A) Executive Summary
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B) Feedback Overview
Feedback Samples from Staff
“A worthwhile investment [for grantees]. I wish I could have had this training earlier.”
Kyle Kutuchief, Program Director, Akron
“We worked on the storytelling and the power of the message. Marc helped me to identify great examples of success to share with large audiences or in a one on one conversations. I walked away with ideas and a confidence I can use right away.”
Karen Rundlett, Director/Journalism
“Elevator Speech training is a powerful tool. It gives you a strong framework to organize and present your key points in a compelling and highly relatable way.”
Meredith Hector, HR Director
“While watching yourself can be painful, it very quickly illustrates pain points and objective ways to view yourself in order to find areas of improvement. Marc’s ability to distill the essence of your pitch and help reorder the narrative was a great exercise in seeing how you can say the same thing with a different framework and deliver more impact. “
Alejandro de Onis, Director/Digital Strategy and Design
Feedback Samples from Grantees
“The one to one training session was great to start building up my confidence. Thanks for making me feel comfortable throughout the session.”
Regina Moore, Miami Lights Project, Winner, Knight Arts Challenge Miami
“This was a really good way to massage all the raw material I had (concepts about my project) into a digestible pitch for potential patrons to consider. Marc worked deftly on and off script to help me shape my message.”
Baron Sherer, Moving Image Alliance, Winner, Knight Arts Challenge Miami
“As an artist, Elevator Speech Training was a great way to practice communication strategies for my work and to prepare me for fundraising my project.”
Lauren Shapiro, Artist, Winner, Knight Arts Challenge Miami
“Honestly, this training changed my life.”
Michelle Andonian. Core 375, Winner, Knight Arts Challenge Detroit
“It was all extremely helpful and energizing. It got me excited about talking about my project in a new way.”
Amanda Crider, Illuminarts, Winner, Knight Arts Challenge Miami
You can browse all unedited feedback below.
Video testimonials
C) Appendix: All Feedback
| FNAME | LNAME | Time | HOW-SATISFIED | LIKED-BEST | COULD-IMPROVE | TESTIMONIAL |
|---|
| COMPLETED | FNAME | LNAME | Time | HOW-SATISFIED | LIKED-BEST | COULD-IMPROVE | TESTIMONIAL |
|---|
| FNAME | LNAME | Time | Org | HOW-SATISFIED | LIKED-BEST | COULD-IMPROVE | TESTIMONIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison | Penafiel | 5/1/2020 11:00:00 | Knight Arts Challenge - Miami Foundation | Exceptionally useful | The feedback and the help developing the presentation to make it more interesting in the national and global aspect. | In my case, I think longer time as English is not my first language. | |
| Katja | Esson | 2/20/2020 11:00:00 | RLS Films, LLC | Exceptionally useful | The explanations that Marc gave for WHY a certain order or a certain wording was important. He brought in quite a lot of psychology, which was great. To see yourself recorded is of course super effective and then to get a transcript at the end was incredibly useful. | I was blown away how Marc was able to lift my pitch - that I thought was not bad - to such a high level in such a short amount of time --- I have no idea how it could have been better! | I came out of the session incredibly motivated and inspired and even more connected to my story. |
| Amanda | Crider | 2/11/2020 13:00:00 | IlluminArts | Exceptionally useful | The examples of words and language to use, even if they aren't what feels most natural to me. The way Marc demonstrated was a fantastic example of how to communicate effectively. Making an outline for the talk was also very helpful because it gives goal posts in talking about my project. Recording and playing back the video of me talking was also very useful (if slightly cringe worthy to watch myself), but such a great tool in seeing and hearing what I want to improve, and what I think is an asset to my speech. Also, having access to the transcripts and videos after the session is extremely helpful. | It was all extremely helpful and energizing. It got me excited about talking about my project in a new way. The time flew by and if anything, I realized more time would be really useful. | |
| Barron | Sherer | 2/10/2020 10:00:00 | Moving Image Alliance | Exceptionally useful | I found reviewing playback and Marc's incisive comments and feedback to be most helpful. | This was a really good way to massage all the raw material I had (concepts about my project) into a digestible pitch for potential patrons to consider. Marc worked deftly on and off script to help me shape my message. | |
| Regina | Moore | 1/20/2020 10:00:00 | Miami Light Project, Inc. | Exceptionally useful | It was helpful to learn how the speech framework should flow, how to share examples and how to finish strong with a bold sentence. | The whole experience was great. In my case, for the training to be effective, I will have to have another section and keep practicing what I have learned. | The one to one training session was great to start building up my confidence. Thanks for making me feel comfortable throughout the session. |
| Lauren | Shapiro | 1/2/2020 12:00:00 | Bakehouse Art Complex | Very useful | Very insightful feedback to provide an objective view of my art practice- something very useful when pitching future grant proposals, etc. | Everything was great! | |
| Portia | Dunkley | 12/23/2019 15:00:00 | Teeny Violini | Exceptionally useful | Being able to watch and critique myself, guidance for how to map out my pitch, I felt like Marc was really paying attention and listening to me and that was super important. | Honestly, it was a great use of time although it felt like it zoomed by so fast. | I feel empowered and confident to share my project with a greater focus. |
| Roxana | Barba | 12/19/2019 15:00:00 | Barba-Marcotulli | Exceptionally useful | I personally liked being given an outline and sequence to better organize the ideas. | Everything was helpful. The only thing that coms to mind would be to using a timer the second attempt to give us an idea of how much we need to condense. | The training helped us identify our weaknesses and gave us clear and specific tools to overcome them. |
| Aldeide | Delgado | 12/10/2019 14:30:00 | Women Photographers International Archive | Exceptionally useful | Receiving an immediate feedback from an expert while we rehearse the speech as many times as need it to improve it. | I would suggest to provide a bibliographic source to in depth further knowledge of what we learned. | |
| Lauren | Shapiro | 12/10/2019 12:00:00 | Bakehouse Art Complex | Very useful | It was very helpful to have a dialog throughout the training that was personal and tailored to my practice as an artist. Learning how to structure the conversation and a formula for the pitch was very helpful. | A follow up session would be helpful after a week of practicing what I learned. | As an artist, Elevator Speech Training was a great way to practice communication strategies for my work and to prepare me for fundraising my project. |
| Michelle | Andonian | 1/29/2019 0:00:00 | Core 375 Detroit Project | Exceptionally useful | This training has changed my life, to be honest. |
| COMPLETED | FNAME | LNAME | Time | Org | HOW-SATISFIED | LIKED-BEST | COULD-IMPROVE | TESTIMONIAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DONE | Edison | Penafiel | 5/1/2020 11:00:00 | Knight Arts Challenge - Miami Foundation | Exceptionally useful | The feedback and the help developing the presentation to make it more interesting in the national and global aspect. | In my case, I think longer time as English is not my first language. | |
| DONE | Katja | Esson | 2/20/2020 11:00:00 | RLS Films, LLC | Exceptionally useful | The explanations that Marc gave for WHY a certain order or a certain wording was important. He brought in quite a lot of psychology, which was great. To see yourself recorded is of course super effective and then to get a transcript at the end was incredibly useful. | I was blown away how Marc was able to lift my pitch - that I thought was not bad - to such a high level in such a short amount of time --- I have no idea how it could have been better! | I came out of the session incredibly motivated and inspired and even more connected to my story. |
| DONE | Amanda | Crider | 2/11/2020 13:00:00 | IlluminArts | Exceptionally useful | The examples of words and language to use, even if they aren't what feels most natural to me. The way Marc demonstrated was a fantastic example of how to communicate effectively. Making an outline for the talk was also very helpful because it gives goal posts in talking about my project. Recording and playing back the video of me talking was also very useful (if slightly cringe worthy to watch myself), but such a great tool in seeing and hearing what I want to improve, and what I think is an asset to my speech. Also, having access to the transcripts and videos after the session is extremely helpful. | It was all extremely helpful and energizing. It got me excited about talking about my project in a new way. The time flew by and if anything, I realized more time would be really useful. | |
| DONE | Barron | Sherer | 2/10/2020 10:00:00 | Moving Image Alliance | Exceptionally useful | I found reviewing playback and Marc's incisive comments and feedback to be most helpful. | This was a really good way to massage all the raw material I had (concepts about my project) into a digestible pitch for potential patrons to consider. Marc worked deftly on and off script to help me shape my message. | |
| DONE | Portia | Dunkley | 1/24/2020 13:00:00 | Teeny Violini | ||||
| DONE | Regina | Moore | 1/20/2020 10:00:00 | Miami Light Project, Inc. | Exceptionally useful | It was helpful to learn how the speech framework should flow, how to share examples and how to finish strong with a bold sentence. | The whole experience was great. In my case, for the training to be effective, I will have to have another section and keep practicing what I have learned. | The one to one training session was great to start building up my confidence. Thanks for making me feel comfortable throughout the session. |
| DONE | Lauren | Shapiro | 1/2/2020 12:00:00 | Bakehouse Art Complex | Very useful | Very insightful feedback to provide an objective view of my art practice- something very useful when pitching future grant proposals, etc. | Everything was great! | |
| DONE | Carla | Forte | 12/26/2019 16:00:00 | Bistoury Physical Theatre and Film | ||||
| DONE | Portia | Dunkley | 12/23/2019 15:00:00 | Teeny Violini | Exceptionally useful | Being able to watch and critique myself, guidance for how to map out my pitch, I felt like Marc was really paying attention and listening to me and that was super important. | Honestly, it was a great use of time although it felt like it zoomed by so fast. | I feel empowered and confident to share my project with a greater focus. |
| DONE | Aldeide | Delgado | 12/20/2019 13:00:00 | Women Photographers International Archive | ||||
| DONE | Roxana | Barba | 12/19/2019 15:00:00 | Barba-Marcotulli | Exceptionally useful | I personally liked being given an outline and sequence to better organize the ideas. | Everything was helpful. The only thing that coms to mind would be to using a timer the second attempt to give us an idea of how much we need to condense. | The training helped us identify our weaknesses and gave us clear and specific tools to overcome them. |
| DONE | Aldeide | Delgado | 12/10/2019 14:30:00 | Women Photographers International Archive | Exceptionally useful | Receiving an immediate feedback from an expert while we rehearse the speech as many times as need it to improve it. | I would suggest to provide a bibliographic source to in depth further knowledge of what we learned. | |
| DONE | Lauren | Shapiro | 12/10/2019 12:00:00 | Bakehouse Art Complex | Very useful | It was very helpful to have a dialog throughout the training that was personal and tailored to my practice as an artist. Learning how to structure the conversation and a formula for the pitch was very helpful. | A follow up session would be helpful after a week of practicing what I learned. | As an artist, Elevator Speech Training was a great way to practice communication strategies for my work and to prepare me for fundraising my project. |
| DONE | Karen | Dybis | 5/13/2019 0:00:00 | |||||
| DONE | Meredith | Simpson | 5/3/2019 0:00:00 | |||||
| DONE | Richard | Newman | 4/25/2019 0:00:00 | |||||
| DONE | Michelle | Andonian | 2/20/2019 0:00:00 | |||||
| DONE | Michelle | Andonian | 2/9/2019 0:00:00 | Knight Arts winner | The experience has been life changing, to be honest. | |||
| DONE | Karen | Dybis | 2/8/2019 0:00:00 | |||||
| DONE | Michelle | Andonian | 1/29/2019 0:00:00 | Core 375 Detroit Project | Exceptionally useful | This training has changed my life, to be honest. | ||
Select Testimonials from other Clients
“The Elevator Speech training helped me hone my message and understand the value of a strong closing.”
Shelly Prichard, President & CEO, Wichita Community Foundation
“Marc listened carefully and provided specific feedback, which I found to be extremely helpful.”
Diane Samuels, Vice President of Talent and Human Resources, Ford Foundation
“Seriously one of the best trainings I ever had.”
Marielena Hincapie, Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center
“It was a great training that provided me with concrete things on how improve my elevator speech. Watching myself, debriefing after to identify areas of improvement was incredibly helpful.Thank you Marc, truly appreciated your patience and support.”
Julieta Garibay, Director and Cofounder, United we Dream
“The training gave me so really great tips on making a strong presentation of my organization!”
Ralph Williamson, President, Faith Organizing Alliance (FOA)
“I like how after each iteration of my speech, we went over pluses and deltas and worked to improve my speech. It was a very focused activity that helped me think about not only how to structure my speech, but also to include elements of viscerality and urgency, so listeners are moved to support our work.”
Anni Leming, Co-President, Asian American Association of New Mexico
“The training allowed me to understand an area of growth for myself to integrate stories into my pitch to clarify who we serve, how, and why. The modeling of examples of stories was so helpful for me to see how simple but effective these stories are. The clarification questions to help me find the flourishes in our own stories was also helpful. I appreciated how the coach also challenged me to immediately try another pitch after receiving feedback and seeing the story element modeled by the coach. While I don’t have all the stories we need now, I am excited to have concrete next steps to generate those stories with my team, and to apply the framework in so many different scenarios – from meeting with funders, to advocacy with policy makers, and pitching to media.”
Quyen Dinh, Executive Director, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
“The session with Marc was transformational. It can be hard to talk about the work we do all day, every day, because we are so close to it. Marc showed me how to home in on what matters and share it in a way that resonates. He had concrete and spot-on ideas about how to describe what is most important. I appreciated the generosity and warm humor he brought to the coaching, as well as his earnest commitment to helping me improve. It was incredibly helpful!”
Melissa Rodgers, Director of Programs, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
“Marc Fest is an excellent coach. His elevator pitch training provides a very efficient and effective way to get leaders to practice their key messages and turn them into compelling pitches for joining their cause.”
Carol Goglia, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, Communities Foundation of Texas
“It really helped me elevate my pitch to a more personal and strategic level.”
Eneide Geiyer, International Director for Human Resources, Ford Foundation
“This elevator speech training was the best speech training I have ever had! Every leader of a non-profit should take this training as it will dramatically improve their ability to talk about their organization.”
Eric Cohen, Executive Director, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
“Great way for a non-profit board member to structure and refine their convictions and thoughts about their cause to help others quickly understand why a cause is worth supporting. Direct and to the point and worth the time and effort.”
Roger Wu, Board Member, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
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