Co-Founder and CEO, Prapela
On working with John K. Bates, Executive Speaking Success
From an experienced presenter to a more connected pitch
John Konsin had decades of life sciences experience and hundreds of presentations behind him. Preparing for Johnson & Johnson’s 2017 Next-Gen Baby Box QuickFire Challenge gave him a reason to reconsider what a speaking coach could offer. His account describes the shift from presenting facts to connecting with an audience.
In John’s own words
Nah, I really don’t need a speaking coach”, I was thinking as Johnson & Johnson introduced me to John Bates. The coaching was part of JNJ’s support to prepare my pitch for one of their QuickFire Challenges. I wasn’t being arrogant. It’s just that after making hundreds of presentations and many speeches over my 37-year career in Life Sciences, I thought I didn’t need a coach. I was self-taught and spent time reading about effective speaking and even took a course on “How to present like Steve Jobs.” I had been pitching my company, Prapela, for about 6 months and had recently won the “Best Overall Presentation” award at a big event in Boston. Surely my time would be better spent on something else. Still, my conscience and my respect for JNJ told me to take the course along with the other participants in the Challenge. I completed each online training session and then participated in a few video conference calls with the class and John.”
Wow, John and his course was a game changer for me and Prapela. John’s course is way beyond the basics of slide content, posture and delivery. You learn the importance and the skills of connecting with your audience. For me, I discovered how my traditional emphasis on facts and putting everything in chronological order got in the way of being authentic. And I also met a terrific, positive person – John is simply a great coach and his course is flat out fun. “Yeah, I really did need a speaking coach”, I was thinking as I held the Winner’s trophy for JNJ’s Next-Gen Baby Box Challenge. Thanks to John and Johnson & Johnson, Prapela is raising funding and on a pace to introduce the Prapela SVS next-gen baby box in 2018.”
Original recommendation about the 2017 engagement. References to 2018 describe plans at the time.
A follow-up from John in September 2019
Two years after the QuickFire Challenge, John shared an update: Prapela had received a $1 million award from Ohio and a $200,000 award from Massachusetts. Describing the Ohio presentation and questions from the judges, he wrote:
Because of my preparation and previous coaching, I was calm, confident, and felt connected to the judges.
These were Prapela’s achievements. John’s own account describes how preparation and coaching supported his experience presenting.
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