Corporate Client Testimonials

“The trainee group consisted of four engineers and two staff members. All with their own experience and background. The engineers overall, are early career and did not have extensive presentation experience yet. What they share is that they are very bright and full of energy and drive to succeed.

You are very diligent in preparing for the training, by learning expectations and objectives from both leadership as well as trainees. You make the process very efficient, thereby respecting everyone’s time, which is greatly appreciated.

With some of the engineers I could immediately see a change in confidence and approach. All feedback that I heard from my team was positive, they experienced it as something different and they really liked the video-feedback. Some engineers would have liked it to be a bit more ‘tough’; expecting some more critic to learn from. They liked practicing the questions a lot and found that very helpful.

It is 10 months, since the engineers attended the training and they all have given many (~10-25) presentations, over Skype, in board rooms and big auditoriums. Nothing seems to intimidate them. They know they are the subject matter experts and that they are prepared. They come across confident and at ease.”

Erica C.

Thanks for all the amazing work you have done for our hydrocracking team at Criterion. The goals that we had for the Power of Delivery improvement program were exceeded significantly. The main benefit is that each member of the team is a more powerful presenter within their own style.

Each one of us is more aware of our potential as presenters, more confident and comfortable in their skin when presenting, have a stronger presence, more engaging and interactive with listeners. We are working better as a team, we know each other better, and we can help each other in future presentation opportunities.

Raul A.

“We rehearsed for three presentations this week. The teams were awesome. We had two interviews in one day today. We used your Grounding Exercise video to get the team “grounded” between the two presentations. Our company owner did the exercise with the team, including his son. It was very effective. Thanks.

Also, we were told after our first presentation today, by an Owner’s Representative that he had sat through 11 presentations last week. All were by companies larger and broader based than ours. He said that our presentation was by far “better than any of those companies” and that it was the “best he had ever seen”.

I thought you would want to know that you are having a positive impact on our company. We appreciate that.”

Bill P.

“I copresented at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering in San Diego at the end of February. The training I had in your sessions was invaluable. Before the presentation I was able to fight off fear and nervousness. During the presentation I talked slowly and naturally. I smiled and made eye contact with at least the first row or two of attendees. There were close to 400 in the audience. We kept the presentation straightforward and the power point slides simple. The presentation was very well received and has led to other opportunities for FKP.

One result of the presentation is a re-awakening of my desire to do more public speaking. In fact, I would like to investigate how to find more opportunities to speak than FKP may be able to provide.”

Alan B.

“To help us become more proficient in giving presentations, we engaged Sandra Zimmer as a coach and presentation trainer and consultant for over 11 years. Sandra’s methodology is to help each of us get better in our own style. She did not try to make anyone in our company emulate someone else. As a result, we were comfortable in our own way and natural in presentation we made, whether the presentation was for a major project or simply and internal presentation to other staff in our company.”

Ray M.

“After hearing the words, ‘You’re hired’ twice in one day, I knew I was doing something right! The second project was a major win for a large project where we competed against 7 firms. Without your coaching, I would have presented a slide show with a structured agenda. Instead my team and I let the conversation take a natural course. I can’t thank you enough for this first step in making communications easier for me. The skills you taught me have been successfully applied to a formal interview, facilitating an audience discussion and general conversation to concisely convey key points.”

Lisa Charrin, President, Equipment Collaborative

“Thank you for your efforts with the KBR team in presenting our proposal over the past few days. Somehow through your own style, you calmed everyone’s nerves and gave them the confidence to reach beyond what they thought they could do. Arriving later on Sunday night, I cannot truly appreciate the power of your transformational efforts, but I am told that in certain cases, you were nothing short of a miracle worker. You helped this team shine!”

Maura Dunn, COO and Chief HSE Officer, KBR, Infrastructure Americas

“This is the best presentation training I have ever received, period, and I have had two previous trainings from my company. This will increase my ability to close the deal and increase Brown & Root’s stature in the business. My ability to persuade has increased. Anyone who is involved in job acquisition would benefit from it.”

Robert Mardis, Engineer, Brown & Root Services

“I don’t know if you remember me, but I was the tall guy in our training that had massive difficulties coming up with personal stories. Well, I worked very hard on that aspect and practiced my presentation and had a great run at The Las Vegas Convention. I not only imbedded some very well received stories, but I even worked a couple of holiday snapshots into my Power Point presentation. By the end of the week, I was in a groove the size of the Grand Canyon. I achieved a certain level of rock star status and received rave reviews on my presentations. I know some of that success was due to some of the tools you provided and the self confidence I amassed during your sessions. I just wanted to pass along a hearty thanks for your help.”

Jim Weatherford, AIG-VALIC

“This training will be enormously helpful during both proposal presentations and in public meeting presentations. It should increase our ability to close the deal and increase our stature in business. Being authentic in our communication will distinguish KBR from other firms.”

Jeff Taylor, Project Manager, KBR

“I reached a level of confidence that I never expected to reach in 4 days!”

Eric Davis, Construction Manager, KBR

“Very Effective! Sandra has a way of teaching in a very non-threatening, fun way. The exercises made it easy to learn.”

Tom Ayers, Proposal Manager, KBR

“This course has helped me awaken my abilities as a presenter. Fantastic!”

Tim Newton, Project Manager and Toastmaster, KBR

“Totally effective!”

Jim Loo, Project Manager, KBR

“Sandra, Lisa rode with me yesterday so we had a chance to talk. She says she has had a palpable change because of your Presentation and Leadership training, and those she has talked to have said the same things. “It sticks with you longer than any of those other things. It’s become a part of me“. So — you’ve done a good thing. ”

Judith McClain, VP Marketing, FKP Architects

“The reason I hired you over many expensive consultants was that my friend and your former client Bruce F. called me to say he had found a remarkable program here in Houston. He went on to say that Sandra Zimmer’s presentation program had helped him win millions of dollars in business. This from a man who had been terrified to present”

Randy Pollock, VP Marketing, Walter P. Moore & Associates Engineers

Thank you for providing a fresh new approach to presentation training. Our sales teams have had numerous courses focusing on software demonstrations and slide presentations. Most are very experienced at speaking in front of people. Your training is something quite unique. Your training showed them how important it is to be authentic, to connect with the audience and to present a value statement beyond what can be presented in a slide deck. Not only did you take them to the next level, but they also learned a lot about each other and themselves. It was a great team-building exercise.

Trip Ray, Managing Director, Americas SunGard Energy and Commodities

About Sandra Zimmer

Sandra Zimmer has coached thousands of professionals for public speaking and for overcoming fear of public speaking. Sandra suffered terrible stage fright, but she had the right set of training and experiences to figure out how to transform public speaking anxiety into radiant presence and confidence to speak from the flow state. She brings her training in psychology, acting and directing, meditation, spiritual psychology and voice to help you shine when you speak.
Reach out to Sandra!