Redlands Student Consulting Project

Spring 2012

Collin J. Myers

Emily Rychel

Carter Hersey

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Presenter as Performer

I. Intro

Chris Beach is a highly recognized professor of theatre arts at the University of Redlands.

Chris began his career at the U of R in 1993 and has taught a wide range of subjects including;

acting, directing, voice and movement. He received bachelors in fine arts from Virginia

Commonwealth University, in 1997 and later received a Masters in fine arts from UCLA in

1992. Chris is the recipient of both the American College Theatre Festival Award for Excellence

in Theatre Education and the University of Redlands Alumni Relations Award. Chris is the

Founding artistic director of the Performance Loft, an alternative non- profit arts organization

based in Redlands, California. Besides being a highly praised professor and director, Chris works

as a theatrical consultant to individuals and corporations at large. Chris’ ultimate goal is to retire

from the University of Redlands and own his own theatrical consulting company, where he will

be able to leverage his classroom teaching into real life directing on both an individual and

corporate level. Recently Chris has worked with the GIS software leader ESRI, as well as

ESRI’s plenary events in San Diego, Palm Springs and Washington D.C. Additionally, he has

worked with presenters from SeaSketch in Santa Barbara and CitySourced in Santa Monica.

With Chris’s unique style of theatrical directing and consulting, and his engaging and energetic

personality his opportunities are many.

Some of Chris’ recent professional theatre accomplishments: In spring 2010, Chris’

acclaimed production of The Fantasticks inaugurated the University of Redlands New Center for

the Arts; in 2009 Chris directed and designed the highly praised production of Samuel Beckett’s

Happy Days, produced at the Performance Loft. In April of 2008, Chris formed a partnership

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between the University of Redlands Theatre Arts Department, the Performance Loft and the

Riverside School for the Arts, which developed and produced an original comedy Luv U. the

Grad School Musical. In spring and fall of 2007, Chris created, designed and performed in two

original works for the stage utilizing dance/theatre approaches and multi-media technology-

Ladder/Boot in Landis Auditorium, on the Riverside Community College campus and Losing

Things at the Performance Loft.

II. Business Model

So what is it exactly that Chris has to offer potential clients? He offers a service that you

could call consulting, theatrical consulting or presentation coaching but the best description

would be Presenter as Performer. Chris offers a unique method and technique to giving a

presentation. Chris’s presentation model is far different from your average dry “corporate”

presentation that leaves the audience confused and running for the door. Chris adds the element

of theater and acting into presentations. He does this by incorporating a script, proper lighting,

props (hat, chair, clip-board) and introducing different characters within the presentation. He

wants the presenter to feel as if they are an Actor/Actress giving a performance, not just a

PowerPoint. Chris has found that the theatrical elements that make plays and movies so attractive

are quite effective when giving a presentation. Chris offers these services through a series of

workshops and coaching sessions.

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III. Workshops

Chris’s use of workshops is what sets him apart from his competitors. Chris uses “warm-

ups”, a phase I, and a phase II strategy when presenting his workshops to his clients, to build

confidence and strengthen their presentation abilities. Chris tends to focus on one on one

interaction during his workshops so that he is able to cater to each individuals needs. Each

workshop starts out with “warm- ups” which is broken down into four categories: playfulness,

energy, facial expressions and tongue twisters. In each of these sections the client is forced to

break out of their comfort zone and get “loose”. Engaging activities such as misnaming activities

and shadow boxing to body movement to get you used to being on stage, all of these activities

are intended to get the client comfortable on stage and in the roll of a presenter. Usually his

workshops last approximately five hours, including two breaks and time for lunch.

In Phase I, the client starts out by answering questions about his corporations presenting style, as

well as their strategies, goals, and expectations. By doing this Chris can get an idea of what the

specific corporation is intending to achieve by the workshop. Next the client will reflect upon the

highs and lows of past presentations such as “Moments that succeeded and moments that

bombed”, that way the client is able to acknowledge their past mistakes and come to a conscious

understanding of what to improve on. Later in the workshop the focus is on the presenter’s stage

presence, with use of expressive creativity and facial, voice and body dynamics. Another

important idea that is presented is how to attract attention to your presentation by expressing

your ideas through the use of rhythm, space, and how they integrate with your PowerPoint and

other technology. Once the ideas in Phase I have been mastered, the client moves on to Phase II.

Phase II is when the participant is required to bring a script for a presentation in development.

Phase II is generally designed for 8-12 participants. It starts out with a workshop overview,

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“today, I want to give you tools to deepen and refine the ideas in your presentations. I am not the

content expert, but I am an expert at helping you improve HOW you communicate your

content.” Next, the presenter will answer the questions of what are you looking forward to about

your presentation and what are you anxious about? By having the client answer these Chris will

gain and understanding of what needs to be worked on, and what areas of importance need to be

stressed. After lunch the participants will do script exercises with active verb feedback and

thesaurus thinking, active linking of ideas, identifying and editing repetitive word use and habits

of language. Lastly, Chris and the presenter will perform the presentation and run through the

script until it is well adjusted and ready to be prepared.

Fortunately, we were able to attend one of Chris’s workshops and watch him work with

ESRI’s marketing analyst to perfect a presentation to the Directors Guild Association of

America, depicting how important the use of GIS is in not only geographical mapping but as

well as emergency response situations. With the help of Chris, Dave was able to present a train

wreck scenario and how important the use of GIS is. In his presentation he acted as not only a

technician and field agent but as a worried parent, wondering if his kids were going to be okay

and if he would be able to make it to work on time. By watching Dave act as these three separate

rolls, the audience is able to get a more personal feel for what’s going on as well as a

presentation that is unique and engaging. While we were watching Chris and Dave work to

perfect this presentation it was interesting to see how important the little things were. The use of

lighting, stage presence and props played a huge role and greatly impacted the overall

presentation. What set this apart from other corporate presentations was its ability to engage and

capture the attention of the audience. Chris’s theatrical take on his workshops and coaching is

what sets his clients presentations apart from the rest.

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IV. Market for Similar Services

Competitors that Chris will have include mostly speech consultants whose primary focus

is upon the individual giving the speech, or specifically on the aesthetics and delivery of a Power

Point presentation. This also includes the development of stage presence and confidence within

the client. This differs from the service Chris offers mainly because Chris focuses upon the

verbal presentation itself, and how to best create a presentation that resonates with the audience.

Chris takes a theatrical approach with each of his clients where stage presence, lighting, and

props are used as vehicles to ensure a memorable presentation. He uses his theatrical background

and experience to implement these techniques to turn a presenter into performer. This is

important because it differentiates his service from that of his competitors.

Shown below are 5 competitors URL’s with mission statements and objectives taken

directly from their various pages. By assessing these competitors it becomes clear that there are

some similarities, yet none of these businesses are offering the same unique service that Chris

has to offer.

• http://www.154consulting.com/Presentation_Consulting Our Presentation Consulting services help ensure every presentation a client gives has the impact they're looking for. What we help with most is hammering out a compelling argument that makes your case, pulling together your strongest evidence and helping you assess what will work for your audience. Once that's done, we'll help you build slides, handouts, and leave behind documents that help you drive that argument home - with a healthy dose of graphic design - and we'll help you learn how to learn those slides as well.

• http://www.tsod.com/presentation_skills/presentation-rollout-reviewlogistics.htm Training Services On Demand (TSOD) provides presentation review-and critique services designed to increase the effectiveness of pivotal presentations. Professional presentation consultants come to your location – anywhere in the United States –prep, review, asses and debrief the presentation before it is given.

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• http://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/consulting.htm You have an important presentation coming up to a prospect, client, Board of Directors, shareholders, or employee group. You need the presentation to communicate your key points clearly. You want the audience to understand it immediately and take action. And you need help on how to structure the message and create PowerPoint visuals that have impact. We are here to help you succeed.

• http://www.betterpresenting.com/consulting-services/ Whether it is in a small boardroom, large auditorium, or on a webinar, crafting and delivering a winning presentation is all about capturing imagination, winning hearts, and changing minds. Rick Altman can completely change the way you approach, design, create, and deliver presentations, and in so doing, help you distinguish yourself from 99% of the people giving presentations today. (website includes workshops and Power Point training)

• http://joetakash.sancsoft.net/presentation-consultant/ Delivers speeches on how to present to businesses and companies around the nation. Will work one on one with clients to develop their presentation and public speaking skills. Some client target areas for improvement include generating new business, motivating employees, influencing customers and clients or winning votes.

The competitor that most resembles Chris’s service was Betterpresenting.com. However,

this was the only competitor that seemed to offer a similar service, focusing on a new approach

and design to presenting altogether (but not performing). Chris’s consulting services also

encompass both the building of confidence within the presenter and the structure for the

presentation. This gives Chris an advantage over the competition that will be beneficial to his

business and help him to differentiate from the competition. One struggle that Chris may face

initially is the credibility that other consulting firms have built over time. Additionally, many of

his competitors have testimonials and associations with large businesses, proving their reliability.

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However, because the business is in its early stages this can also give Chris an opportunity to

hone his skills, and gain a better understanding of what services he has to offer his clients.

V. Chris’s Niche and Target Audience

Chris’s target audience is focused on individuals eager to perfect their acting skills and

public speaking abilities. This includes CEO’s, business professionals presenting to their

employees, or business’s trying to market and promote their products to possible buyers.

However, Chris’s audience is not limited to a certain type of business professional or situation.

He specializes in theatre and public speaking which can be applied to any type of presentation.

Chris focuses on using and providing memorable engaging presentations where listeners absorb

the information given, and are interested in the material (through theatrics).

VI. Web Development

Our role is to create a website for Chris Beach’s theatrical consulting business

that captures his expertise while drawing maximum interest. Until now, Chris has been doing

business solely by word of mouth and networking through ESRI. The next stage for his business

model would be to market his services through advertisement and the World Wide Web. To our

advantage web-sites such as Virb.com and Domain.com exist. These web development sites

offer an array of different templates that can be customized to market any small business, major

event or for personal use. These web development sites usually charge a monthly rate ($9.99) to

maintain your custom web-site. We decided to use the services of virb.com to create the website.

Virb was the most user friendly and one of our group members had briefly used it before. Virb

also offers the new “cloud” format to add to the site. This allows Chris to sync his Facebook,

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Twitter, Linked In and Tumblr accounts to the site, promoting his business from all angles. Virb

also offers “Google Analytics”, which is a site trafficker that keeps track of how many people are

visiting the site and where they are located.

We started by choosing an appropriate template based on the overall purpose of the site

(small business). We chose the template “Milan” to build the site which enabled it to have

music, photos and videos to better market Chris’s services. We chose this template because,

unless you have hands on experience with what Chris has to offer then it can leave you a little

confused. Offering the customer a hands-on look to what Chris does will simplify the customers

understanding of the business.

We began building the site by developing the name for his website. The name had to be

catchy, relevant and also different than any of the other competitors’ web-sites we researched

(http://www.betterpresenting.com/consulting-services/). We wanted the name to be remembered

the first time it was heard but we wanted to make sure it was also mysterious, leaving people to

wonder what it really meant. The initial names we came up with were:

• Chrisbeachconsulting.com

• Theatricalconsulting.com

• Beachworkspresentationcoaching.com

• Beachworksconsulting.com

• Presenterasperformer.com

After a process of elimination we decided on building our web-site around the title:

Beachworkspresentationcoaching .virb.com. We decided that the word “consulting” should not

be included in the title due to the amount of other consulting web-sites that exist(1,000 +). This

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was decided after we attended one of Chris’s workshops and realized how unique his service

really is. This left us with “Presenter as Performer” as Chris’s mission statement.

Next, we set out to develop a logo that Chris could use to help market his web-site and

business. We wanted the logo to reflect Chris’s intentions so that it could be applied to business

cards, flyers and posters in addition to the web-site. With Chris being involved with theater his

whole life we wanted to incorporate the classic “drama faces” to our logo. By adding these we

were able to identify the theatrical niche that his business offers.

Once we created the logo and chose our site name it was time to begin adding content to

our site. Chris provided us with several items that structured the site (below). These items were

categorized in a specific order so the customer can go through his service step by step, giving

them a better understanding. Clicking on the tabs will open a micro-page that contains further

info.

• Presenter Warm-up Card

• Phase I Presenter as Performer (description)

• Phase II Presenter as Performer (description)

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• Testimonials

• Biography

• Photos

• Quotes

• Contact Info

VII. Recommendations

Recommendations for Chris are to continue to cultivate and define what it is that he can

offer a client. Although he is marketing himself as a speech and presentation consultant, he has a

much broader and creative skill set than his title entails. The type of service that Chris has to

offer is much more specific and unique than any other consulting service that is currently

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offered. This is a strong platform that can be built on and is going to be crucial to the overall

success of his business in the future.

We would suggest that rather than simply advertising his business as a consultant, that he

makes it clear that his service is very unique compared to that of other competition. Chris must

show that the methods he has created, can give clients a more effective and memorable

presentation. At this time Chris’s business is very new with all of his clients coming by word of

mouth. Once these first waves of clients see the benefits, Chris needs to seek feedback from them

to build his resume.

The clients Chris has been working with come from word of mouth advertising. This is

great for a start-up business but won’t ensure a consistent client base. We suggest the use of

personalized business cards to better market Chris’s business. Now that the web-site has been

made, Chris can put the logo and site name on business cards and pass them out accordingly.

Another suggestion is to market his business on other popular or mainstream corporate sites

where business and individuals working in corporate industries can be better targeted such as:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Linked In

This will allow potential clients to examine every part of beachworks presentation coaching and

the benefits it offers. The amount of advertisement and marketing that these social network sites

offer is starting to shape most markets. At numerous small and large business’s it’s common to

see “Like us On Facebook” in the window or on menus. To Chris’s advantage virb.com offers

direct links to all the accounts stated above including Tumblr (photos), Soundcloud (music) and

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Google Analytics. This will also help Chris differentiate himself from competitors since none of

the large presentation consulting firms are synced with Facebook.

If Beachworks Presentation Coaching is successful and eventually expands, Chris will

need to legally file his company with the state of California. In Chris’s case a Limited Liability

Company (LLC) would best suite his services. A LLC is a flexible form of enterprise that blends

elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides

limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of US jurisdictions. LLCs do not need to be

organized for profit. Benefits of being a LLC are:

• Choice of tax regime. An LLC can elect to be taxed as a sole proprietor, partnership, S

corporation or C corporation (as long as they would otherwise qualify for such tax

treatment), providing for a great deal of flexibility

• Much less administrative paperwork and record keeping than a corporation

• Pass-through taxation (i.e., no double taxation), unless the LLC elects to be taxed as a C

corporation.

• LLCs in some states can be set up with just one natural person involved.

• Using default tax classification, profits are taxed personally at the member level, not at

the LLC level

A company such as Legalzoom.com would benefit Chris tremendously. All the legal filings that

Chris needs to complete can be found on their web-site. Legal Zoom’s web-site displays

“California LLC in 3 easy steps” on the home screen. The fee’s for Legal Zoom start from $99 +

state filing fee.

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In the event of an expansion Chris will need to start keeping track of his business

expenses to stay on top of his taxes. A company like Turbo Tax would best suite Chris’s needs.

Turbo Tax offers a business tax model that is specialized for corporations, partnerships and

LLC’s. This will allow Chris to keep track of all his accounting from a computer at home. Turbo

Tax will cut out the expenses of hiring a certified CPA and will teach Chris the fundamentals of

his business expenses and cash flows. For US Federal income tax purposes, an LLC is treated by

default as a pass through entity. If there is only one member in the company, the LLC is treated

as “disregarded entity” for tax purposes, and an individual owner (Chris) would report the LLC’s

income or loss on Schedule C of his individual tax return.

A Final suggestion would be for the future in the case that the company becomes highly

popular amongst businesses and individual clients alike. If Chris were to hire other employees he

could teach them his techniques and formats used for constructing a presentation so that they

could then consult with other businesses. In other words, to avoid being stretched too thin

amongst his various consulting jobs, Chris would have consultants under him that he

orchestrated as he saw necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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