How TalkPower Came To Be

Although  the serious nature of fear of speaking in public is largely ignored and the subject of jokes and ridicule, a reliable solution for this condition has previously   remained a mystery. Nevertheless, the problem has ruined careers and caused untold grief as year after year  millions of people refuse promotions, drop out of Graduate school or fail their oral examinations, refuse keynote address opportunities, are unable to make a toast, read in church, participate at meetings, accept awards, ask questions in groups, fail at job interviews, avoid important presentations by turning them over to staff, suffer sleepless nights weeks before a speech, refuse to pursue careers where public speaking is involved and suffer the shame and humiliation of low self esteem as a result of this “problem.”

Due to my unrelenting drive to discover a solution for this mysterious and devastating problem of Public Speaking Phobia, Fear and Anxiety,  for the past 20 years I, Natalie H.Rogers, MSW have been  conducting Public Speaking Workshops. Taking a most  unusual approach, I turned my attention to exploring the relationship between performance, the mind, and the body to develop a practical system for eliminating public speaking dysfunction. Relying upon my experience as an actress, psychotherapist, yoga practitioner and trainer I was able to use my workshops as a laboratory. As a result after  careful research and observation I have produced a completely new training technology, comparable to the way star athletes are trained for  competitive events. This includes a  series of simple repetitive muscle –memory techniques for developing inner control and  permanent pubic speaking skills,  plus a variety of original concentration and focusing exercises. These exercises actually train the brain (neural patterning) for the skill of performance(Performance:any situation where an audience is looking at you).

Public Speaking Phobia Acquired Later in Life

I used to love speaking in public and I don’t know what happened but for the last three years, whenever an opportunity comes up when I have to make a comment, address a group, or ask a question at a meeting, at that precise moment all of my brain functions jam. And there I am, hopeless, shamed…I fee like a victim in front of a firing squad.

                                                                        -Erwin, accountant

 Some 70 percent of my students and clients recall that from early childhood they were shy and didn’t speak up, the other 30 percent who suffer from public speaking phobia had a different story. These people were once excellent speakers. Generally outgoing, they were active in drama and debate clubs, were class valedictorian or presidents of class societies.

They all report that one day their ability to speak in public vanished and they had abandon all opportunities. Behavioral psychology tells us that phobias happen after a traumatic event—usually an experience that shakes the individual to his/her core—like a psychological near death experience. This could be as serious as a terrible car accident, sudden death of a loved one, a natural disaster, and experience in combat, acts of terrorism, rape, etc. Oddly enough, experiences that one can consider rather benign can also produce such an effect. For example, going away to college, moving to a new community, losing a job, etc. although these events are no where as near as life threatening as those in the previous list, with certain individuals they can fall under the category of traumatic events. As a result one sense of personal control and safety is utterly shattered at the deepest level of self, resulting in Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The stress reaction can appear immediately or up to two years after the traumatic event. No matter what the cause, or the variety or precipitating events, the result can be a phobia, such as fears of flying, driving, fear of heights, or enclosed spaces. The phobia triggered by a particular event can them generalize to other areas, such as fear of escalators or trains, or a sudden panic attack in front of an audience.

The panic attack causes an episode of thought blocking and becomes another traumatic event that will not be forgotten. The next time an opportunity for speaking arises you are psychologically transported to the past—and that moment when you are speechless. You simply cannot do it; you decline with some excuse. One avoidant excuse leads to another, and in a very short time you have glossophobia, an irrational fear of speaking in public.

ABOUT NATALIE H. ROGERS

                                   FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF TALKPOWER

Over the  past  twenty years  I have heard every horrific public speaking story imaginable . Hair raising tales of public humiliation, excruciating stage fright,  panic attacks, loss of memory, speechlessness, and botched presentations  have been recounted by my students .

My job has been to train my students to overcome their debilitating fear of speaking in public with my original and transformative Talk power program .

                                                                                           

                                                            MY OWN STORY

When I returned to college after many years as a professional actress, director and acting teacher to prepare for my second career as a psychotherapist I took a course in Public speaking .As I was waiting for the instructor to arrive, I heard bits of conversation .

“I sound like a moron”

“My voice is so monotonous” 

“I hate this”

“They don’t like me .I know it :I can feel it “

“Oh my God ,last week she was reading a menu during my entire speech”

The presentations began. I listened to the endless speeches.  The visibly shaking, pacing, breathless students obviously stressed ,tried to deliver .The instructor kept saying “relax, relax”. Was I the only one aware of the of the discomfort and lack of concentration .This was not anything like the systematic  training I had received as an actress  where we were given intensive coaching for concentration, relaxation, attention, and body awareness.

       Offering gimmicks, bit’s and pieces of information, old wives tales ,and a hodge- podge of theory the class was ineffective in  helping the students to calm down    

and take control of themselves. I realized that there was no established procedure for training the mind and the body for public speaking. I had my “Aha” moment. It occurred to me that the  same kind of systematic technique used to train actors called The Stanislavski Method could be adjusted so that non actors could develop concentration and performance skills for speaking comfortably  in front of an audience .Yes! a step by step method was the logical answer for eliminating serious public speaking distress.  This included speaking at meetings, interviewing for  job, making a toast, asking a question in class reading in church and even walking down the aisle .

Above all, my program would  answer the question that all people who are  phoebic or uncomfortable about speaking in public ask “How can I keep my concentration focused on what I am saying when everyone is looking at me .I called my program Talkpower . One year later I started teaching the Talkpower Method in a class called “Panic Clinic For Public Speaking” at Baruch college Of Continuing Education . I introduced these first students to a new and original mind body training designed to restore their shattered confidence . Step by step on a muscle memory level  they learned  how to become calm, how to concentrate and finally how to speak in front of an audience .Beginning with one sentence ,then a paragraph, by the end of the class every student was able to deliver an eight minute presentation .

Today Talkpower is successful seminar business ,  internationally recognized as a unique  state of the art method for training speakers.

Clients include American Express, United Parcel Service , United Nations, National WestministerBank, Texaco,  J.C. Penny Co, AT&Talbert Einstein College of Medicine , IBM, The Women’s Bar Association of The State of New York, MCI Telecommunications Co. Karpas Health Information Center, Chase Manhattan Bank, Organization of Black Airline Pilots, Hoechst Cleanese  Corperation ,Howard J. Rubenstein Associates Ford Moter Company , and so many more .  

                                                                           

Letter from a Corporate Client

Dear Natalie

I just want to thank you for the excellent  Public Speaking Without Stress you put on for us this year.

Your course is so helpful to people. It really changes them in a fundamental way after they attend. We are always able to fill your program when we offer it. This is because the word- of-mouth around the company is so positive about the program. People really enjoy it and they feel it works. Iwould have to say that your seminar consistently get’s among the best ratings of any of the on-site-classes we offer our employees.

Natalie, you are a pleasure to work with and I look forward to jointly putting on more programs with you again next year.  

Sincerely,

Vice President 

Name and company omitted