From The Heart: Speaker coach uses storytelling to make connections By Linda Allen, ACS, CL “Everybody has a story. And there’s something to be learned from every experience.” — Oprah Winfrey Chances are you know Barbara Seymour Giordano, maybe not in person, but through her work as a speechwriter, presentation coach, public speaker, producer, director, writer and Toastmaster. She has appeared as a national spokesperson for Lands’ End, Neiman Marcus and TJX Companies, Inc. The benefits of her coaching extend to speakers that include Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs, students and TED presenters. A Global Reach Seymour Giordano’s career began during the Gulf War, when she worked as an assignment editor in the San Francisco bureau at CNN. She learned how to choose and write local stories that resonated with both local and international audiences. Sharing these stories that had global impact became her primary focus. When the war ended, she moved to Los Angeles and changed direction to focus on entertainment at E! Entertainment Television’s Emmy nominated E! News Daily. Her entrepreneurial spirit and energy led her to strike out on her own. She began producing and directing internal videos for global sales meetings and events for high-profile companies like Amgen, Cisco Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel Corporation and Nike. Spurred on by success and experience, Seymour Giordano expanded her services to include the roles of storyteller, pitch doctor, spokesperson, corporate event director and producer, and TED writer/presentation coach. Sharing Emotions Not only does she advise speakers to get to the “why” of a story, Seymour Giordano also encourages speakers to include emotion, to add authenticity and credibility to their talks. “Audiences are starved for even the smallest of emotions because emotions are in high demand—and in short supply,” she says. “Great stories can build an instant bridge of connection between the speaker and the audience. Therefore, when we share stories that genuinely matter to us, the odds are that they’ll matter to the audience as well.” Being emotionally connected to a story, she says, and actually feeling the meaning of the words we’re saying, increases the likelihood that the audience will become transfixed by it. “By sharing your authentic self with your audience,” she says, “you will make a connection.” Transitional Storytelling At the heart of Seymour Giordano’s work is what she calls transitional storytelling. She helps experts, such as professors and doctors, speak about their work to make it understandable to a diverse audience which may be unfamiliar with their area of expertise. “My main objective is to take the facts and cloak them in story so that the audience can understand their data, research or life’s work, and will want to leave the theater and share their story,” she says. She recently used that strategy with Ph.D. candidates at the University of California, Los Angeles who were challenged with turning their dissertations into 10-minute talks. “When we listen to a speaker deliver dry facts and figures, our immediate reaction is…” LOGIN HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE: toastmasters.org/ToastmastersMagazine/CurrentIssue.aspx?ct=087e8c9d03436e76192778abd950c9f914c47bef6200ea0af470fb0fb3f232f2d9b985e7d3cb487c11c113985a52b286c12d91b3f68bf33e399937d87326794e The current issue is available for viewing only by Toastmasters members. If you are a member, login to read it. You must enter your user name and password to view this months issue. (Your user name is the same as your member number, which is easily found on your Toastmaster magazine label.) Watch a related presentation by Barbara Seymour Giordano by clicking on the image below:https://youtube/watch?v=IStJoDqSV4M
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 06:58:09 +0000