Scaling Up Magazine Scaling Up Magazine April 2018 | Page 29

BILL HOOGTERP
SPRING 2018
language, effective hand movements,
storytelling and audience involvement.
These are described in detail in Your
Perfect Presentation: Speak in Front
of Any Audience Anytime Anywhere
and Never Be Nervous Again. “They’re too long and drain people’s
energy. If there is a way to shorten
meetings, increase their effectiveness
and keep more people motivated and
engaged, that’s an investment worth
making for most companies.”
Surprisingly, Hoogterp believes that
everyone has an ability to connect with
his or her audience, leading to a flow of
energy otherwise known as “charisma.”
In his view, most people are not even
aware that they have this ability because
they have never really developed it
enough to find out. “A lot of people are
shocked they can do it,” says Hoogterp.
“It’s like you discover a room in your
house you didn’t know you had. Once
you learn how to adjust your personality
to the particular audience you face, it
just creates a magic flow between the
two that is empowering for both.” The bottom line is that when coaching
enables hour-long rambling meetings
to become 25-minute meetings that
keep everyone focused and on point,
the difference is reflected right on
the bottom line. For executives and
people who run business units or sales
teams, there is no doubt that being 10
or 20 percent better at public speaking
translates directly into revenue.
“Every result our clients experience
is positive,” says Hoogterp. “The
ability to tell stories better, interact
better with customers and ultimately
sell better make many types of
people more effective at their jobs.”
Despite the intrinsic value of creating
better speakers, there is a much
stronger force driving companies to
invest in public speaking coaching:
money. According to extensive
research conducted by Own the Room,
the median efficiency of meetings
worldwide is only 37 percent—that
leaves a lot of room for improvement.
“There is a general feeling out there
that most meetings are considered
a waste of time,” says Hoogterp.
From a broader perspective, verbal
communication is taking place within
the work environment all day long—
whether in the form of group meetings,
phone calls, one-on-one conversations,
or larg e presentations. “Although
business communication is happening
constantly in companies, most people
have really never been trained in
how to do this to the company’s best
advantage,” he says. “By learning
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a few techniques, you can make a
difference in becoming more concise
and increasing retention. That has
tremendous value to a business.”
Increasingly, companies are recognizing
the value of public speaking training
and are often sending small client-
facing groups to learn these techniques
or even just one or two individuals
who can come back and train others.
In addition, Own the Room’s President
and COO Garey De Angelis and new
Chief Technology Officer Eddie Leung
are leading an effort to build out
software that will enable people to train
and pick up speaking skills online.
Through new-employee trainings,
the company has given away
thousands of hours of coaching
to nonprofit organizations, while
Hoogterp and his wife donate their
earnings to a foundation to address
economic development, women’s
issues and other US charities.
His greatest career achievements
according to his website? Getting to
coach his son’s Little League team and
teaching his daughter to be the youngest
kid to dive off the Verona, New Jersey,
community pool’s big diving board.
IT'S that’s
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saying A
something.
PIECE OF BREAD
YET TO SOME IT
MEET BILL HOOGTERP
MEANS SO MUCH.
Bill Hoogterp gave his first commencement speech while still in his 20s. As he built his
career in the nonprofit and online world, he developed a niche: tips and tricks for teaching
other people to become great speakers. This system evolved to become Own the Room.
Before Own The Room, Hoogterp co-founded CMI, the parent company of
CafeMedia and CafeMom, and worked with Mountain Lakes International. He has
done nonprofit work with Into the Streets, Do Something, and The LEAGUE, as well
as America’s largest volunteer network, Points of Light/HandsOn Network.
He has delivered Own The Room methodology, leadership training and executive coaching to
business executives, celebrities, and athletes on five continents and across numerous sectors.