Views from our Customers

"I recently did another pivotal presentation at a Business conference, in preparation for which Godfrey coached me. ... I had positive feedback from several directors, one of whom said my presentation was 'exceptional' and another said that my confidence and clarity reminded them of a TV presenter. Having my performance endorsed in this way only confirms that the training I have undergone has been a huge success.

"I have recently asked Godfrey to help me improve my ability to influence and create impact in meetings ... and as usual the results have been swift and extremely positive.

"The training process I have experienced has been surprisingly enjoyable and has successfully delivered on the objectives I set out with and more. Consequently I would recommend Godfrey and Xpress Train to anyone who wants to improve their communication skills."

"As a senior manager ... I have employed Xpress train on several occasions to provide assistance with the preparation, practice and delivery of conference presentations. Most recently, Xpress Train helped me prepare a detailed presentation which I successfully delivered at the ... conference to over 100 telecoms industry delegates in Amsterdam.

"My experience is that Xpress Train provides creative, differentiating ideas during preparation, backed up by solid, dependable coaching for effective delivery during practice, so resulting in high quality, confidently delivered presentations.

"I can confidently recommend Godfrey Room's services to businesses committed to achieving excellence in their public speaking and presentations."

"I came to you in January with a speech impediment which I have had for most of my life, and I was asking for your help to overcome my concern with regard to making a speech at my daughter's wedding.

"You not only advised and coached me with the wedding speech, for which I received compliments but you also helped me to overcome my speech impediment on a daily basis. After years of stammering in just 8 months you have coached me to speak fluently and by your excellent teaching methods I now feel confident to speak in any situation.

"I cannot thank you enough for the help and confidence which you have given to me, and I have no hesitation in recommending you in the future."

"I must tell you that all the work you did on my voice continues to benefit my career. It must be still working because yesterday I was told by a BBC World Service producer that my voice is perfect for radio!"

Thanks very much to our speaker Godfrey Room for both an entertaining and informative presentation. Really got us thinking about making the most of our voices and some excellent exercises too.

Thanks to Ray for organising the venue and inviting Godfrey. Ray also did a lot to publicise the event. It is thanks, in large part, to her efforts that we had such a strong turnout. (There were more there than were registered internally on Ecademy as we reached outside Ecademy to invite people in.)

Best wishes to you all.

Imogen

Imogen Caterer
(Deputy Leader, Gloucester & Cheltenham Club)
Nutrition Consultant
NQ nutrition
Helping you add years to your life and life to those years

www.NQnutrition.co.uk

I echo the sentiments regaring the organisation skils and venue selection - I expected to take an hour, but got lucky as I was driving against the flow of traffic.

I found the evening interesting and challenging - and look forward to many more.

Thanks to Godfrey for enlightening us regarding how to better use our valuable asset - voice. I spend a lot of time leading conferences/seminars and speaking at events - and find that it is very easy to slip into some of those bad habits, particularly the 'speed' issue. Of course, there is very little chance that my Mid-Atlantic accent will ever become an Aaahhcent:-), but it is worth trying.

Best regards

Alan

I wanted, as promised, to send you a note to thank you for your entertaining presentation on Wednesday. I believe that I am an experienced presenter with good diction but you made me feel like an amateur - in the nicest possible way, making me laugh in the process. Quite an achievement.

Mrs. S., wife of diplomat, stressed beyond belief by frequent dinner parties she had to host at her large house, because she feared she was letting her husband [and the Gov’t!] down by being so inhibited about her accent and inability to say certain words that she barely spoke at all. After an intensive course with me, it is hard to describe her joy and relief when she reported back the success of an important party at which she had mingled and conversed freely and with enjoyment.

Miss P., Media / PR officer for City of London Corporation responsible for managing the press and TV at major receptions for VIPs came to XTL for a course because of lack of vocal power and ability to command attention when organising greeting lines etc. "How do I interrupt Tony Blair’s conversation with a Head of State to move the group to the next activity?" was but one of the issues successfully handled. She replaced an ex-RSM [ret’d.] and needed techniques and skills to command attention in an appropriate way. Her confidence has grown and she is carrying out her duties effectively now.

Cpl. J – nicknamed by the RAF as "Twice" because of his strong Orcadian accent when giving mission-critical Intelligence briefings to pilots in UK, Afghanistan and Iraq etc. He failed to win a place at Cranwell for officer training solely because of his unclear speech. After a 20-hour course, he not only achieved a desperately-sought place in his final attempt but was commended for his clear speech. He then went on to become top cadet of his cohort and bore the Sword of Honour and shouted the orders for the Passing Out parade! This promotion has totally changed his life! He is now an air-traffic controller guiding fast jets.

P.S. He now works in Air Traffic Control! That's a strong testimony to the clarity of his speech!

W.Officer J. was tasked with reading out the commendations and calling the names of RAF men receiving medals and honours from the C-in-C Europe. The RAF asked me to train him because his speech was not clear. Our final session took me to the location for the ceremony enabling me to make suggestions about the arrangement of the space as well as complete his practice. He was commended by the Station Commander and promoted shortly afterwards. He was posted from Lyneham and the visibility he achieved clearly changed his career.

Mr. T. – Asst. Treasurer to a Borough Council, lacked confidence when addressing groups and had several issues with particular sounds. I coached him to achieve clarity and confidence and, following intensive interview skills training, he achieved promotion to Treasurer of a Local Authority in Kent which meant the relocation of his family, a major salary increase and a wholly new way of life which he said he owed to me!

Mr. G. – a very senior Motorola manager had to deliver a paper to an international conference in Amsterdam. Delegates paid some £4000 each to attend the 3 days and Mr. G. was assigned a speaker slot as No. 10 on the very first day. i.e. the last before dinner at the end of the travelling day! We planned for this disadvantage and by modifying his script [pre-published for the delegates to allow for translations etc.], we worked on delivery skills. He was so well received that he received 2 job offers that very evening! He had mastered his inability to say "TH" , raised the profile of his company and shortly afterwards was given even more responsibility for developments in the Far East as well as Europe – not least because of his growing reputation as a speaker.

Mr. N. – Finance Director of a large transportation company suffered from a stammer for 30 years and was incapable of speaking at Board meetings because of his embarrassment. He desperately wanted to make his daughter proud of him by speaking at her wedding and came for help. He recognised that the British Stammerers Association website estimates 2 years for a "cure". After the wedding reception, 8 months later, he sent a text message thanking me for the great success of his speech and the many plaudits he received. A few more sessions later, he ended his programme because he was now speaking confidently at meetings in his company: his life was transformed!

Miss P. was on the point of giving up her job as a swimming instructor because, in a pool with several groups being taught at once, she could not make herself heard and was worried about safety and the loss of her voice. After a total of only six hours of training spread over a number weeks, she had techniques that worked and a continuing income stream because she no longer damaged her voice and could get and hold the attention of the children.

Two separate groups of staff employed by a Health Authority were tasked with giving talks to various groups in the communities around Cardiff. Some gave talks in schools about drugs abuse, smoking and sexual health; others were in the front line at public meetings for the closure of health centres in a reorganisation etc. all were regularly having to face a range of audiences and felt rather inadequate. After each group had had a total of 2.5 days of intensive training in presentation skills, they were enthusiastic about their work again and generous in their praise for the training that had empowered them to be effective and reduced the stress they had previously suffered. Clearly their new effectiveness influenced a lot of lives!

Mr. C., a manager in a global engineering company, is of Arabic descent and was born in Egypt. His English is very good after years of living in the local area but his accenting and some mannerism gave out unintended and misinformative messages that people interpreted as aggressiveness and "shortness" of attitude and approach. This was a barrier to his advance to the highest levels of management. After a programme with Xpress Train, his accent became clear so he was well understood and his body language and non-verbal behaviours were so different that he received responsibility for leading a programme of change to motivate staff. After interview training, he successfully undertook a promotion interview shortly afterwards and so his prospects were materially transformed.

Mr. W. had a growing reputation as a Public address announcer and commentator at quality events such as polo matches and Badminton. As a result of voice training, he achieved a major new job with a radio station including television work in Kent and left the area for a new life.

Mr. M. was a well-known DJ who was leaving a commercial radio station and finding it hard to control his strong accent enough to get a BBC job. After a few sessions, he not only kept his signature accent but became more easily understood and valued and used some programme suggestions that I gave him so that his part-time radio programme for the BBC became a very popular [and full-time] feature of the station. "You’re an inspiration" were the words he out on a signed photograph.

Mrs. S. – a field archaeological officer with English Heritage was very softly spoken and had problems giving outdoor talks on site to visiting groups. Her position was under threat in re-structuring job reductions. Not only did her voice training alleviate her difficulties in the field, but she was invited to speak at several national conferences in Cambridge and in the North and her interview training, which included a formal presentation, was a success and she remains employed by the National Trust.

Mrs. W. a highly-qualified social worker, had left her career and was, after a year’s floristry course at college, working in a Cirencester florist’s business. She was renowned for speaking so quickly that customers and her employers had great difficulty in understanding what she said. This embarrassed and frustrated her considerably; only her husband – himself a slow speaker – could really make out what she was saying without effort. After training which clarified and slowed her rate of speech and after passing a lead about a job vacancy to her, Mrs. W. re-entered the social work profession in an important, child-protection management role. Her salary was double what it was before and this had a big impact upon her family and changed her whole situation in a very positive way!

Mr. B., an accountant, struggling to set up a new kind of business alongside his practice responsibilities as an employee, undertook training over an extended though interrupted period. His ambition, which seemed initially significantly beyond his reach, was to become a successful public speaker. Increasingly overcoming his lack of clarity [ a sufferer earlier of cerebral palsy with parents and roots in the Caribbean] he has persisted and, having entered for an externally conducted examination validated by QCA as an equivalent NVQ Level 3 qualification, he not only passed his Bronze Medal exam in Public Speaking last July with Distinction but he also gained the Grade 7 Silver Medal from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art with Merit in November 2005. He took the exam last week to gain the Gold Medal!

His confidence is high; he has been asked to speak at increasingly important meetings in the community about Drug Culture and is on the way to realising his dream of being a professional speaker! He says how this has changed his life for the better.

Mr. S. a "Banardo Boy" after 10 years as HM Tax inspector, wanted above all to prove that someone from such humble origins as his could make it to the top profession – his definition of that was to become a Barrister at Law. Late in life he undertook all the exams to qualify and graduated from his Inn of Court for practice under the tutelage of his Pupil Mistress – itself an amazing achievement to get so far! – he was told by her that he had no chance of being called to the Bar and being given advocacy work so long as he had a deep Gloucestershire accent! After travelling from Swindon to Gloucester for lessons with a speech trainer for some time, he felt he was getting nowhere. He was seeing his dream beginning to slide from beneath him when he saw Xpress Train advertised in Yellow Pages. After our first session, he said he had learned more in one hour with me than in six months in Gloucester! He achieved a beautifully modulated, clear, accentless manner of speech. After a few months, during which he began to conduct several successful cases, he returned only to "learn to speak posh" better to conform to expectations of clients. His success has been sustained, he has married a QC and his dream has been achieved.

Cllr. A. was very anxious indeed about his turn to chair an annual consultation meeting between a large number of representatives of parish councils and statutary bodies, knowing that he had not done it before, had issues about clarity of speech and needed to run a very effective meeting in the face of anticipated controvertial issues arising on the agenda. His reputation was at stake and it was essential to do a good job. After only 2 sessions with Xpress Train, he reported back that the meeting had been a major success and earned him many compliments. He now felt a new confidence which was significantly improving his reputation and accelerating his political career.

Mr. D., a manager in a public water research company, was asked by his line manager to take over a key presentation to a very important group of public utility chiefs in London only one week before the event. He was given a PowerPoint programme of some 50 slides and he came to me for help. It was immediately obvious that the slides were poorly sequenced and contained far too complex diagrams and statistics. In session 1 we edited the programme radically. In our second session we worked upon the script and delivery issues. Finally, in a third session, we rehearsed the whole presentation. The next day, the presentation was duly given and was very well received to the relief and delight of Mr. D., who was then invited to lead more conferences around the UK.

Dr. X – newly arrived from Burma and unable to be understood clearly by colleagues and patients, meets me weekly for an hour to moderate his accent and widen his vocabulary; significant improvement achieved in 4 weeks! After extending the coaching for a further period, the aims were achieved to the delight of the doctor, his patients and his colleagues.

Mr. R. – CEO of an Executive Search company is making a very costly series of training DVD programmes and has to present 90-minute seminars to camera but he knows himself to be a poor presenter when trying to read a script. Xpress Train had 4 weeks to solve the problem by training him in presentation skills.

The training was so effective, the filming was successfully completed and the programme is in post-production before being published and sold nationally.

Mr. B. - a young man suffering from a mild form of Asberger's Syndrome and who, despite being educated to HNC standard and nearing completion of a part-time degree course and despite providing exemplary service as a part-time employee fulfilling responsibilities well above his status, failed upon 4 occasions to interview well enough to gain a full-time position with his employer to do the same job. He was determined to gain the post on merit and did not disclose his difficulties to gain a sympathy advantage over others! After only six sessions of coaching from Xpress Train - the vacancy next arose much sooner after the previous rejection than anticipated - he was offered the job he had tried so hard to get for five years and that has given him a whole new series of opportunities for advancement, a better salary, job security, a pension plan - a whole new life!

Miss D. - In the process of transferring within an RAF career from being a firefighter to Intelligence and facing a demanding training course requiring the delivery of briefings and reports, she undertook an Xpress Train Ltd. personal programme to make her speech clearer, boost her self-confidence and learn how to deliver After ONE SESSION, Miss D. topped her class with her first assignment and was commended for her clarity, confidence and well-structured content.

From: Peter Svensson on 12-Mar-08 12:41pm [ click here to reply ]

Hi Godfrey, The quick 5 min training you did with me at the last Network event, really did the trick at my talk the next day, you totaly changed my focus from me to, what do I want the audience to think, feel, do, bring back home from my delivery, also the comon ground consept and find the pain, made a huge difference. The result, I was confident, relaxed yet strong, powerful and sensitive in the delivery and it worked super. Friends got up afterward and said 'I did,nt know you were such a good speaker! Thanks Godfrey ps Looking forward to the event 31st Mars.

to: Godfrey "Speech-Trainer" Room
to: Bob (Employee Engagement) Hayward

Shouldn't you make contact now with Godfrey Room? He is keen to help YOU realise your aims!

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