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Dianna Booher      

Communications Expert, Author, CEO of Booher Research Institute

Dianna Booher is a communications expert and author. She is currently the chief executive of Booher Research Institute, a Texas-based company that offers communication consulting, executive coaching, and publishing strategies for Fortune 500 organizations and nonprofit organizations.

Booher's recent publications include Communicate Like a Leader: Connecting Strategically to Coach, Inspire, and Get Things Done, What More Can I Say? Why Communication Fails and What to Do About It, in addition to over 40 other titles such as "Speak With Confidence: Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade" and "Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader". Her work has been published in 13 foreign editions and is also widely available on audio, video, and online courseware.

Booher's expertise in communication is recognized widely, as evidenced by her induction into the National Speakers Association's CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame on July 29, 2003, a lifetime award for speaking excellence. She has been interviewed by prominent media outlets like Good Morning America, CNN, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Her accolades include being named the 1997 Consummate Speaker of the Year by Sharing Ideas magazine, and Successful Meetings magazine has listed her among the "21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century".

Previously, Booher was the President of Booher Consultants, Inc., a firm she founded in 1980, specializing in communication training for Fortune 500 organizations and government agencies. Booher Consultants was acquired by Communispond in 2017. She holds a master's degree from the University of Houston and the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation, held by fewer than 8 percent of the more than 3,700 members of the National Speakers Association. Booher also belongs to the prestigious Speakers Roundtable, comprised of 22 of the top speakers in the world.

Speech Topics

Creating Executive Presence: Thinking on Your Feet in the C-Suite

How do you handle someone who continually upstages you in a formal presentation setting? How do you respond to someone citing statistics and data with which you’re unfamiliar? How do you react when your boss or client changes the course of your discussion in midstream? Adding “the finishing touches” will help you be yourself in front of a group of 3 or 300. You’ll learn to think on your feet, handle tough questions and situations, facilitate discussion among strong personalities, and build rapport with the group—whatever its size. Audiences will learn to—

  • Identify characteristics of executive presence
  • Use a four-part model to think on your feet and build credibility during informal meetings and formal presentations
  • Respond to 10 difficult question types with poise, credibility, and authority
  • Use gestures, space, and movement for highest impact
  • Ensure that nonverbal communication supports rather than sabotages the message

Talking to the Top Brass

You need a strong personal presence and specific techniques to lead senior executives through difficult discussions to sound decisions. This program will help you identify and avoid pitfalls that surface with such groups and deliver a point persuasively. You’ll learn to structure your message well, give substantive responses to their toughest questions, recognize and avoid common annoyances with such high-level audiences, and add the finishing touches to make your points memorable. You’ll walk away from the session understanding the typical expectations of executive groups when you present recommendations, ideas, or information in meeting discussions, informal interactions, and formal presentations. Specifically, you will be able to—

  • Recognize 5 common irritants that surface when presenting ideas and recommendations to executives, and identify ways to avoid these pitfalls in informal or formal meetings and presentations.
  • Structure recommendations and presentations for the highest impact.
  • Think on your feet under pressure with poise and credibility.
  • Respond to questions clearly, concisely, and credibly.
  • Increase your influence and persuasiveness with 4 “finishing touches” to your content and method of delivery.

10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know

With analogies and clips from classic movies, Dianna will provide ten guidelines for measuring your communication across functional lines and up and down the chain of command—both substance and style. These strategies will help you create trust and loyalty, increase credibility, and build stronger relationships with stakeholders. As a result of the session, you will walk away with guidelines for deciding what to communicate,… when to communicate,… and how to communicate strategic, routine, and sensitive messages. Audiences will learn to

  • Apply a four-part model for thinking on their feet to structure clear, concise messages—whether responses to questions in meetings, hallway interactions, or extemporaneous presentations
  • Assess their personal communication style to determine characteristics of personal credibility
  • Identify guidelines for giving bad-news messages

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