see tons of bad speakers. And you're right - most are trying to sell from the podium. Thanks for reading my book and writing about it here.” David Meerman Scott
“I recently prepared a fifty minute long presentation on the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on day to day business practices for a conference. Later my presentation was joined with three others and I was left with ten minutes. The topic was fairly complex but simplified by use of a "springboard" story that blended my message with a theme that was unexpected. Listening to the story allowed the audience to hear the key ideas without the usual critique.
Ten minutes passes too quickly! Telling the story was fun and somewhat novel compared to the other three presentations ...and my message was heard.” Joe Houck
“Susan is “right on” about turning on to “Preview, The View, and Review." When she says “It's up to you to make each of these elements new and interesting,” she knows todays audience is not made up of spectators. This audience wants to participate.
Have you considered thinking like your audience and not like a speaker? This technology savvy, intuitively visual communicating audience does not want textbook-based presentations. This audience is image-oriented and wants interaction. When you focus on their intelligences and their learning styles, and leveraging whats in their world, they will learn whats in yours. They will know whats in it for them. In addition to incorporating stories, you can incorporate any one of these strategies (humor, music, videos and games) into Preview, The View and Review. I am talking about a systematic approach, not stand-up comedy. What you get is repeat business.” Roz Trieber
Companies Who've Reaped the Benefits (over $8 billion of revenue) of Working with Susan
- Black Box Federal
- SpecTal, LLC
- Perot Systems Government Solutions
- Cubic, Inc.
- Tec-Masters, Inc.
- Stone Lake Leadership Group
- NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
- Rainmakerz Consulting, LLC
- Lockheed Martin
- Jury Solutions, LLC
- Winning Ways, Inc.
- SAIC
- P3I, Inc.
- AT&T Government Solutions
- Raytheon Technical Services Company
- IMC, Inc.
- STG, Inc.
- Turning Pointe Marketing, Inc.
- Human R, Inc.
- Gilliland & Associates, P.C.
- WasteNot Recycling & Shredding
- Grant Thornton
- Women in Technology
- Stratford University
- RCI, Inc.
- Trajen Aerospace
- PAE Systems
- Signal Corporation
- The Goals Institute
- Foreign Service Institute
- National Health Council
- Renewal Resources
- Organizational Communications, Inc.
- The Business Source
