| Hi, Arvee here. May I tell you a little about myself?
I have spent the past 20 some odd years in corporate America working as a systems consultant, after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems. In the early eighties I worked downtown Los Angeles for a large CPA firm, Deloitte, Haskins and Sells. I was a pioneer in my industry as a microcomputer (we did not call them PC’s back then) consultant, training small business’ how to use computerized accounting systems. That was back in the day when we had dual floppy disks and thought 64K of RAM was a whole lot of memory. We were using programs like Multi-Plan, Visa Calc and my least favorite – Word Star. Yuk! The partners and I thought the best way to market this new service was to get out there and speak. So that is what I did. I created elaborate overheads (no Power Point back then) and I would attend fancy networking events and talk and talk and talk. Yet, I was not getting the results I wanted. In other words – I was not selling anything! I would watch other speakers speak and after their speech, they would have several people surrounding them after their talk. Not me. I felt like the loneliest speaker in town. Then one day I gave a presentation at a country club and afterwards a woman came up to me. I was so excited. “Goodie, someone is coming to talk to me!” I thought to myself. She was dressed in a navy blue, pin striped suit. She had a high neck starched linen blouse and a string of white pearls draped loosely around her neck. With a big smile on her face, she touched my arm lightly and said, “Honey, do you know you say okay after every sentence?” “Noooooo!” I screamed in horror. “I did not realize.” No wonder no one was buying my services, I was my own worse distraction. They were not even listening to me. They were probably counting my okays. The men were probably taking bets under the table as to when I would say okay. I was so embarrassed. I thanked her and went home and had a big cry. The next day, I signed up for every public speaking class I could find, I went to the library and checked out every book on the subject I could find (no Amazon.com back then) and I even joined Toastmasters, an International Organization dedicated to helping people improve their public speaking and leadership skills. That was over 20 years ago. Then the most amazing thing happened. (Has this ever happened to you?) As my skills got better, every one else around me seemed to get worse. In 1997, I began teaching my CPA friends and colleagues on how they could improve
their speaking skills and close more deals. However, the process was slow and I could not reach enough people, fast enough. So I began to develop simple, step-by-step systems. These systems gave the non-professional speaker a fast and easy way to become a polished professional speaker. To my surprise, these systems relieved anxiety and got the same results time after time. I was on to something. In 2003, I decided to leave the corporate world and start my own company so I could share these proven systems with more individuals. Specifically, professionals who want to attract more clients by communicating more clearly about what they do. Since then, I have helped hundreds of individuals to eliminate nervousness, command audience’s attention, and develop and deliver sales-winning presentations. In addition to being a Persuasive Speech Coach, I am a professional storyteller, author, and Distinguished Toastmaster (the highest credentials Toastmasters International offers). Above all, I am passionate about showing others how they can attract more clients by learning the secrets of persuasive speaking and turn their words into wealth! What do I do for fun? I
run. I've joined Team in Training a fundraising organization.
In turn for training me to run a marathon, I raise money for
the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help find a cure for
blood cancers. I ran in the LA Marathon
on March 4 2007. It took 7 hours and 9 minutes and was an awesome
experience. On October 21, 2007, I ran in the Nike Women's
Marathon in San Francisco and cut 1/2 hour off my time. |
