Michael Barris

Michael Barris Consulting

-Help financial services professionals develop communication and presentation skills to build trust on a regular basis and attract high-net-worth clients. Work with professionals in advisory, insurance, banking, real estate.

-Guide clients, either in 1:1 sessions or group presentations and workshops, to develop ability to use speaking skills to connect, resonate and build trust when presenting in front of an individual or group, be it in-person or online.

-Emphasize the importance of cultivating an audience-first mindset and filtering every word spoken and physical action taken through the question: "How is my message going to impact the person receiving it? Is this going to move them forward and closer to me?"

-Teach clients how to tell stories to warm up listener and inspire them to share back narratives of their own.

-Draw on years of experience as a Dow Jones Newswires & Wall Street Journal editor-writer and Rutgers University adjunct professor of public speaking.

Financial Services Communication & Presentation Coach

-Unpacked strategies for memorable public speaking for readers at every level of speaking proficiency in "How to Become a Super Speaker: The 7 Principles for Speaking with Confidence and Connecting with Audiences," a concise, easy-to-digest volume that became an immediate bestseller.  The book helps people find their voice, simplify complex ideas, and build trust, paving the way for conversations that get influence and conversions.

"Makes the idea of public speaking fun and not intimidating." - New Jersey real estate sales associate.   
Amazon book details: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1674459793 


-Wrote narrative, conducted interviews with government staff, experts for "The Social Media President: Barack Obama and the Politics of Digital Engagement," a 215-page analysis and critique of the use of social media in the campaigns and administration of US President Barack Obama, published by Palgrave Macmillan. Co-written with James E. Katz, the Feld Professor of Emerging Media at the College of Communication, Boston University, and Anshul Jain, the book is a "fascinating and instructive" look at the strengths and weaknesses of social media for public involvement in governmental decision-making, according to reviewer Fred I. Greenstein, Professor of Politics Emeritus at Princeton University.

Publisher's website link: http://us.macmillan.com/thesocialmediapresident/JamesEKatz


Sample: 
https://mike2012blogdotcom3.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/the-social-media-president-ch-4-5-framing-the-peoples-white-house-white-house-online-town-hall1.pdf

Bestselling Author: "How to Become a Super Speaker";  Co-Author: "The Social Media President"

South China Morning Post SCMP

-Shape, sharpen and improve storytelling and reporting by native and non-native English writers as member of SCMP’s North American news team, rewriting heavily as needed. Format copy and add SEO headlines, photos, graphics, videos, links before publishing. Edit video scripts.
-Rank articles on scmp.com for global audience, selecting high quality material for Apple News channel. Send out news alerts. Communicate extensively with managers and reporters to fix errors and ensure copy meets house style, taste and formatting standards.

US Copy and Production Editor - Homepage Team

-Spurred administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to form Council of Innovation in response to recommendation of report I drafted for New Jersey Policy Research Organization (NJPRO) on potential for industry-academia collaboration to enhance NJ economy. NJPRO is think-tank of New Jersey Business and Industry Association. 

-Used interviews, case studies and data analysis to determine that social media is unlikely to be a source of meaningful input in White House decision-making in "The Social Media President: Barack Obama and the Politics of Digital Engagement" (Palgrave Macmillan). Co-written with Boston University mobile tech scholar James E. Katz.

-Raised profile in Western media of a leading Chinese business school, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, by crafting op-ed pieces, scripts, media interview responses, scholarly articles on behalf of Dean, senior faculty and conference panel speakers. Promoted school programs, Ivy League partnerships, alumni presentations in video interviews, articles, online marketing, press releases. 

-Enhanced New York Post's "Media City" feature through weaving reporter submissions into engaging narrative and injecting original content. Edited print-edition business pages, including headlines, copy and proofreading/correcting galleys. 

-Covered breaking news and features in both print/video for Mobile Marketer/Mobile Commerce Daily. Moderated Mobile FirstLook conference panel with New York Times, Yahoo's Tumblr on making money with mobile content.

Freelance Editor and Writer

China Daily USA

-Beat the competition on stories for leading State-owned English-language Chinese daily newspaper about China's moves into US auto market, including launching California electric-bus factory. Provided video voice-overs, stand-up reports. Held forum with Twitter users. 

-Tracked and interpreted political, social, financial and legal issues affecting US-China relationship in in-depth features. Covered United Nations, Council on Foreign Relations. Traveled within US to report on conferences, interview newsmakers. 

-Edited copy from across nine US China Daily bureaus. Critiqued home edition for managers.

Business Reporter/Editor

Rutgers University

-Introduction to Public Speaking. Blended personal public speaking experience with in-classroom teaching and online learning and communication systems to guide students on managing speaking anxiety, connecting with audiences. Taught many non-native English speakers. 

-Expository Writing 101. Applied insights from work as professional journalist to enlighten students on synthesizing diverse texts, presenting thesis statement.

Adjunct Professor, Departments of Communication, English

Dow Jones Newswires

-Helped manage 30-person staff on Dow Jones Business News' public website. As Assistant News Editor, distilled, edited extensive range of subject matter. Controlled online front page, including prioritizing items and crafting headlines. Assigned, monitored and updated breaking news stories.

-Turned major press releases and filings into market-moving articles within 20 minutes as Rewrite Desk Copy Editor for Dow Jones Newswires, Wall Street Journal and WSJ.com. Beat rivals with early stories on Kirk Kerkorian proposal to buy DaimlerChrysler, causing automaker's stock to surge. Was among first outlets to publish stories on Bernie Madoff investment scandal, Pfizer layoffs. 

-Influenced direction of US newspapers' business coverage by selecting, rewriting DJ stories for distribution via value-added Associated Press wire. Served as lead Copy Editor on Newspaper Desk. Worked together with AP counterpart to keep stream of DJ stories flowing to world's largest and oldest news service. Assigned stories, had final-reader responsibilities for style, grammar, headlines.

Assistant News Editor, Copy Editor

Knight Ridder Financial News

-Edited and wrote headlines for articles on corporations, equities, commodities and currency for global financial newswire. Assigned coverage of breaking news.

Corporate Copy Editor

News Tribune and Courier News

-News Tribune: Laid out front page of daily newspaper. Directed breaking front-page news coverage. Collaborated with editors, reporters, photographers and technical staff on layouts for front page, local section, state pages. 

-Courier News: Final gatekeeper, managed daily copy-desk news flow. Edited, laid out local, state pages. Worked with reporters, editors to adjust copy to ensure clarity.

Assistant News Editor, News Tribune/Slot Editor, Courier News

Speaking Coach and Bestselling Author | Public Speaking, Communication, Career Growth

I wrote one of the first Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal online stories about the arrest of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, perpetrator of a US$50 billion global investment scam.

My job was to get this story out as fast as possible. But I couldn't stop my mind from going to the scores of fraud victims. My thoughts also were on another casualty: the financial industry and, specifically, investor trust.

Flash forward to today. Madoff is dead after 13 years in prison, but his crime has left an indelible mark on me.

After years of experience in speaking, coaching, presenting and writing, I now help financial services professionals to develop their communication and presentation skills; not just to help them handle a Madoff-style crisis but to build trust on a regular basis and attract that higher-level clientele. 

When we work together, you will learn to develop strong speaking skills, whether you're presenting in front of an individual or an in-person or online group, to ensure that you're connecting, resonating and building trust. 

It's necessary to filter every expressed action and word through the question: “How is my message going to impact the person receiving it? Is this going to move them forward and closer to me?"

So I devote a lot of special attention to storytelling techniques that work, whether it's for an audience of one or one to many, to connect you emotionally with the people or individuals you want to reach.

Many of the ideas that I developed while I was a Rutgers University adjunct professor of public speaking are expressed throughout my book, “How to Become a Super Speaker."

If you know that you could attract more deals, close more business and attract high-net-worth clients with stronger speaking skills, I’d be happy to have a conversation about how my method can get you there.
 
💥 If you'd like to get a taste of what I teach, I welcome you to access my free speaking course. You can get it here: michaelbarris.com/mini-course

Here's what some people have said after my presentations:

"Michael provided top-notch direction and coaching around delivery and more. He is an excellent teacher, a true professional and a great communicator." 
—Heather Adams, VP Creation & Development

“Michael was recommended to host a training session at our Learning and Development Festival, and he was fabulous! Some attendees enjoyed Michael’s session so much that we invited him back for a second time.”
—Lindsey Leigh Hobson, Founder, The Learning and Development Collective

Speaking Coach: Helping You Fast-Track Your Career Growth, Navigate Workplace

-I show up-and-coming professionals how to use the techniques of public speaking and communication to navigate the workplace and take their careers to the next level. I give them the tools to deal with organizational challenges at a time of stretched resources in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, helping them to gain experience and wins ahead of their next upward move. When they work with me, they develop their ability to talk up products and services, tell relatable stories, inspire teams to increase productivity, handle media Q&As, impress investors, close deals, command conference stages and handle other high-level speaking tasks. I help them smash down their roadblocks through a mix of mindset strategies, speaking skills development, stagecraft education and close coaching that is influenced by the audience-based methodologies and frameworks of professional performers. I do both 1-on-1 and group coaching and give talks and lead workshops based on my bestselling public speaking training book, "How to Become a Super Speaker: The 7 Principles for Speaking with Confidence and Connecting with Audiences." I also give clients access to my online course, "Unleashing the Power of Your Voice," consisting of 20+ lessons featuring me speaking and demonstrating on video the mindset strategies, basic speaking techniques and stagecraft elements that undergird my coaching and speaking programs.

BetterUp

-Conduct in-depth research on prospects and clients to position our sales pitch strategically, including
incorporating intel from sales team, news sources, and the client/prospect’s website.

-Ask strategic questions to guide proposal content/value propositions and closely acquaint myself to an opportunity, often accommodating quick timelines in a fast-paced environment.

-Revise writing from upwards of five contributors per proposal to ensure cohesive and consistent
messaging/storytelling while paying close attention to detail on proposal formatting.

Sales Proposal Lead, Government

Speak As You Go LLC

I am devoted to helping feminist speakers develop the skills and techniques needed to communicate confidently in any situation as well as associate empowerment and fun with the art of public speaking.

Owner

Monmouth County Park System

-Lead groups of students ranging from ages 12-14 through three 8 week sessions mentoring and coaching them through running their own Toastmasters meetings. 

-Adapted Toastmaster's Youth Leadership Program curriculum in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and constantly shifting format based on the number of students about to attend each session as well as the space we were provided to conduct meetings in. 

-Taught a 5-week course that met one night a week for an hour and half where I taught women 18+ about concepts of interpersonal, professional, and impromptu speaking.

Instructor

PowerSchool

-Lead kick off calls with over a dozen stakeholders across the organization at various levels. 

-Drive proposal timeline to ensure deliverables are submitted by deadlines. 

-Revise writing from upwards of five contributors per proposal to ensure cohesive and consistent messaging. 

-Craft engaging and strategic cover letters and executive summaries for every proposal that align with each unique opportunity.

-Selected as a member of the 2021 Sales Advisory Council. The objective of the PowerSchool Sales Advisory Council is to "Formalize the voice of Sales by leveraging the voice of top performers in non-management roles on a regular cadence for the purpose of building better, more powerful programs and tools for Sales to win through delivering an excellent customer experience."

-Member of Women in Tech, participating in networking events as well as Women's History Month initiatives including a video montage talking about the women in my life and historical figures who inspire me.

Proposal Manager

Rutgers University School of Communication and Information

-Teach a class of 25 undergraduate students across all majors about theoretical and best practices related to public speaking. 

-Prepare weekly lectures to deliver to the class. 

-Create and execute in-class activities that help students improve their extemporaneous speaking. These exercises are both graded and ungraded. 

-Advise students on classroom technology use, speech topic selection, and areas for improvement. 

-Grade both written and oral assignments. 

-Communicate with students about deadlines, activities, and any applicable changes to the course.

Adjunct Professor-Public Speaking

iCIMS

-Managed RFP process from beginning to end including legal requirements, technical questionnaires, marketing-style, succinct responses to functionality questions, and composing personalized content for proposal elements such as cover letters, executive summaries, differentiators, and competitive intelligence. 

-Led the implementation of RFP tool, RFPIO and developed workflows and processes centered around the use of this tool across three teams and 20 employees across iCIMS.

-Contributed over $9.5 million in yearly revenue during my tenure at iCIMS including wins for our 7th, 13th, and 16th largest customers across our 4,300+ client base. Prospects spanned Enterprise and Commercial sectors as well as North America, Europe, and APAC.

-Composed and project managed over 180 proposals responses during my tenure which were, on average, 200 questions with a personalized and strategic cover letter included with each.

-Collaborate with the sales organization to represent each Account Executive/Manager’s individual strategy while maintaining a consistent voice and brand throughout responses. 

-Oversee design and formatting elements of a proposal, ensuring presentation and readability contribute to winning proposals.

-Recognized as one of two employees company-wide as the Customer Commitment Core Competency winner for Q2 of 2020.

-Coordinated quarterly content refreshes, working with 8 teams across the organization to make sure content is up to date once a quarter.

Proposal Writer II

Achieve3000

-Oversee proposal writing process from start to finish, scheduling launch calls, assigning sections to the appropriate resource, and writing up to 100 pages of content per RFP. My writing consists of marketing-style business literature selling the Achieve3000 platform. 

-Format and edit content within our template and create drafts using proposal writing platform, Loopio. 

-Work on miscellaneous projects as needed including grant letters, letters of recommendation, and updating internal content library.

Proposal Writer

Independent Contractor

Social media monitoring and posts, community relations organizing, and overall branding strategy for various industries including healthcare, property management, and banking/brokering. I do pro bono work, too, so please reach out to me if you need assistance with building a social media presence! 

Handles I managed: 
Grace Christian Church (contributor) 06/2018-present 
Facebook: @GraceChristianChurchofNJ
Twitter: GCCofNJ
Instagram: @gccofnj

TedxAsburyPark 2018 event day posting: 
*Worked with a team of 5 other social media volunteers to cover the event across social media platforms. I specially worked on the Twitter and Snapchat teams. 
Twitter: @TedxAsburyPark
Snapchat: TedxAsburyPark

Core Spine and Wellness 05/2015-02/2016
Instagram: @corespineandwellness, @hpboro
Twitter: @CoreSpineWellne
Core Spine and Wellness's Facebook page 
Other work: 
-Toastmasters District 83 Blog contribution: https://www.tm83.org/blog/toastmasters-for-the-next-generation/
-Kinetics press release: http://www.kineticsnj.com/kinetics-press-release/

Social Media and Marketing Freelancer

SHI International Corp.

-Organize all proposal materials and delegate responsibilities according to a given RFP deadline. 

-Compose professional, marketing-style business proposals for licensing, hardware, and software of all revenue scales across all technologies at SHI. 

-Serve as a liaison among all departments involved in the RFP including collecting pricing, technical information, and contract approval.

-Served as a liaison between sales representatives and customers in a B2B, IT sales and solutions setting.

-Coordinated with members of the sales team to successfully respond to customer inquiries in a fast-paced environment. Much of this communication took place via e-mail or customer-facing phone calls.

-Managed e-mails related to Microsoft licensing-specifically Windows Server, System Center, Software Assurance, and the Volume Licensing Service Center. 

-Trained other specialists on product licensing and VLSC guided tours. 

-Proofread and formatted team training materials to be posted on SHI's intranet system.

Product Licensing & Support Specialist-Microsoft

Today's Business

-Created social media content calendars for clients in healthcare, financial, and real estate industries.

-Researched necessary subject areas to create rich and accurate social media copy. 

-Identified stock photos to be used across all social media channels. 

-Wrote posts for the entire month including 1 tweet, 1 Facebook post, and, on average, 4 Instagram posts per week for select clients. 

-Worked with Today's Business Community Managers to edit calendars and exceed client expectations with social media campaigns. 

Handles and Pages managed: 

Twitter: 
@IVF_IRMS 08/2015-02/2016
@GH_Mortgage 08/2015-01/2016
@SJFert 11/2015-06/2016
@wildlakehomes 12/2015-05/2016
@ParcDulles 12/2015-08/2016
@universitysq 12/2015-08/2016
@rwj_pe  03/2016-05/2016

Facebook: 
Institute for Reproductive Medicine at Saint Barnabas (IRMS) 08/2015-02/2016
GuardHill Financial Corp 08/2015-01/2016
South Jersey Fertility Center 11/2015-06/2016
Lerner Windmill Parc 12/2015-08/2016
Lerner Wilde Lake 12/2015-05/2016
Lerner University Square 12/2015-08/2016
Robert Wood Johnson Physician's Enterprise 03/2016-05/2016

Instagram: 
@guardhill_financial 08/2015-01/2016
@universitysq 12/2015-08/2016
@wildelakeapartments 12/2015-05/2016
@windmillparc 12/2015-08/2016

Social Media Content Creator 

Writer. Talker. Questioner. Lover of process, community, and checklists. Oxford comma stan. A little diff. 🤘🏻

I couldn’t choose just one path to go down so I take “day trips” to explore each of them on a regular basis through both my work and play. 

✍🏻 APMP FOUNDATION CERTIFIED PROPOSAL MANAGER. I’m not waving hello - I’m calling for help. Proposal management is the perfect mix of predictability (process) and texture (what goes on during each step of the process). I have spent seven years in fast-paced, dynamic ed tech and HR tech organizations churning out proposal responses and devoting hours of concentrated and strategic work to responses for multi-million dollar deals. In that time, I’ve touched and implemented systems like Loopio, RFPIO, and Ombud to manage mountains of content and achieved a 44% win rate. 

📚 WRITING. My love of scribe continues after hours - so much so that I self-published a book as a birthday gift to myself back in 2021. Based on my love of the 90s/early 2000s TV show, Friends, and how it set me up for complete disappointment as an adult living in a new city with 0 friends, I documented my efforts to find them as an adult and put it into this self-help guide mixed with the most iconic quotes from the beloved TV show. Available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/One-Where-Found-Friends-Friendship-ebook/dp/B09BNYBXD5) now. 

🗣 PUBLIC SPEAKING. Suddenly the “talks too much” comments on my report card make total sense. Dozens of speeches and hundreds of volunteer hours in leadership roles later and I am a Distinguished Toastmaster, joining the ~1% of Toastmasters worldwide who reach this incredibly rewarding milestone. Next stop? Connect with the perfect TED Talk coach who can find the right opportunity for my first TED Talk. 

👩🏻‍🏫 TEACHER. 5 years of teaching public speaking at Rutgers University and 5-time youth leadership program teacher, and 1 round of "I Am Speaking" for women.

🫶🏻 COMMUNITY. Co-host of the Mom Walk Collective Baltimore and creating content on the @strollerfriendlybaltimore Instagram account!

🎭 VOICE ACTING. Yet another way to run my mouth. Maybe you’ll like it! Listen to my demo here: http://shelbyhollimancarley.icanvoice.com/

taplio

The Battle

Michael Barris

Shelby Holliman Carley, M.A.

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