“I recently finished my one-on-one training sessions with Cheryl and I have to say that it was an incredible and mind expanding experience! Not only she made her points in public speaking and power presence clearly and concisely, but also she was able to explain the neuroscience behind everything. She covered a wide variety of topics during the training. And the best part is, she managed to push me out of my comfort zone and guided my growth before I even noticed. She has been extremely helpful during the whole time! I would definitely recommend her to anyone and everyone!”
Product Manager, Hortonworks DataFlow & Apache NiFi at Hortonworks
“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Cheryl Dolan. I hired Cheryl to help me develop and deliver a keynote for my first big speaking gig in front of a really large audience. I wanted to use the opportunity to develop a talk that I could give to several different audiences. Together we worked on not just the contents of my presentation but my stage presence and mindset. When I was terrified, procrastinating, stressed out and feeling no inspiration, Cheryl helped me stay focused and dig deep to figure out what I truly wanted to say. I learned amazing techniques that built my confidence and helped me deliver a fantastic and creative presentation that really touched my audience. That talk has solidified me as an expert in intellectual property and enabled me to change my law firm brand and services to do only that (which is exactly what I wanted and more than I could have ever imagined). I cannot recommend Cheryl enough. Working with her could change your life.”
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“I recently finished a one-on-one session with Cheryl and I have to say that it was an incredible and energizing experience. As an executive who has been exposed to a great deal of leadership development over the years, I was somewhat skeptical about learning anything new. Cheryl, however, really opened my thinking with some key observations and a number of new insights. You go in thinking that you might improve a thing or two and you come out thinking about how you can make more of an impact in life.
Cheryl is very engaging, astute and high energy. The two hours seemed like two minutes. She is unique because, after demonstrating many of the key points, she was able to explain the neuroscience behind it. It was a mind expanding experience and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.” Merle Symes CEO, The Provenance Group |
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“One two-hour session with Cheryl brought me such insight, understanding and vision about my gifts and how I can share them with my clients. She also gave me practical tips to help me communicate better and polish how I present my voice to the world. My impact with clients and customers will be greater from having spent time with her. Bottom line: Invest in yourself and your company – schedule a session with her as soon as you can.” Desiree Adaway Principal at The Adaway Group Past Sr. Director Volunteer Mobilization at Habitat for Humanity International |
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“I consider myself to be an experienced speaker, yet the difference in my performance at the start of our session versus post-coaching was astounding. I have never felt so grounded and free to be me. After just 15 minutes with Cheryl and her bouncing ball strategy, the right words came out in the best possible way completely effortlessly. As an added bonus, I now know what my “secret weapons” are. And to top it all off, the whole session was really fun!” May Busch Partner at M|C Advisors Ltd. Executive in Residence, Office of the President at Arizona State University Past Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer – Europe, Middle East and Africa at Morgan Stanley |
| “Cheryl has an amazing ability to ask the right questions, process the answers and use that information to help you gain a clearer picture of what your goals really are. Her methods helped me identify a common theme that has run throughout my personal life – and to ponder ways to use that theme in my professional work. Some of her methods are non-traditional – but they are grounded in research. The use of the ball produced its intended results – a sense of grounding and focus. The entire session was productive, educational, and downright enjoyable. I have nothing but praise for Cheryl, her program, and her techniques.” Penelope M. Klatell, PhD, RN, ACC Life Odyssey Coaching and Consulting, MyFoodMAPs.com |
| “I am guy who never did things the prescribed way, in fact I often rebelled. So the thought of someone telling me how to speak had me on the defensive. The classic, Toastmaster way has me running for the door.
Immediately I felt at ease with Cheryl. I can’t recall any discussion on what wasn’t working. It was all how to enhance what was working and how to bring out my hidden or forgotten skills. With her ‘unique speaking techniques’ I not only relaxed, I got excited. I found myself speaking clearly and powerfully with no thought or effort… she tricked me. Cheryl had me being more authentic while being more powerful.
Twenty years ago I use to teach executives how to speak. I was good at because I wasn’t teaching rigid formula. After twenty years of not speaking or teaching it I forgot much of what I knew, as I found out from a recent talk. Cheryl not only brought back what I knew, she taught me much more.
At the end I heard myself telling her how I was going to set up monthly talks just to practice what I learned. I am inspired.
I can’t think of a better way to describe what Cheryl does than to say she evokes out of you your passion and greatness to have it the be fuel that drives your speaking success.” Owen Marcus Founder, Man’s Manifesto, OwenMarcus.com |
3-6 Month Coaching Programs
| “Through weekly coaching sessions, Cheryl has enabled me to alter my current ways of thinking, and to perceive my life, others and my goals in a new and different light. This newly-shaped outlook has empowered me in ways I never thought imaginable, enabling me to more effectively make professional and personal decisions aligned with my inner values rather than on the external forces that have been steering me (rather unsuccessfully!) for so long.” KT, Financial Executive |
| “I really enjoyed working with Cheryl on improving my communication skills. Cheryl took the time to get to know me as a person, which helped her provide me with advice that didn’t require me to compromise my integrity or change who I am. Cheryl was always very professional and provided me with her analysis and feedback within the context of a given situation. As a result, her recommendations were relevant and easier for me to adopt. I learned a great deal from Cheryl in not only how to communicate more effectively in various situations, but how to analyze a situation in order to determine which communications approach is most appropriate. I highly recommend Cheryl as a communications coach.” Noemi Greyzdorf Research Manager, IDC |
Group Workshops
| “Cheryl ran a two-day workshop at MIT Sloan on Developing a Powerful Presence. It was a well-run workshop with clear objectives. More importantly, she brought much humanity, empathy, personal engagement, and warmth to her work with slightly over a dozen students. She takes time and effort to observe every trainee, to offer incisive, actionable, yet affirming feedback; to foster a challenging yet safe environment; to balance playfulness and goal focus. Hers is an easygoing, warm, gentle personality; she focuses on developing the client and not on “dominating the show” herself. Definitely recommended for clients who want to take their communication skills to the next level, in a fun and conducive environment.” Lu-Fong Chua MBA candidate at MIT Sloan (Class of 2011) |
| “Cheryl’s Platinum Presence program has greatly influenced me as a public speaker and a manager, as well as in my personal life. Focusing on the what works for me and building on that has helped me break through personal mental barriers to accomplish goals and handle situations I wouldn’t have thought I could just a year ago.” Ed Coburn Publishing Director, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School |
| “The Platinum Presence workshop was everything I expected, but the most valuable aspects of it were those I did not expect. I enrolled in the workshop with the goal of becoming a more engaging and comfortable public speaker, and I’m happy to say that this goal was met. What I didn’t expect was to accomplish something much more profound: to gain a deeper sense of, and appreciation for, who I am as a person. The workshop focused on looking inward as much as outward (what is it that makes each of us special and unique?), and to our pasts as much as to our futures (what did we love to do as children, and have we lost sight of that along the way?) . . . it turns out that understanding our individual passions and idiosyncrasies is fundamental to cultivating authentic “presence.” Paradoxically, looking inward and backward helps us to project our most authentic – and thus our most engaging and comfortable – selves outward and forward . . . It’s difficult to capture this experience in a few words, beyond saying that what we accomplished in this three-day workshop has implications for a lifetime. Better public speaking skills is almost a side effect.” Melissa Manwaring Director, Curriculum Development Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School |
| “Cheryl Dolan conducted a “mini” workshop on presence for a group of youth leaders at the United Teen Equality Center. We are a busy youth center in Lowell, and space is always at a premium. Cheryl was able to think creatively and change her programming on the fly to accommodate the teens and give them the best possible training – despite our hectic schedule! Cheryl also did a great job engaging these young people, some of whom were very shy and completely new to professional trainings of this type. Many of our youth face a variety of challenges. English is not their first language, or they are out of school, homeless, or gang involved. The training helped the teens to really think about how they can use their personal presence to assert themselves, and break away from those types of labels.
The training helped the teens to really gel as a team – they worked well together for the remainder of their leadership term. Several of the students in her class have since gone on to graduate high school and attend area colleges. One student was chosen as a guest speaker for a local United Way event and has been featured in the UW’s promotional video. As a mentor to the teens, I was very pleased with their positive response to the training, and to the valuable lessons they took away from it. I think these skills are already serving them well, and will continue to provide them with a useful toolkit of skills in whatever endeavors they pursue in the future.” Jessica Wilson Director of Development, United Teen Equality Center |
| “Cheryl Dolan’s “mini” workshop, The Art and Science of Powerful Presence, was the best presentation, with the highest attendance, we have ever had at WOW. She did a great job engaging the entire group, which included female executives, entrepreneurs and other female professionals, in an interactive format which enabled real learning.
As facilitator, Cheryl provided a combination of great tips for powerful communication, individual and small group exercises, and personal reflection time focusing on our authentic self, which created many insights and “aha” moments in the audience, leading to deeper understanding of our behavior. This newly discovered comfort zone gave the women increased self-confidence as they discovered their own powerful presence, presentation/communication style and to feel comfortable to shine either on stage or in 1-1 conversation. The class was a great reminder that unless you are alone all speaking is public speaking and “presence” is created from the inside out. I highly recommend Cheryl as a speaker, facilitator and coach” Zhilla Breakstone President/Co-Founder at Lexington Women of the World Club, August 11, 2010 |
