Barbara Rogoski is an American executive communication consultant and coach for Fortune 500 companies, successful SMEs and female founders, and is based in The Netherlands. Her focus, through her company, Successful Speaker Now, is to help business professionals to tell their stories with confidence, clarity and impact. She is a senior TEDx coach and has coached more than 200 TEDx speakers, worldwide. Barbara is also a published author of Boring to Brilliant, An Inspirational Guide for Speakers. Her wide range of knowledge about effective communication, combined with her entertaining and inspiring style of empowerment, makes her a popular speaker, trainer and coach.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Outlook Magazine, Barbara shared her professional trajectory, insights on diversity and inclusion, her favorite quote, future plans, pearls of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Barbara. Please tell us about your background and areas of expertise.
A chance of a lifetime – After 8 months in my first job out of college, my boss at my medical publishing company in Washington, DC, came up to me and said, “Barbara, how would you like to move to Europe to open a sales office for us? I need a person on the ground to manage our large EMEA distributor network.” I jumped at the chance and moved to Amsterdam. I only had a phone and a desk and had to build the whole local network, on my own. Two Rolex watches for top sales person of the year later, and after glamourous travel around the world, the company was sold. I went on to become a Global Account Manager for pharma for a very competitive and sometimes ruthless company and suffered a severe burnout with small children at home.
When I recovered, I decided not to go back into the corporate world. I took the jump to open my own executive speaker coaching company called Successful Speaker Now, to help executives not be boring! I heard so many boring presentations and sales trainings over those years, that I wanted to do something about that. I have been a corporate coach and consultant for 14 years, working alone.
Over the years, I have developed my expertise in how to craft any presentation into an engaging experience, how to create stories that stick and will be remembered and how to deliver them with the greatest impact. I learned many skills like executive presence and visibility in my corporate coaching of Fortune 500 companies like Deloitte, ING and Microsoft. But I really polished my expertise by coaching more than 200 TEDx speakers in over 25 different TEDx events. I have been able to take the TEDx style of presenting and bring it to the corporate world to help these speakers not be boring and learn better ways to get their messages across.
What do you love the most about your current role?
What I love most about my role of Presentation Consultant and Coach is that I am like an artist that has been given a painted canvas, half completed. This refers to the speech content that needs more clarity and storytelling and the speaker who needs more polish and confidence. I take the two and help build them up to create a memorable performance.
How do you tailor your coaching methodology to address the unique needs, style, and goals of each executive?
I am able to see how to help each individual bring his/her public speaking to a new level. based on his/her own personality and style. They trust me to guide them and raise their level of confidence, which creates a favorable outcome every time. I have impacted so many lives by helping them learn to communicate their ideas with greater confidence and clarity. Some have become millionaires or leaders of industry. I feel that I have created a unique legacy for myself by helping others speak their truth and make a difference.
With regards to the challenges and goals of the executive speakers, we discuss these points at the beginning of the coaching process. Together, we list their three challenges and three goals for improving their public speaking, which I write down and track throughout the coaching sessions and make sure that when the program is completed all challenges are addressed and all goals reached.
What techniques do you employ to improve an executive’s stage presence, confidence, and ability to handle challenging questions?
I use a variety of colorful tools to present well on stage or virtually. My popular book Boring to Brilliant! An Inspirational Guide for Speakers, gives 200+ tips on a variety of public speaking topics such as how to engage your audience, your voice as your best delivery tool.
It has been called by some, “The Speaker’s Bible”. I have created several strong templates that I share with my clients on different topics, such as how to build good content and how to respond to difficult Q&A questions and how to structure logical answers in an elegant way.
What are your thoughts on gender equality and inclusion? Do you think there is a gender bias in your industry?
I have met many solo-preneur coaches over the years and find that there are more women communication coaches then men. In my opinion, men position themselves more as consultants. However, I do see more women, like myself, moving in that direction as the title consultant seems to have more prestige and can charge higher fees than a coach. The topic of gender equality and inclusion have not been an issue or challenge for me, in my profession.
What is your favorite quote?
I have many quotes that inspire me, but here is one of my favorites: “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
What drives you? How do you measure personal success?
Being a solo-preneur has its ups and downs with cashflow challenges, client’s budget freezes and doing everything solo – but there are many advantages that I do enjoy. You must get up every time you are knocked down or have business fears dancing around your bed at night. Tomorrow is always a new day.
What is one accomplishment you’re proud of?
One accomplishment I am very proud of is, all the 200+ TEDx speakers I have had the honor to work with over the years in my coaching practice. They were visionaries, doctors, professors, scientists, entrepreneurs, heads of state, youth, military officers, cabaret performers and most especially women; accomplished women who had a story to tell, startup entrepreneur women with a dream to pitch and every woman in between. Most speakers remember me fondly, as I remember them. Some say I have changed their lives, as I met them right at the moment they needed a push, a kick in the pants or a cheerleader before they reached a success milestone.
What drives you? How do you measure personal success?
To me, personal success is making a difference through the work you do, having a direct impact on someone to help them succeed in life and making a decent salary to live comfortably.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
In the next 5 years, I hope to have been able to take all the knowledge and expertise I have gained over my coaching career – a sort of encyclopedia in my head – of presentation tips and tricks and create a library of products that I can share on a larger scale – and later end my career happily and at peace with what I have accomplished and the people I have touched.
One piece of advice you would like to give to aspiring professionals from your industry.
A word of advice to aspiring professional speaker coaches – each person has his/her own story to tell. You are there to build their confidence and help them craft the best messages you can and with the most colorful stories you can. It’s about helping them to shine and be their best.