Climbing the vocal ladder of success

Torus Tammer

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Terri Sjodin believes that if you can speak, write

and argue in a logical, persuasive manner, there’s nothing a person can’t

achieve.

As a nationally recognized public speaker and author, Sjodin, of

Fountain Valley, has led by example and utilized this philosophy to help

others. In fact, she lays it all out in her recently released book, “New

Sales Speak -- The Nine Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes & How To

Avoid Them.”

“We live in a time of information overload,” Sjodin said. “Just having

the information is not enough; information has to have direction.”

A longtime resident, Sjodin, 36, has a variety of clients, including

athletes, actors and corporate heads who she helps to better communicate.

The author of two other books -- “Everybody Sells Something” and

“Mentoring -- A Success Guide for Mentors and Proteges,” said that her

experiences in speech class and debate at Fountain Valley High School

were paramount in influencing the direction of her future.

In particular, Sjodin cites her teachers for igniting her passion.

“At junior college, Peg Taylor was my debate coach, and she helped me

to structure logical arguments,” Sjodin said. “But it was in high school

I got bit by the speech bug. My speech coach, Jim Caforio, was my first

significant teacher. He encouraged me to participate in debates and

taught me to speak well.”

Caforio, who now heads the English department at Fountain Valley High,

said back when he was a speech coach, the program was at its zenith in

California. At that time, he added, Fountain Valley High was ranked in

the top five with debate teams throughout the state. Caforio says that

Sjodin, who was on the squad, was a wonderful asset to the team and had

all the natural abilities to communicate clearly and become an excellent

debater.

“She was an extrovert, a natural speaker who liked to perform,”

Caforio said. “Terri was energized by speaking, and that’s a big part of

what makes her affective.”

Sjodin, who earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from

San Diego State University, said what she teaches today is essentially

what she learned in debate class. It’s just that she presents her

philosophy as a guideline of steps to follow that she says will teach you

the nine things not to do when trying to sell yourself.

“What I do is called sales speak,” Sjodin said. “Everyone is selling

something, but usually are far too informative. I’ve tried to change that

by encouraging the use of necessary information to teach persuasive

logical argument.”

She added that people have to tailor their message or pitch to meet

the needs of a specific audience. It sounds easy enough to do, but most

people end up getting in their own way, she said.

Sjodin believes today’s fast-paced world doesn’t allow a lot of time

to get a clear and persuasive message across. So, one has to really focus

on not being boring and communicating their point, she said.

“Often, I’ll work with CEOs, and the amount of information they have

to present is amazing, but usually boring,” she said.

Jerry Anderson, president of Caldwell Bank’s international-commercial

division, said he has known Sjodin for almost 10 years, and when he first

met her at a real estate convention, he immediately noticed her potential

as well as her youth.

“Terri was energetic, but had no target for her message,” Anderson

said. “Being in real estate, I recognized that her topic and her message

could be a tremendous asset to people who couldn’t communicate

persuasively. She was raw talent, and I latched onto that, and she

latched onto me as a mentor.”

Sjodin says that she has been fortunate to have great mentors and

coaches like Anderson and Caforio. But, she added, in order to utilize

what she was being taught, she had to listen and follow their directions

and learn how to be persistent.

“You have to stay tenacious when you’re selling,” she said. “If you

know what to do and how to use and follow the steps, you can make

anything happen.”