Terri Sjodin

Keynote speaker Terri Sjodin is one of America’s most highly sought after female speakers and has trained and motivated thousands of people from all over the world. Her unique specialization is advancing the persuasive presentation skills of professionals. She is the author of the national bestselling book, Small Message, Big Impact (Penguin/Portfolio), which hit the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Misc. bestseller list, Wall Street Journal Hardcover Business bestseller list, and USA Today Money bestseller list.

She is also the author of the highly acclaimed book, Scrappy: A Little Book About Choosing to Play Big (Penguin Random House/Portfolio) which was just released in the Fall of 2016 and New Sales Speak – The 9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (John Wiley & Sons).

Over 20+ years ago, speaker Terri Sjodin went into business for herself, building Sjodin Communications in Orange County, CA from a spare room in her home. Today, Terri’s clients include an impressive list of Fortune 500 companies, industry associations, and academic conferences. Her consulting practice has taken her from her house, to the US House of Representatives, where she has served as a keynote speaker and/or consultant for the US House of Representatives GOP Retreats addressing approximately 235 Congressmen and Women. This has led to additional invitations to present and coach leadership on The Hill on multiple occasions.

In July of 2012, Terri was inducted into the NSA Speaker Hall of Fame. Admission into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame is a lifetime award for speaking excellence and professionalism. Inductees are evaluated by their peers through a rigorous and demanding process. Each candidate must excel in seven categories: material, style, experience, delivery, image, professionalism and communication.

In June of 2007, Terri was named one of the top five Women in Business by the Orange County Business Journal at the distinguished WIB awards. This award is presented in recognition of exceptional professional accomplishments, including business success, contributions to industry, and the Orange County community.

Beyond her success as an entrepreneur and author, Terri is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows throughout the country appearing on The Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, and many major network affiliates from ABC, CBS, and NBC, FOX, cable and radio.

In August of 1999, keynote speaker Terri Sjodin received the prestigious CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation. Less than 12% of the 5,000 speakers who belong to the International Federation for Professional Speakers hold this professional designation.

Terri serves on the Orange County Board of Trustees for Olive Crest. Olive Crest is dedicated to preventing child abuse, to treating and educating at-risk children and to preserving the family one life at a time.

Terri graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Speech Communication. Before forming her own company, Terri was a top sales producer with both The Achievement Group and Resource Dynamics.

Her combination of academic communication theory, field research, and practical street sales experience collected during thousands of coast-to-coast business presentations cast Terri in the leading role of advising today’s professionals on becoming more polished, persuasive presenters and adapting to the changing marketplace.

Terri is a “high content” speaker – Her approach is fresh, real-world, and her style is sassy and practical. Each presentation is loaded with street-worthy ideas, methods, and tips that men and women can use immediately to get results. Many consider Terri to be today’s sales professionals’ speech coach.

 Small Message, Big Impact- How to Put the Power of the Elevator Speech Effect to Work for You

(This is can be a stand-alone special general session, breakout, or long program to follow the New Sales Speak keynote)

Don’t just think of an elevator speech as a generic tool you use in chance moments-consider the concept as a strategy to manage multiple talking points and to communicate more complex ideas as well.

Perhaps you want to promote an idea, a project or a concept.  Maybe you are looking to create a more intriguing presentation to sell a product or service that will help you access more challenging decision makers.

How do you sell, persuade or move people to action? What actually makes you a person of influence? A vital element in moving people to action and creating influence is your ability to build and deliver a thought provoking presentation.

From elevator speeches to formal sales presentations– you can craft a more compelling message.  One that is persuasive rather than just informative.

In this session the audience will gain an understanding of:

• How to build and deliver an effective 3-Minute Elevator Speech
• How to develop a persuasive case outline for any length presentation
• How to re purpose your existing presentation content to create a new message
• The six most consistently effective arguments in today’s market
• The 3 benchmarks of a great presentation
• How to employ the Elevator Speech Effect and more!

The Art of Presenting Persuasively

An Overview of the “Dirty Dozen” – Understanding the 12 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

(This program can be delivered in a keynote, short program, half-day or breakout session.)

What are the 12 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes people make and how do you avoid them? In this “must-attend” session, Terri will show you how to build and deliver a more polished and effective sales presentation – one that is persuasive rather than just informative. The focus will be on developing verbal communication skills for greater impact with clients, including how to develop a more creative style and hot tips on visual aids, body language, closing and more. Terri will share ideas and data from her national research studies, The State of Sales Presentations 2020 & 2022.

The audience will gain an understanding of:

• The 12 biggest mistakes people make when presenting and how to avoid them
• How to make your presentations persuasive rather than just informative
• How to sell yourself through building and delivering a strong “case” for your message
• How to present more effectively, whether one-on-one, one on one hundred or virtually
• How to develop and maintain credibility and a dynamic, memorable presentation style
• How to avoid “strange” body language and gesturing
• How to channel fear and anxiety to work for you vs. against you when public speaking and presenting

How to Build Your Persuasive Case

(This is a breakout session to follow the New Sales Speak keynote.)

Has your sales presentation become far too informative versus persuasive? In this breakout session, Terri will show you specific “how-to’s” for developing logical persuasive arguments in the body of your sales presentations, including strategies for handling objections. This is a roll-up-your-shirt-sleeves interactive session.

The Scrappy Advantage… It’s About Choosing to Play Big!

(This is a popular breakout session to follow the “Small Message, Big Impact” material)

In today’s competitive market, it takes more than just showing up, more than persistence, more than just having a dream to reach your goals. Sometimes you have to roll up your shirt sleeves and get a little scrappy and creative to earn the right to be heard!

In this special session, attendees will get a sneak peek into Terri Sjodin’s new book, Scrappy: A Little Book About Choosing to Play Big (Penguin Random House August 2016). The American Heritage Dictionary defines “scrappy” as “…full of fighting-spirit.” The impetus of a scrappy mindset might begin when a person (insert you) has a specific goal with a specific challenge to circumvent, most likely within a certain time frame. Terri will share research, interview material and incredible stories from a variety of people from different industries who have pulled off seemingly impossible wins or achieved crazy, fun goals. This session will give you tactical ideas to help you execute on your vision of what you can accomplish… once you decide to get scrappy.