- Invigorating and expanding your communications skills
For a more successful, fulfilling life ** Since 1993

Keynotes + Training/Coaching

• The Power of the Spoken Word
• Capturing the Moment: Some simple skills for creating a highly favorable first impression

• Conquering the pervasive disease of rambling: How to emphasize your point in Just Three Sentences
• Disarming and neutralizing your critics and detractors without being offensive or disrespectful
• Self-introductions that, in a mere 2 or 3 sentences, help distinguish your company and also spark listeners' curiosity
• For Immigrants: How to “connect” with the typical American professional
• How to minimize the diminution of women's communications in the workplace
• Merchandising your wares: How to win new clients
• Diminishers that lessen one's message and credentials
• How to Communicate with Impact and Sway (a comprehensive workshop covering most of the topics listed here; view pictures and participant evaluations from recent workshops)
• How to emphasize your strengths and accomplishments: Avoiding the "Bob Dole Communication Syndrome"
• Advanced Public Speaking -- Some tips
• How to deliver effective praise in Just Three Sentences (to help boost an employee’s morale, loyalty, and productivity)
• How to compel a peer or client into action
• Other invigorating topics

• Free On-site Demonstrations Now Offered!
  Allow us to demonstrate, in person, how we can help professionals make a quantum advance in their communication skills.
  To arrange for a free 18-minute demonstration of how our company can invigorate your communications skills, bolster your executive presence, and help you become more successful in influencing others, please contact us.

U.S.D.A.'s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Energy Transfer Company, Schlumberger, Alcon Laboratories, ExxonMobil, CenterPoint Energy, City of Houston, Continental Airlines, Cooper Industries, Energy Transfer, Enron, Haverly Systems, Kinko's, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals; Reliant Energy, Royce Builders; Texaco, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Aldine and Houston school districts.

For a list of one-on-one coaching clients, click here.

"I have had the distinct pleasure of having V.J. Singal present to our Leadership Challenge Program...I have already witnessed the impact from his work. Our mid-level managers are more articulate and powerful when they speak."
      – Hank Pitcher, Coordinator for Leadership Programs, Alcon Manufacturing, Ltd.

"The session has everyday applications, not just professionally, but personally as well. Mr. Singal's passion for the subject is evident as well as compelling. His ability to engage an audience for such a long period of time is astonishing."
      – Guy Ross, Energy Transfer

" ... It is important that a lawyer is able to make his or her point quickly and succinctly. Your program helps anyone develop these qualities."
      – William H. Bruckner, Bruckner & Sykes (a Houston-based law firm)

"(As a result of V.J.’s training) I am now better equipped to present particulars of our program, whether speaking with colleagues, addressing a group of people, or talking with the media..."
      – Therese Bevers, MD, Medical Director, Clinical Cancer Prevention, MD Anderson Cancer
           Center

Participant Evaluations from a workshop in January 2011

Participant Evaluations from a workshop for PMI Global Congress in October 2010

Participant Evaluations from a workshop for PMI Austin in July 2009

Participant Evaluations from a workshop in September 2008

Participant Evaluations from a workshop in February 2007

"Recently, I was called upon to give print and television interviews regarding a high profile project I had worked on. I have very little experience with such matters and felt unprepared. Several years ago, I had heard V.J. Singal give a very compelling talk on the subject of doing such interviews ("How to Emphasize Your Point in Just Three Sentences"). I felt certain that he could give me good advice. I called him. I was right. V.J. gave me wonderful and practical suggestions on being interviewed. I paid close attention, made notes and subsequently studied them. I followed his advice, thinking through likely questions and the concise and incisive answers I would want to give, as well as picturesque terminology I might use to create memorable imagery. So, when it came time for the interviews, I was well prepared and confident. The interviews could not have gone better. As a direct result of V.J.'s coaching, I was able to represent my organization and our project more capably, and give the press meaningful and substantive answers, which they were pleased to use. Though a rank beginner, I was able to feel and look like a seasoned pro."
April 2011
    -- Jim De Piante, Executive Project Manager, IBM

"I met with V.J. six years ago as a young professional (26 years old) in need of confidence to communicate with both clients and colleagues. The return on my investment has been immeasurable. My ability to communicate concisely and with confidence and persuasion has been commended by those both inside and outside of my field, thanks to V.J.'s techniques. One-on-one coaching enabled me to develop specific techniques to be used in the field of medicine and allowed me to acquire many advanced communication skills relatively quickly. I recommend V.J.'s instruction to any professional, young or old, experienced or inexperienced. The return on investment is huge."
May 2011
    -- Dr. Kevin Benjamino, DVM

"As a foreign-born European woman working in the male-dominated Houston oil and gas industry, I often found it hard to express myself professionally. I had difficulties being brief, persuasive, and impactful; the fact that English is not my mother tongue didn't make things easier. I needed somebody to help me speak confidently.

From the first moment onwards, V.J. made me feel like a sponge. As a result of his coaching, my verbal expression has improved dramatically. It is now more vivid, more intense, and more thoughtful.

V.J. taught me simple techniques to make my communication more effective and visual. Now, when calling current and potential clients, I sound strong and convincing, as opposed to tentative and even diffident in the past.

I certainly recommend V.J.'s coaching sessions to whoever wants to enhance their communication abilities. V.J.'s sessions are professional, interesting, and enjoyable, but above all, remarkably inspiring!"
December 2011
    -- Amanda Mackintosh, Mackintosh New Ventures

Please also see coaching success stories.

by V.J. Singal

• Was he fighting a swarm of bees or what?
  It appeared as if AOL Chairman Steven Case was doing exactly that while addressing a conference of top CEOs. He made broad, sweeping gestures to emphasize his points, but the camera's close-up perspective cropped his arms just below the shoulders, resulting in a TV image of Case with wildly agitated arm stumps! Lesson: if you are being videotaped, keep your hand gestures close to the body.



• Looking down when you should be looking up!
  Be aware of misplaced eye emphasis, such as looking at your notes when you should be connecting with the audience...and the vice versa! Even highly-trained President Bill Clinton would sometimes consult his speech notes while uttering the most vital words in a sentence, then look up at the audience during the relatively trivial parts.



• That first sentence is crucial!
  When addressing a new audience, remember to keep your first sentence short and filled with simple words only. This gives listeners time to fine-tune their antennas to your vocal idiosyncrasies and thus absorb the rest of your presentation with ease.



• Don't be a bore...or worse!
  Frequent use of trite words such as very, basically, interesting will trivialize your message. Similarly, repeating a particular high-caliber word over and over sounds pompous or pretentious, and creates resentment in the listener. No wonder the use of synonymous words and phrases is the defining trait of America's most articulate.



• Master the stand-alone close.
  By that I mean a three- to five-sentence summation that is somewhat independent of the rest of your presentation, rather than a continuation of preceding material. Thus, if someone was distracted at any point during your speech, but did hear your forcefully delivered stand-alone close, they would still walk away with the gist.

Copyright © 1999 - 2012 by V.J. Singal. Articulate is a registered trademark.
Phone: 281-463-2500, P.O. Box 841155, Houston, TX 77284-1155