16 Jan Britney Gengel–Please be Alive

By: Laurie Schloff

Usually I am glad when there’s an empty seat next to me on a plane. Yet when a mom with a beautiful smile apologized for taking the middle seat, her spirit was so warm, I didn’t mind at all. As TV camera people came down the aisle to film her just sitting there. I said “You must be famous.” She told me that she was going to meet her daughter, a student at Lynn University in Florida, who had just arrived in Haiti with a student group called “Journey of Hope to Haiti”. An hour after checking into the hotel, the earthquake hit. I instinctively said, “You’re Britney’s mom.”

I had heard her husband on the radio that morning praising God and that all he wanted was Britney in his arms. They had been told she had been rescued, was in a helicopter, perhaps on its way to the nearby Dominican Republic. They had not talked to her or seen a picture and didn’t know if she was physically hurt.

Going through a personal earthquake of emotions, to a destination of unknowns I was amazed by CherylAnn’s ability to show such grace and cheer on the outside. This was a communication under pressure lesson for me and one I will pass on to clients –and myself.

I felt protective of CherylAnn, flying through the clouds to hold her daughter. We both watched CNN in fear., I gave her some juicy fruit and movie magazines. She told me that Britney dreamed of being on TV. I said that as a speech coach, I’d help her in any way and for her sure to be debut as a guest on The Today Show on Monday . CherylAnn turned to say ” See you on Oprah!” as she departed with her husband and their two teen boys to reunion with their little girl.

But this morning, the world and dear mom, CherylAnn, were told that there had been a mistake and that though eight Lynn University students arrived in Fort Lauderdale last night, Britney was not one of them.
It is now a Journey of Hope for the world, CherylAnn and her family.

Britney Gengel, please be alive.

14 Sep ALL TOGETHER NOW: TAKE A DEEP BREATH

by Laurie Schloff/Senior Coaching Partner

8 Jul Catching Up With the Coaches – Laurie Schloff

The Coaches at The Speech Improvement Company are constantly working with new clients and launching new projects.

Laurie’s main focus at the moment is continuing her successful collaboration with the Healthcare Business Women’s Association. She and two other TSIC Coaches, Nancy Goldberg and Lau Lapides, have developed a series of workshops called The Leadership Success Series.

>Laurie, tell us more about this series

“The series involves six workshops aimed at helping female leaders enhance their communication skills. In these workshops, we cover topics like Speaking for Success, Effective Presentation Skills, and Top Teamwork. Our latest workshop, called Masterful Meetings, will be presented on September 17th.

The series has been very successful. In fact, it recently won an award called the Global HBA President’s Award for Innovation. We received it not only for designing a unique program, but also for drawing a high level of participation from the HBA membership.”

>How did you become involved with this organization?

“I had been speaking with Dennis O’Brien, PsyD, an organizational psychologist with RHR International, who told me about the HBA’s need for our services. He put me in contact with them, and it was smooth sailing from there.”

Another exciting program that Laurie is planning is her Effective Presentations Certificate Program on July 30th and 31st. The program is designed for business professionals who need to be more comfortable, effective presenters.

>What does the certificate mean?

“This is a 2-day program. It is a small, group-oriented, informal program but it is also very intensive. We award the certificate of attendance to all the participants in appreciation of their courage and efforts throughout the program. The certificate can be very useful for demonstrating continued career development and strength in the area of presenting.”

In addition to these programs, Laurie is also in the planning stages of a new book entitled “Speech Gems.”

>What are Speech Gems?

“Over the course of my career, I’ve created numerous sayings about speaking. I call these sayings my “Speech Gems.” Clients have told me how useful and inspirational these quotations are, and that I should write a book about them. I have experience writing, and I decided it would be a fun project to take on. I’m hoping to complete it this year.”

Laurie is also the author of Smart Speaking and He and She Talk (Plume Publishing).

26 Jun Global Healthcare Leader Visits TSIC program

Laurie Schloff and Nancy Goldberg, TSIC coaches greeted the Global CEO of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association, Laurie Cooke, at their recent workshop held at Perkin Elmer in Waltham Ma.

Ms. Cooked joined participants learning how to Speak for Success, part of an award winning Leadership Success Series Sponsored by the organization.

Coach Schloff heads up a team designed to build leadership communication
skills in the healthcare industry

For more information about these programs , contact
[email protected]

27 Jan “Speech expert: Obama’s address ‘good, not great'”

Following President Obama’s inauguration, The Palm Beach Post interviewed Laurie Schloff and Monica Murphy.

The article, titled “Speech expert: Obama’s address ‘good, not great'” can be found here. (more…)