I’m always so happy to see my students winning.  I’m delighted that my inbox is always full of their successes and wins.  And I’m always thrilled when I hear that their ability to communicate deeply touches and moves others.

Recently I received a request to train 16 highly successful mid-level engineering professionals as part of their challenging leadership development program.

I laughed with joy when I heard the reason for the request. 

Last year, the same corporation asked me to train 40 very bright college students who intern at this huge Silicon Valley company in the summertime. Many of them get hired full-time after they graduate.

The interns work in teams on ambitious projects designed to produce financial ROI. At the end of the summer, each team presents their project results to a panel of senior executives. It is fiercely competitive, with senior execs selecting the top 3 teams, and special prizes going to each.

I was hired to give these 40 interns presentation skills training the day before their big presentation so they would come across exceedingly well to the executives.

You can imagine being in college and having to present to the senior executives of a major Silicon Valley corporation. They were nervous!  So this training was a very good idea and very generous on the corporation’s part.

These young college students did extremely well in the training and the feedback they received from the execs after their presentations was fabulous.

The panel of executives, however, were faced with a dilemma.  They couldn’t decide which team to choose as #1 because they all presented their results so well. They were heard asking each other, “What is WITH these interns?! They’re better at presenting than many of the executives around here!”

What really blew the execs away, was that there weren’t just one or two good presenters in the group of 40. They were ALL strong.

These summer college interns blew the senior execs away so thoroughly, the organization asked me to train their high potential leaders so they too would develop the same skills.  This time their presentations were virtual, even more challenging.

This training also went well, with one of them emailing me the next day:

“It felt so great to know I was connecting and engaging the panel of execs, even though I couldn’t see them.  I could FEEL it!  At the end of my presentation, the top exec said, ‘Wow!  I have no words!  That was AMAZING!’.”

I am so proud of them, as I am all my students.

I’m especially proud of the college students.  They are walking tall.  And so thrilled that they gained these impressive and powerful abilities early in their career.  

The ability to communicate is THE most important ability to have, because with this ability comes the ability to open every door in your life.  That’s my goal and my purpose.  For you to experience that freedom.

Don’t let being virtual stop you from being powerful.  If you want these skills, you can get them. Check out Mastering Virtual Presentation Skills and Building a Foundation for Causative Communications.

Be the cause!