Speech Coaching

Lou has been coaching other professional speakers since 1993. He has also worked with non-professional speakers…business people who want to increase the impact they have when they get before an audience.

Background

Lou is uniquely qualified to serve as a coach of both speech performance and structure. He double majored in Journalism and Radio-TV-Motion Pictures and had a minor in speech during his days at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as a speech instructor during his two and a half years of active duty in the US Army. Besides teaching a new class in speech every four weeks, Lou also wrote a speech text used by all US Armed Services and was selected to supervise the enlisted persons’ oral communication course at the Defense Information School. Lou then spent many years on the air in commercial television, hosting hundreds of hours of live programming and honing his speaking skills, his timing, and his sense of humor.

Speech Coaching Format

Here's how his coaching works most often: speakers send him 60 minutes worth of recorded material (audio or video) and a listing of what they’d like to accomplish in the coaching process. Lou spends a great deal of time in pre-work and then decides if he has something to contribute. If not, he can often refer speakers to another coach who might better serve them. If he feels he can truly help, he invites them to Gainesville, FL where he works one-on-one with the client for a day and a half (8:30-5:30 one day and 8:30-noon the next).

Coaching sessions can be audio recorded and the client may take the recordings home for further review. Two areas receive concentration:

• Speech organization – getting the right material in the right order
  
  
• Speech delivery – presenting the material for maximum impact

Lou’s coaching style is relaxed. He offers concrete, specific ideas based on his years of experience and is always very direct…though never mean-spirited.

On-site Speech Coaching

Lou is available to conduct this coaching at your place of business and has also done some small-group coaching. In individual on-site coaching, Lou works one-on-one with you. In the small-group format, up to five people gather for a round-robin session and actually help each other improve, as well as hearing Lou’s suggestions.

Long-distance Speech Coaching

In some cases, it is impossible to coordinate busy schedules and people opt to work with Lou using this method. They provide him with CDs or DVDs or tapes and a list of what they would like to improve. He reviews their material and they agree upon follow up discussions via phone, letter, and/or e-mail.

Follow-up

After the on-site coaching, Lou expects and anticipates that each client will continue the relationship, periodically sending him new material to review or new ideas on which they can brainstorm together. He hopes the coaching will be the beginning of a long and satisfying relationship, and this often means that clients come back from time to time for a refresher or perhaps to work on a new direction.

Ultimately, Lou’s greatest skill is this: rather than having a single formula or template that he expects each client to use, he gears his ideas specifically to each individual, helping them capture and enhance the best of their already-considerable talent. Well over 100 speakers and executives have trusted Lou to give them the jumpstart they need to reinvigorate and reenergize their careers.

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