Speaking Circles^®:
One of Our Basic Tools for Connection, Presence and Communication

"The real value of Speaking Circles is that people learn to be completely themselves in the presence of others."
ARIANE CHERBULIEZ: BUSINESS AND PERSONAL COACH (full testimonial)

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"What I learned from Speaking Circles^® not only made a difference in the results. It made a difference in how I felt about myself. I felt so much more confident and powerful when I took that path."
John, Senior executive, Independent Consultant (John's Story)

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Speaking Circles® "...will show you how to lock into the great worth that flows from your essence when you are still enough to listen to it. All your power flows from this silence at your core. Thoughts arise and ideas are born. Emotions find expression, concepts are created and movements are given birth.”
Lee Glickstein
 as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 1999

ARIANE CHERBULIEZ
BUSINESS AND PERSONAL COACH
As a Business and Personal Coach I am always looking for opportunities for my clients to connect more deeply with their core. The real value of Speaking Circles is that people learn to be completely themselves in the presence of others. It helps people to strip away all the mental chatter of the things they are supposed to be doing and accomplishing when they are in interaction with others. For me, perhaps the most powerful aspect of this work is that it shows how vulnerability can be a real strength when it comes from a place of connection rather than fear. I was amazed at the safety that Carla created for me to trust myself. If you are thinking about joining a Speaking Circle and would like to talk with someone about this work, please feel free to email me at CoachAriane@sprynet.com.

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JIM ADORNEY
DESIGN DIRECTOR
I highly recommend Speaking Circles to anyone who has any kind of fear of speaking.

Before I attended Speaking Circles I experienced the classic symptoms of fear of public speaking - sweaty palms, mind racing, heart pounding, everything. Even in a situation where people were merely going around the room introducing themselves, I still got nervous. I knew I had to do something about it. I'm a graphic designer and have to make presentations to presidents and CEO's of major corporations, so I have to be comfortable addressing these people. But I've had this fear my whole life. I've taken many classes but nothing ever stuck with me before Speaking Circles.

My experience with Speaking Circles has been tremendous. I'm so glad I found this class. Unlike any class I've taken before, Speaking Circles breaks the concept of public speaking down to its foundations. The focus is on getting comfortable in front of an audience. It doesn't focus on the content, but on being able to make eye contact and a general connection with your audience. That's the foundation. You can then build from there. In class, you're not pressured to say anything if you don't want to, which is great. Carla offers other, more advanced, classes as well, so you can work further. And I'm planning to do some more.

The Speaking Circle is always a supportive group. No two classes are the same in terms of the mix of people and every one has something to offer. You learn not just from Carla but from the other students.

I also must add that what I've found is that it is also beneficial for speaking situations beyond public speaking - whether I'm interviewing with someone, or making cold calls on the phone. I find that I flow a little better, make more eye contact, and everything just becomes more natural, without even being conscious of it. These situations are so much easier to deal with using the tools from the Speaking Circles.

There are times I would come to the class feeling stressed from the day's events. However, every time I would leave class I was transformed and felt much more relaxed and calm. Carla's really great at making the class enjoyable for everyone. She always has something useful to start the class. She begins with a short monologue of observations from her everyday life that we can apply to what we're learning in class, which makes what we're learning much more meaningful and easier to grasp.

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John, Independent Consultant, Senior Executive
(The following is a true story written in this form for a page that no longer exists on this website. I've included it here because it continues to be a great testimonial for Speaking Circles.)
John is a senior executive who has worked as an independent consultant for almost a decade. He now desires to return to a corporate position and has been on a formal job search for several months. Recently he attended a structured networking meeting. At this meeting he would have the opportunity to sit at two separate tables with seven other people, present his background and ask for specific contacts. John knew what he wanted to say. He had five selling points that were highlights of his background and told of his impressive accomplishments. But this kind of situation always made him feel very anxious.

In the first round, John found himself presenting as he often had in the past. He rattled off his points, running them together without pacing or pausing, and made fleeting eye contact. When he had finished he was very disappointed. He didn't sense a strong connection with anyone in the group and no one had any leads to offer him. He felt so deflated by this experience that he almost decided not to participate in the second round.

Instead, John decided to stay and to apply some of the tools he had recently been learning and practicing in Speaking Circles. This time he was very deliberate in the delivery of each of his five points. With each point he made strong eye contact with one person and stayed with that person as he described that one accomplishment. After each point, he paused for a moment longer, continuing to make eye contact with that same person before moving on to the next person and the next point. Before delivering the new point to the next person, he gave himself a moment to really be with that person during a quiet, relaxed pause and then repeated the process as he described his next accomplishment.

John was amazed at the response he received during this second round. He could tell that he was really well received. He could see eyebrows rising as he delivered each point. People seemed very interested and engaged. And, he was given some very real and useful contact suggestions.

John had delivered the same message in both rounds. His content was identical. What made the difference for him was his delivery - his connection with each person through pausing and eye contact and deliberately being fully with one person at a time as he described his accomplishments. As John reflected on this experience he said, "What I learned from Speaking Circles not only made a difference in the results. It made a difference in how I felt about myself. I felt so much more confident and powerful when I took that path."

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