16 Apr Hearts, minds, wallets

During this second day of presentations, Austin Hill, suggested a way for start-up companies to think about their pitches to investors.

HEARTS –> MINDS –> WALLETS

The key he says, is to first appeal to the “hearts” of the potential investors through a narrative that will get them excited about their service of product. Then you have to back the story with data and a concrete business plan to win theirs “minds”. If these are performed convincingly, they are the way to the money; or their “wallets”.

Incidentally, Austin doesn’t think start-up companies not to mention valuation at the end of their pitch. Instead, he suggests they say that there are different ways of valuing the company and that “we will be happy to discuss these in more details in a further meeting”.

What transpired from this second day is that start-up companies need to develop a narrative around their service or product but that they shouldn’t give away all that they have. Rather they should think about their pitch as “teasing” the VC’s into wanting more.

14 Apr J’arrive a’ Montreal

Earlier this year, I had been invited by iNovia Capital to be among three panelists to assess a series of presentations by start-up companies.

iNovia Capital “has over $158M under management across two seed and early stage funds (MSBi Investment Fund, L.P. & iNovia Investment Fund II, L.P.) and MSBi Valorisation.”

My host is Joško Bobanovic, a principal in the firm. Some of the presenting companies form part of his portfolio. These are:

Metafoam
Nanoledge
Plastic Knowledge

I will be joined by Austin Hill and Bernie Li.

25 Mar A new radio show for WETIN

We are thrilled to hear that Lau Lapides and Laurie Schloff will be hosting a new radio show with Emerson’s station WETIN.

The show titled “Talk Shop” is a 1 hour radio show on Emerson’s new station WETIN Web radio streamed live from 7:00-8:00 PM the second and forth Wednesday evening every month. First program will premier March 25th and will kickoff the program with a discussion on Speech and the City coming up on April 4.

The power packed “Double L Team” will take on the world of communicating with two segments lasting roughly 15-20 minutes in length including fun, thematic music suited for the show. The first segment we will interview a “How Leaders Talk Guest” focusing on how leaders in their industries and organizations talk and communicate. The second segment we’ll invite a “Great Voices Guest” who will discuss and demonstrate how they use their voice in their given industry for profit or philanthropy.

Lau and Laurie are super, high-energy, fun and interactive hosts who will use humor, anecdotes, share expertise and invite live callers to call in and ask questions.

“Our purpose for the program is to interact, engage, educate, and provoke our audience to think, question, and take action to change, promote, and strengthen excellent communication skills in whatever industry they are in.” says Lau.

Stay tuned for more information about this program.

19 Mar Speech and the City

Announcing a unique event in Boston…

The Women’s Connecting, Learning, and Empowering Forum.

As the job market grows even more competitive, learning how to communicate effectively and present a professional image in the best way possible is crucial. Learn how to strengthen what makes you unique and market yourself and your personal image to get that dream job! The Speech Improvement Company of Boston invites you to join us in this unique “First” sponsored by Boston University to celebrate and redefine how women communicate in the new millennium. This event will be a dynamic opportunity for women to network, learn, and socialize, while strengthening their professional and interpersonal communication skills.

This amazing event will offer a consortium of speakers, interactive workshops, demonstrations, and one-on-one personal coaching experiences with leading industry professionals.

Hosted by the College of Communication Student Assembly and Women and Finance, this exciting event will take place at Boston University, The College of Communication, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, on Saturday April 4, 2009 from 11AM-4 PM. We are pleased to provide a pool of experts to help you communicate for success! Workshops and meetings will help you leverage your communication strengths in the challenging job market to enhance your personal image and style.

Here are just a few of the innovative and energizing workshops and speakers we have lined up:

“Communicating with Confidence in a Difficult Job Market”
“The Power of Your Professional & Personal Style/Image”
“Mastering the Interview”
“Finding work through Social Media & Personal Branding”
“Effective Presentation & Speaking Tools to Keep You One Step Ahead”
Please RSVP and pre-register for this event by going to our dedicated page and receive a discount ticket for $5.

Drop ins are most welcome on the day of the event and you may purchase your
tickets at the door for $10. All proceeds will go to Heading Home in Cambridge, MA. Check out our exciting spring lineup of communication programs designed specifically for women at Speech and the City Executive Women’s Certificate Program!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Please contact me directly at 617.739.3330 or email me at

Lau Lapides, Executive Speech Coach & Program Coordinator

[email protected] if you have any questions or innovative ideas!

1614 Beacon Street, Brookline (Boston), MA 02446 (617) 739-3330 1-800-LETS RAP fax (617) 232-9430

www.speechimprovement.com • email: [email protected]

20 Feb Using social media to find a job

A panel discussion hosted by: The Speech Improvement Company, Inc.

An increasing number of anecdotes are surfacing about people landing jobs using social networks, such as twitter (See “How Twitter can help at work by the New York Times http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/how-twitter-can-help-at-work/)

What are the opportunities, threats and strategies job-seekers should be aware of when using social media?

There will be three short presentations from hiring and social media specialists to spur the conversation on. The discussion will be moderated by Wahyd Vannoni, director of new media at The Speech Improvement Company, Inc..

Please join us at our offices in Brookline, MA on Thursday, March 12th, from 10 AM to 12 PM.

Seating is limited.

Please contact: The Speech Improvement Company, Inc.

1614 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446
USA

Phone: +1 617-739-3330
Fax: +1 617-232-9430

4 Feb London under the snow!

Monica Murphy is in London working with Bain Capital… right on time for the worst snowfalls in 18 years. She sent us this report.

wow, what an adventure so far! London is very crazy now. This is the most snow they have seen in 18 years! Yesterday was incredible. All of the Busses were out of service. The tube only had 1 line running, the schools were all shut and the roads……

I found the communication from the television stations very interesting. The whole day is to refered to as a “disturbance” . In fact, the local stations were not able to conduct their regular programme since guests were not able to travel in to the station. The anchor man and woman kept repackaging the same information in different ways, adding their own personal thoughts obviously, they kept interupting each other, the producer must have been trying to keep them conversational.

I was able to walk to work at the Bain Capital office in Mayfair. It is just off the main road. I am staying at Le Merridien. This is just 5-6 blocks walk. Along my walk I saw many excited people out making snowmen in Green Park. In fact, I snapped this photo of a snowman in the parking area in front of the Royal Academy, just a few doors from my hotel.

It is the chinese new year. On sunday there was a great parade. There are chinese lanterns hung in the streets, so many people you could hardly