Case Study: Casey Davis – Transforming his fear of public speaking and inspiring his entire company.

Casey Davis, a medical supply salesman, called with obvious distress in his voice.  He shared that he was nominated for the salesperson of the year at his medical supply company.  He said he was afraid he was going to win and he almost hoped he would not win, because he would have to give a speech at the award ceremony.

Casey was clearly a man of excellence who could be held back seriously if he did not learn to become comfortable speaking in front of groups.  He was so talented at sales that succeeded beyond every other salesperson in his company.  Yet he was afraid to speak to groups.

Casey participated in the 8-week Sandra Zimmer Method Group Speaking program called Speaking from the Heart.  During the program, he applied himself diligently to the techniques of grounding and presence, making receptive connection, thinking on your feet and storytelling.  He also rigorously challenged his negative beliefs about his speaking abilities and about his own expectations that he should be perfect.  When Casey completed that group program, he was significantly more comfortable and confident speaking to his group.

By that point, he had won the Salesman of the Year and needed to prepare for his speech which was now four weeks away.  Casey and I worked in three private sessions to plan and practice his talk.  Because Casey had learned to be authentic, he was eager to tell the stories about his struggles to succeed at sales.  He hoped his speech would inspire others at his company. The result was a stunningly successful speech.

Listen to a phone message from Casey – http://www.self-expression.com/av/CaseyDavisTestimonial.wav

Here is what he said about his speech at the award ceremony.

Dear Sandra

Last Wednesday night was one of the most amazing nights of my life!  My speech was …life changing for me and for the audience.  I was so connected to the group and everyone was connected with me.  It was like having strings to everyone.  They responded to everything I said.  I enjoyed it!  It was fun!  There were 400 people there including our CEO, VPs and Directors.  People were crying and cheering!  Many people came up to me afterwards and said they had never heard a speech like mine.  The people who knew that I have been terrified in the past were astounded at what I did. My CEO and VP said that I inspired them!  Thank you Sandra!  You have made a difference in my life!