The best career advice I ever got
by Russell Wild
In the past, when Audrey Parma got up to speak, she wasn't exactly captivating. "I was dry," she admits. "I had a tendency to just relay the facts. I clung tightly onto the podium as if it were a life preserver and I were drowning at sea." Years ago, she wouldn't have even dreamed of using such a colorful analogy. Parma, as CEO of a young, fast-growing Internet company, needed to get the crowds going. That's when professional dramatist David Nackman came into the picture. Nackman, who has worked as both a director and actor in movies, television, and theater, is now the creative director of Performance of a Lifetime, an organization based in New York. The consulting firm offers private performance coaching mostly for executives.
"As I told David when I first saw him, my whole career, including my tenures with Prodigy and the Internal Revenue Service, I have been building things and executing. But presentation was never a priority in terms of selling the vision of the company. Now, however, as CEO of a start-up, I am the face of the company. Presentation is critical. I need to be able to instill confidence and enthusiasm in both potential investors and customers.
"David has taught me many tricks of the performance trade. He taught me not to hide behind the podium but to walk around and use hand gestures when I speak. He taught me the importance of making good eye contact with an audience and how looking out at the back row draws people in from all over the room. He taught me that persuasive speakers let their own personalities come out, rather than trying to mimic the last great speaker they heard.
"I know that I'm a much stronger communicator now than I was before. I feel very passionate about my company, and I allow that passion to come through loud and clear. Working with David has helped me to see that it's OK for me to be out in front, and to present myself as a leader. That's something that I, like many women, never learned while I was growing up. In a sense, working with David has given me the opportunity to reinvent myself."