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Christopher is a fantastic public speaking coach because of his holistic approach. He is expert not only in making the delivery captivating (which is what I wanted to work on first) but also in crafting a compelling narrative arc. What struck me was that he doesn't use a one-size-fits-all approach with his clients. Instead, his unique strength is that he tailors his approach to his clients and truly brings out the best in them, playing on their own strengths. I can recommend Christopher whole-heartedly to anyone wanting to improve his or her public speaking skills -- no matter your level of experience or the type of occasion.
I got to know Christopher an amazing coach with an impressive personality. He prepared me for my speech from the first ideas to the performance. His hints were very powerful and of a great insight to me. Small things can make a big difference! Christopher is very skilful at helping you to develop your own speech in your own style. He sees the issues and analyzes the situation with his sharp mind and medical precision. In my case he helped me to unfold the full potential. We even had some voice training a couple of hours before the speech. The rehearsals with him were motivating and inspiring. If you want to see yourself and your skills grow, have a chat with Christopher.
"Die Kernidee für den Talk existierte früh, nicht jedoch die Geschichte dazu. Es brauchte eine Weile, um herauszuarbeiten, wie ich die Idee spannend, unterhaltsam und dazu persönlich erzählen kann. Wie so oft war eine zentrale Herausforderung, die Reduktion aufs Wesentliche.
Das Coaching mit Christopher kann ich allen Speakern überaus empfehlen. Mein Vortrag hat sehr davon profitiert, interessanterweise auch mein eigenes Verständnis des Themas. Der Austausch mit Christopher hat geholfen, Ideen zu testen und Annahmen zu hinterfragen. Seine Impulse animierten mich persönlicher zu werden und den Kern besser herauszuarbeiten. Überhaupt nehme ich aus dem Coaching mit, dass die Reduktion auf eine Kernidee entscheidend ist. Weniger ist oft mehr. Dieses Muster begleitet mich seit dem Vortrag mehr als davor. Ich bin sehr dankbar für diese Erfahrung."
"Als Wissenschaftlerin bin ich Präsentationen zwar gewöhnt, aber diese sind sehr fact based. Das Coaching bei Christopher war demnach ein essentieller Bestandteil darin, meine Gedanken für das TEDx Format in einen idea-based Talk umzuwandeln und damit ein Publikum zu begeistern. Die gemeinsame Zeit im Vorfeld und der dadurch fest vorgegebene zeitliche Rahmen waren außerdem unheimlich hilfreich, um dem Event gut vorbereitet entgegenzusehen. Ich bin mir sicher, dass die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse auch für meine wissenschaftlichen Vorträge von Vorteil sein werden."
"I am not sure how many talks I have given before, but this was the first one where I had professional coaching! I felt a clear change in the level of engagement with the audience, as I paid more attention to intonations and body language in line with Chris' suggestions. All our stories are unique and precious; coaching clearly improves their impact on the audience, no matter how good we think we are as natural story tellers..."
"Christophers Arbeit begann lange bevor das erste Wort meines Vortrags geschrieben war. Schon während unseres ersten Telefonats half er mir, meine Gedanken und Ideen in eine konsistente Geschichte zu verpacken. Während des Schreibens stellte ich mir immer wieder die Frage, die er mir gestellt hatte: Was ist deine Throughline? Woran können sich die Menschen durch deinen Talk hangeln? Er hat unermüdlich Kritik geübt, ohne je zu demotivieren. Vor allem die Vortragsübungen haben mir geholfen, eine innere Festigkeit zu finden. Mich nicht ablenken zu lassen. Bei meiner Botschaft zu bleiben. Auf der Ted-Bühne fühlte ich mich dank ihm sicher und gut aufgehoben."
"Deine Idee, eine Message und 12 Minuten. TEDx steht für knackige Vorträge, die in minimaler Zeit möglichst viel Inhalt vermitteln. Um das zu erreichen, ist wohl das Wichtigste, den Kern der eigenen Story auszuarbeiten, zu definieren, unwichtiges wegzulassen und relevantes hinzuzufügen. Dieser Prozess ist aufwändig, langwierig und ohne den geschulten Blick eines erfahrenen Coaches eine große Herausforderung. In intensiven Coaching Sessions hat Christopher meine Vorbereitung von der Idee zum fertigen Vortrag begleitet. Christopher hat das großartige Talent, den Kern der eigenen Story schnell zu erkennen, fachkundig und mit einem sehr guten Gespür die wichtigen Aspekte auszuarbeiten und mit großer Detailliebe an Nuancen zu feilen.
Das Coaching war für mich aber viel mehr als das Erarbeiten der Storyline. Für eine perfekte Vorbereitung braucht man professionelle Tipps zu Themen wie Aufregung, Betonung, Intonation, Tempo und Sprechtraining. Der großartiger Input meines Speaker Coaches zu all diesen Bereichen half mir dabei meinen Vortrag perfekt vorzubereiten und darüber hinaus wird mir das Gelernte auch bei allen künftigen Präsentationen von großem Nutzen sein. TAUSEND DANK Christopher"
"Authentic, honest, motivating and fun! Christopher immediately grasped the issues I knew I was struggling with. His feedback helped me to improve my talk and to become a better speaker as well as to actually enjoy presenting in front of a large audience."
Chris is an excellent and insightful coach! He has a unique ability to hone in on the parts of a presentation that you assume are clear but actually are not. He provides observant and incisive feedback and criticism and asks key questions to get you to pull the story out of your talk that was hidden there all along. He’s also not afraid to suggest that you sacrifice your idols — those little bits in a presentation that you may love but are actually totally useless for the audience — but he does so in a way that makes it seems like a natural improvement. His advice is especially useful for those of us coming from highly technical fields like particle physics, where it’s easy to let the truly exciting ideas get buried under jargon and detail. Chris is great at helping avoid that. And speaking of detail, he’s also expert at getting you to think a bit bigger, to stretch beyond your original concept, to place your idea in a larger context, thus strengthening the talk.
It was very interesting and effective to work with Christopher in order to design and shape the talk. The process was quite iterative, being a true learning experience where Christopher asked the right questions, leading then to a better insight. His feedback was very useful in developing a new and dynamic perspective to the story.
I very much enjoyed being coached by Christopher for my talk at TEDxHambourg 2016. Christopher is really good at finding the little things in someone's presentation that, when changed, really make the difference. He can give both general advice and precise, concrete suggestions. His help was priceless. And plus, Christopher is always good-humored, smily, and fun.
Over the last two years, I have given many presentations at academic and technical conferences. I knew that a TED talk required something different and Christopher helped guide me through the process of sharing a complex idea into a short amount of time. Each meeting together contributed to refining the narrative and, most importantly, incorporating humor into an otherwise dense topic. For one of the first times, I wasn’t so nervous to present in public but was actually excited to do it. Now I have a much better eye for the details necessary in public speaking and will use his tips as the foundation for my future talks. I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to have him as my coach.
"Thank you for pushing (and pushing) me. It was super-fun to work with you!”
"Christopher helped me understand that whilst there are many strands in a story, it is important to focus on a few select ones. He helped me to distil down my thoughts to those that were most interesting, and most relevant to the subject of the day. I was really petrified of speaking without speaking notes. The coach helped me gain comfort with cue cards and manage my fear in that way. I was able to free myself from the notes and therefore be much more natural and authentic and speak from my heart. As a result, I am far more comfortable today as a speaker, am happy to speak now without a full written speech and just cue cards. I have way more confidence."
"Christopher helped me with the preparation of my talk at TEDxBerlin 2014. His coaching comprised not only delivery techniques and impact but also especially the shaping of the storyline. I am convinced that the joint work advanced and improved my talk considerably. And more than that: it also sharpened my eye for good speeches and has massively influenced the way I approach talks and presentations since then. Christopher taught how stories can come to life via discontinuities and leaps. And he gave me the courage to show more of myself on stage. As a speaker I feel more authentic and that hopefully has also an impact on my audience."
"Christopher is a brilliant coach and has a great personality. In preparation for my talk he helped me a lot to structure it and focus on the main message. He also gave me confidence of being a speaker and coached me to unleash that passion of storytelling.“
"Chris is an effective speaking coach because of his understanding of the busy schedule of a speaker. He comes into the conversation knowing your capabilities as a speaker and helps to quickly focus on the important points and stylistic attributes for a specific speaking engagement. I worked with Chris for my second TEDx talk and he helped me to think about the best way to deliver my message based on the makeup of the particular audience that I would be in front of that day. His preparation and thoughtfulness make his assistance very worthwhile."
Patrick has coached my first ever talk on Zenith Talk platform in Berlin November 2015, and it was because of his sincere remarks, encouraging words, professional advices that the talk was delivered in a successful and smooth way. I was tensed and had some minutes of panic at first, but Patrick reassured me and taught me how to quickly generate more self-confidence, how to focus, how to speak from the heart, how to be natural, and how to walk on stage in an easy and relaxed way. He is by all means a seasoned coach and I would surely use his advice in any other talk that I might give in future.
„Thanks to the speaker training by Christopher I could understand deeply how impactful a well thought out storyline is to inspire my audience for my ideas. Due to valuable techniques and very concrete suggestions I prepare all my talks – extended speeches or short presentations – in a more structured way. A long-lasting corporate training that in addition was really fun due to Christopher’s likeable and relaxed style.“ (translated from German).
„Christopher is a highly competent and congenial coach with a clear, structured approach that I liked a lot. Our sessions very incredibly productive and, at the same time, had a pleasantly casual atmosphere. As a natural scientist it was a special challenge for me to connect with a broad audience at a deep level, but with empathy and a sense of humor Christopher helped me to put myself into the position of the audience and thus to win it over.“ (translated from German)
"As a speaker I know my domain well, but I don't know my audience well. Christopher helped identify my audience and customize my message to the audience's needs. Chris's energy and passion helps breathe new life into my talk, and ensure I stay focused on delivering the best talk possible. He helped me realize areas of my presenting skills I am good at and those where I need improvement.
Chris, you're a pretty funny guy too, and have a good grasp of what can make an audience laugh/cry/get engaged ☺."
"I have worked with Christopher on my TEDx Hamburg talk, and although I have given talks for almost two decades, I feel like I improved tremendously.
When presenting, I use my heart and it might end somewhat chaotic, as I sometimes forget that I am telling a new story to the audience. Christopher help me realize where my strengths are, and gently helped me to correct the chaos coming out of my many thoughts. He streamlined me, made me empathize and keep connected with the audience, as well as reassured me that I will do great on cameras.
After working with Christopher, I have a better understanding what is important for connecting with the audience. Lastly, and possibly the most importantly, Chris did it all without changing my personality. Christopher made me love the experience of presenting in front of cameras. I very much enjoyed working with him!"
"I found Chris’s coaching style to be personable yet professional. After a focussed consultation period he designed a program tailored to my particular speaking profile ahead of a TEDx talk. This was surprisingly dynamic. Chris offered feedback on a variety of factors such as body language, communication engagement and content narrative. This was paramount in delivering my talk and food for thought more broadly in my work.“
I was always afraid to speak without paper. She challenged me to go outside my comfort zone and speak from the heart. She gave me the tools and confidence to memorise my whole talk.
And it went great: I told my story – even without saying ‘uhm’. I can’t wait to be on stage again.
I can recommend Tara to everyone who wants more confidence in public speaking! I enjoyed working with her. Tara, thanks for everything and till next time!
„My challenge was to prepare a TED talk and to find the message in the “general store” of my topics and ideas. Chris met me 4 times in a period of 2 weeks to help me prepare my TEDx talk. At first I only had a vague idea and dumped everything on him. From meeting to meeting we then jointly condensed the idea which then filled the required 18 minutes. The result: My message is better received, I can formulate better and get to the heart of the matter and deliver jokes on the way. But: I still speak far to quickly – there is room for at least one additional session ;-).“ (translated from German)
„There are talks where you don’t have the feeling that you need to prepare much. Then there are TED Talks. A TED Talk has a certain structure, rhythm, maybe even rules. Thus I was happy that you wanted – and were able to! – introduce me to the secrets of TED. The regular sessions forced me to deal with my topic and my issues intensively and to speak with less fear (even though I was still nervous). Moreover I learnt a lot about dramaturgy and about keeping it short and clear. My talk transformed into a story with a great beginning and an equally exciting end. I have learnt a lot for which I am still thankful to you today because I try to tell a story in all of my talks now and try to abstain from slides. Five stars.“ (translated from German)
Tara really got to the heart of what I was trying to convey, helped me organise my thoughts, gave me insight on how to express myself clearly and with enthusiasm so that it felt natural. Success on the day; a well delivered talk that resulted in some business wins!
"Working with Christopher for my TEDx Frankfurt talk was a great learning. The first feeling which he inspired me was trust, that as long as I will remain open to his feedback, things will be just fine. And so it was. He challenged me until I narrowed down all my thoughts and experiences to one main idea. It was the most painful part, but the most valuable too."
I have very much enjoyed working with Tara. As a coach she was extremely positive, inspiring and stimulating. Tara succeeded in getting the best out of me – after every session with her I felt I had wings.
Since always, my presentations were sounding like a car race. I have always had this bad habit to speak too fast. I never took the time to breathe ;), and thus let the audience breathe.
During the coaching, regarding the content, I really got great input in simplifying the subjects I was presenting, to make them interesting to non-specialist. This is typically something that many scientists struggle with and I am part of them on this characteristic.
But regarding delivery I got the most critical advice especially on posture and speech fluency on stage, something that nobody ever explained to me! It was quite an eye opener, because now when I listen to presentations I pay attention to these things and I can correlate the quality of the presentation to these parameters, even in science!!
I think mostly I could understand how the body language and the speech mode can make a dramatic change in the delivery of the presentation and also to which extend people listen to you! Now, I made a little challenge to myself; I will use my scientific conferences to experiment these two things and understand how it changes the outcome of the presentation! Brilliant tools, brilliant!
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