What people say about our students…

“The presentations were on par with what I would expect from colonels and generals.”
– 4 star general Hugh Shelton, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chairman of the Board, RedHat

“I was blown away by the quality of the business plans and presentations!”
– Dr. Tom Miller, Vice Provost, N.C. State University, Executive Director of NCSU Entrepreneur Initiative

What people say about our content…

“This is a very nice, slim, & easily absorbed volume about how to make effective presentations“
– Dr. Vint Cerf, “Father of the Internet”, Google VP & Chief Internet Evangelist

“It’s wonderful! It includes virtually everything I tell my students on how to give effective talks.”
– Dr. Alfred Aho, Columbia University, Former VP of Bell Labs, Winner of IEEE’s, John von Neumann Medal

What our students say about the results…

“I knocked the ball out of the park! Two minute standing ovation!”
– Steve Rao, JD.

“I wish I had this (program) just after law
school. It would have saved me 10 years of emotional grief!”
– Dr. Kevin Lee, Campbell Law School

“An eye-opening kick in the head!”
– Joseph H. Mitchiner, JD Attorney, Mitchiner Law Firm

Professional Speakers
“You stood out from among the many ’emcees’ I have observed over the years because you found the right blend of attention to detail, elegance and humor … I hope that you continue to user your very considerable verbal skills, humor, and talent to delight speakers and audiences everywhere” Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, DTM, AS

Past International President, Toastmasters International

“This insightful and informative look at getting your point across teaches clarity, consistence, and creativity to help you communicate effectively with others. It’s packed with gems of wisdom!”  Dr. Nido Qubein

Cavett Award winner, Natl Speakers Assoc. Speakers Hall of Fame, President, High Point University, Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Co.

Meeting Planners & Event Owners
“Thank you for helping with Digital Marketing For Business –  you made a big difference in perception – added class to DMFB.”

(2 day event had 100+ speakers and 5 tracks) Lawrence Harte

Conference Owner, Digital Marketing For Business

“Your presentation on Sarbanes Oxley was both effective and very timely. Your ability to translate this new comprehensive legislation into understandable project management terms was very helpful.

You covered this all without putting us to sleep!” Gary Turner, PMP

Event Chair, NC Project Management Institute

“Sidd was the emcee for Startup Grind Triangles first annual conference. We asked him about a week before the event and you would have never known based on how well prepared he was. He was very professional and kept the conference running smoothly. Plus, he had some pretty good jokes 😉 He even got my 9 year old daughter to do a pitch in front of our audience!
Amazing job by Sidd and I would recommend him to speak or emcee any event.”

Follow up: My daughter “enjoyed it, but was playing it like [it was] no big deal.
Months later, my wife is doing a craft show for her signs and my daughter asked if she could go and do a pitch in front of the crowd!” Mark Bavisotto

Event Chair, Mark Bavisotto EduStruct, StartUpGrind Regional Director

Executives
“Sidd Chopra … did an outstanding job serving as master of ceremonies at the [TechEngage] conference” Barrett Joyner

President of North America, SAS Institute

“All the tools needed to present in front of an investor panel.  His techniques had a powerful impact on the students, which is why he is invited back each year.” Abhi Muthiyan

CTO, Patagonia Health

“Your topic was very useful to our audience. Your presentation was powerful and very memorable. For me, personally, I was able to use the exercise to do a very difficult thing the following Monday.” Bill Blevins, PMP

Director, Large Systems Engineering, BlueCross & BlueShield of NC

Human Resources
“Sidd recently addressed a meeting for Human Resource Professionals in the RWHRMA and TSHRM Chapters of the Society for Human Resource Management. His ability to tie his expertise to our field was stellar. He had gone to great lengths to research our profession and it resulted in a presentation that was right on target – relevant, appropriate to our members and full of innovative ideas to help advance our businesses using the concepts and techniques he shared with us. Definitely a five-star speaker! I would HIGHLY recommend Sidd to speak at any engagement.”
Teri Harrell

President, Raleigh/Wake Human Resource Management Association, Senior People Relations Consultant, RedHat

Sales
“Sidd gave a presentation on sales psychology and presentation skills to our Sales networking group in May, and it received rave reviews! Several of our attendees told us that they will be completely revamping their presentations based on the suggestions Sidd gave. He’s engaging, relatable and a lot of fun to listen to and learn from. I highly recommend him!” Elyse Archer

Owner, Six Figure Sales Coaching

“Sidd Chopra graciously gave his time and wisdom to our sales group to share his experiences in working with some of the world’s greatest presenters. In his presentation he exhibited the very skill sets he preached by solving challenges that inevitably occur during a presentation. Our audience couldn’t get enough of Sidd and we were very grateful to have him. He’s truly an asset to any community focused on learning and presenting.” Neal Isaacs, MBA

Founding Partner at VR Business Brokers, VR Business Brokers

Marketers
I had a presentation two weeks ago and I kept thinking- this is a cinch compared to trying to be a bird and present.  At first, I did not understand the concept, but now I get it!  I am doing a full hour presentation on 3/15 and I am actually looking forward to it.  Thank you so much! Julia Webster

Marketing Manager, RK&K

“Sidd to the rescue! When hosting events, things go wrong. This time, for me, it was an A/V issue. The only solution was running two laptops simultaneously. No worries, my Perfect Cue could handle both. Alas, my unit was defective and would only advance one laptop. Sidd’s LookWiser Cueing System saved the day connecting to one laptop via USB and another via Bluetooth. Our presentations stayed in sync, and the audience of 200 was none the wiser. Sidd went above and beyond to make sure we were successful.” Evan Carroll

President, American Marketing Association - Triangle Chapter

Managers
“I really want to thank you very much for the work you put into being MC for the[Annual Event]. Your experience … gave the event real polish and I really appreciate it.” Allan Mills, MPM, PMP

President, North Carolina Project Management Institute

Entrepreneurs
“Sidd was extremely helpful and available to help the various teams presenting at Triangle Startup Weekend. With very little notice, Sidd jumped in and helped teams refine their presentations to a judge panel of investors and successful entrepreneurs.
In the short amount of time teams worked with Sidd, I saw their presentations make a 180 degree turn for the better: memorable, concise, and effective.”
Mital Patel, JD

Co-founder at Triangle Innovation Project , Board of Director / Member at Triangle Interactive Marketing Association Organizer at Startup Weekend

“Next time you are preparing for a speaking event, be sure to apply what I call the ‘Sidd Filter’. I have witnessed it transform many speeches from being OK to being intense, persuasive and influential. What I also find interesting about Sidd’s work is that he approaches the problem from the point of view of Neuroscience and its expression in human speech.” Bithika Khargharia, PhD

Principal Architect at Extreme Networks & Director of Product and Community Management, Open Networking Foundation

Attorneys
“I wish I had this just after law school.  It would have saved me 10 years of emotional grief” Dr. Kevin Lee

Professor of Law, Campbell Law School

“What you did was extremely useful as an eye-opening kick in the head to remind me of what most of my presentations are all about. I wish I could have bottled your presentation. Thank you for allowing me to scarf the marker sheets!” Joseph H. Mitchiner

Attorney, Mitchiner Law Firm, PLLC

Physicians
“Thanks for all of your help! At least 3 people told me how they really liked how I started with a story/questions and ended with answering those questions. That was your suggestion and it really worked because it really ended things elegantly. Everyone that I talked to afterwards really liked my slides and the content.” Sujata Ghate, M.D.

Asst. Professor of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Duke University

“I would like to express our thanks for your excellent presentation on techniques at improving our public speaking at our National Conference 2005. Your presentation was informative, enthusiastic, and very entertaining. You have a natural ability at enticing an audience with words”  Sunil Budhrani, MD, MPH, MBA

Medical Director, EmCare

Communication Experts
“Not only was your content relevant and interesting, but the students just cannot stop talking about how great you are… I have never seen a group of Communication students so enthusiastic about [a] guest speaker!” Dr. Lynda L. McCroskey

Professor of Communication and Author, California State Univ. Long Beach

“Thanks for sending me “Power Presentations.”  I’m really impressed.
It offers sound advice in a surprisingly simple and easy-to-follow format.
The Go Ape structure works very well.

If only everyone who gives presentations were guided by these principles!” Dr. Michael P. Carter

Associate Dean Graduate School and Author, North Carolina State University

Engineers
“Last year Sidd provided direct train-the-trainer support to 5 of my team leaders.
Two of the teams made exceptional presentations at the Duke Start-up Challenge semi-final; a cross-campus entrepreneurial competition involving over 125 teams competing for a $25,000 award.”
B. D. Barnes, PhD, PE

Biomedical Engineering Department, Duke University

“You brought a lot of topics to light which we weren’t even thinking of. Currently at work, I am being recognized for my communication and presentation skills, which can be attributed to what was discussed during the training.” Bushra Schendel

Technical Product Owner at Wireless Generation

Accountants
“We really appreciate your presentation and it addressed our needs of a quick overview of MS Project. Your presentation was beneficial to our staff, and we hope to have you back again.”

“We appreciate your willingness to speak on such a short notice.” Clayton Murphy, CPA

NC Office of the State Controller

International Audiences
“I never realized that I should do so many things before deliver a speech even in my own language, I think your presentation really gave many of us a lot instructions in making a good speech.” Junhui Yao

Bohai Development Geoscientist, ConocoPhillips China Inc.

Speechwriters
“Bravo Sidd Chopra 4 surprising us w/ a creative intro proving his point-we make quick judgements based on minimal info [@ Toastmasters 2012 International Convention]” Pete Weissman

Former Speechwriter for CEO of Coca-cola, US Senate, Thought Leader Communications

Educators

“It’s wonderful! It includes virtually everything I tell my students on how to give effective talks.  ”

Dr. Alfred Aho

Columbia University, Former VP of Bell Labs, Winner of IEEE's John von Neumann Medal

“I cannot begin to thank you enough  for the superb job you have done of MC-ing the 40th Tech Symposium. It was amazing.  I, and the department, really appreciate it.  Thank you!” Dr. Mladen Vouk

Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Development, North Carolina State University

“What a wonderful job you did with our students yesterday! I hope you noticed their attention, commitment, and interest. They were indeed, to use a phrase from the sixties, “turned on”. I/we look forward to your return”

Dr. Bob Barnes

Masters of Engineering Management, Duke University

“Cary Academy students are destined for challenging jobs and leadership positions. Many of them will become managers, organizers, speakers who will influence a great amount of people. Strong public speaking skills are a must for this population.”

“Two students in my second period who are very shy and retiring actually took risks to use gestures and show some emotion in their speeches when you had them rehearsing. Students also remembered quite clearly the principles you taught when I asked them to review a few days later. So far, presentations in 2nd period have been animated and well done.” Lyn Fairchild

Former Head of Upper School English Department, Cary Academy

“You brought a lot of topics to light which we weren’t even thinking of. Currently at work, I am being recognized for my communication and presentation skills, which can be attributed to what was discussed during the training.” Carol Swink

3rd - 5th Grade Teacher, Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Hunter GT Magnet Elementary School