The Premise

"Speaking is a performing art. Without an audience, a speaker doesn't exist."

Bill Gove, considered by many to be the best speaker of his day.

Listening is not Coaching

 In coaching, the goal is guiding another's performance to achieve specific goals. Speakers goals, uniquely their own, are ever changing. As a listener, my role is to discover and encourage the development of a speaker's natural style. It is an interactive process, dependent on a speaker's personal objectives.

The Listening Process

 Meetings: We sit down for an hour or so to discuss where the speaker is, what they are working on and what they want to pursue in their development.

Assessment: Gordon attends a program, then meets with the speaker to discuss three issues: What went well. What could be improved. What could be added. When a speaker focuses on these three, success is achieved sooner.