Terri Sjodin

Founder of Sjodin Communications - Sales Strategies

Terri Sjodin

Founder of Sjodin Communications - Sales Strategies

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Biography

Terri Sjodin is a renowned speaker, author, and entrepreneur celebrated for her expertise in helping professionals enhance their persuasive presentation skills. More than thirty years after launching her company, Sjodin Communications, from a spare room in her home, she has built an impressive client list that includes Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, national sales teams, industry associations, and even members of Congress.

She is the author of several books, including Scrappy and The New York Times bestseller, Small Message, Big Impact, which also hit The Wall Street Journal Hardcover Business Bestseller List and USA Today Money Bestseller List. Her newest book, Presentation Ready, based on a multi-year, three-phase research study, was recently published by McGraw-Hill.

In July of 2012, Terri was inducted into the NSA Speaker Hall of Fame. This award, called the CPAE, is a lifetime award for speaking excellence and professionalism. Inductees are evaluated by their peers through a rigorous and demanding process. Each candidate must excel in seven categories: material, style, experience, delivery, image, professionalism and communication. She also received the prestigious CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation. Less than 12% of the 5,000 speakers who belong to the International Federation for Professional Speakers hold this professional designation. She was also named one of the top five Women in Business by the Orange County Business Journal.

Beyond her success as an entrepreneur and author, Terri is a popular LinkedIn Learning Instructor and a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows throughout the country. She has appeared on The Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and many industry podcasts.

Her impact extends beyond the business realm, as she serves on the Orange County Board of Trustees for Olive Crest. Olive Crest is dedicated to preventing child abuse, to treating and educating at-risk children and to preserving the family one life at a time.

Terri graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech Communication. Before forming her own company, Terri was a top sales producer with both The Achievement Group and Resource Dynamics.

Her combination of academic communication theory, field research and practical street sales experience collected during thousands of coast-to-coast business presentations cast Terri in the leading role of advising today's professionals on becoming more polished, persuasive presenters and adapting to the changing marketplace.

Terri is a "high content" speaker—her approach is fresh, real-world and her style is sassy and practical. Each presentation is loaded with street-worthy ideas, methods and tips that men and women can use immediately to get results. Many consider Terri to be today's sales professionals' speech coach.

Speaker Videos

Terri Sjodin Speaker Preview Video

796: Sales Presentations, with Terri Sjodin

Terri Sjodin with JJ Ramberg on MSNBC’s Your Business

Clip from Terri Sjodin's Program: Small Message, Big Impact

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Speech Topics

Presentation Ready: Exploring the Art of Presenting Persuasively

(This program can be delivered in a keynote, breakout session, half-day or full-day format.) | Most people want to improve their presentations but don’t know where to start—and that can be costly. That is where this program can help. In this session, Terri shares the results from her multiyear research project on the state of sales presentations, which identified 12 common mistakes that may cost an individual the win, the deal, or the opportunity and shows how to avoid them. Why focus on mistakes? Because you can’t improve what you don’t recognize as a problem. The solutions will ultimately help you course-correct faster and gain greater confidence for future presentations.

The audience will gain an understanding of:

The 12 most common mistakes people make when presenting
The 3 benchmarks for crafting an effective presentation: Case, Creativity and Delivery
How to make your messaging persuasive rather than just informative
How to communicate more effectively, whether in person, virtual or hybrid
How to avoid “strange” body language and gesturing
How to channel fear and anxiety to work for you vs. against you when you’re speaking one-on-one or one-on-one hundred

The focus will be on developing verbal communication skills for greater impact with listeners.

Building Your Persuasive Case

(This is a breakout session to follow the Presentation Ready keynote.) | Has your sales presentation become far too informative versus persuasive? You are not alone. In this session, Terri will address one of the highest ranked mistakes participants self-identified in The State of Sales Presentations research study: being overly informative versus persuasive. She will show you specific methods for developing logical, persuasive arguments in the body of your presentations, including how-tos for identifying your most compelling talking points. This is a roll-up-your-shirt-sleeves interactive session.

The Scrappy Advantage…It’s About Choosing to Play Big!

(This is a popular breakout session to follow the Presentation Ready material.) | In today’s competitive market, it takes more than just showing up, more than persistence and more than just having a dream to reach your goals. Sometimes you have to get a little scrappy and creative to earn the right to be heard!

In this special session, attendees will get a sneak peek into Terri Sjodin’s book, Scrappy: A Little Book About Choosing to Play Big (Penguin Random House August 2016). The American Heritage Dictionary defines “scrappy” as “…full of fighting spirit.” The impetus of a scrappy mindset might begin when a person (insert you) has a specific goal with a specific challenge to circumvent, most likely within a certain time frame. Terri will share research, interview material and incredible stories from a variety of people from different industries who have pulled off seemingly impossible wins or achieved crazy, fun goals. This session will give you tactical ideas to help you execute your vision of what you can accomplish…once you decide to get scrappy.

The Art of Presenting Persuasively: Delivering Your Message with Impact (Live, Virtual Webinar Series)

Working from home and the adoption of and/or conversion to video meetings and sales calls now dance together hand-in-hand. And it is here to stay. Our research tells us that moving forward, even after our lives return to “normal” and we can safely meet face-to-face, people will still choose virtual and hybrid options because of the cost savings and convenience factors. It is time to embrace the opportunities that video-platform based presentations provide, as we all transition into this new market.

Since the pandemic hit, Terri has spent much of her time reviewing countless virtual sales meetings, “Lunch & Learns,” product demonstrations, sales calls and conference presentations in an effort to help figure out what’s working and what’s not.

Here is one thing we know for sure…whether speaking one-on-one, to a small group, or on a video conferencing platform call to 300+ people – presentation skills matter. Presenting online is just not the same as “in person.” Many people suffer from common shortcomings that adversely affect their results. Most of which just require a little finessing and insight into best practices. This is where Terri can help!

The goal of this all-inclusive series is to help you save time, have FUN, and significantly improve your virtual presentation outcomes! Each session is designed to build on the next in a format that is fast paced, content rich and full of actionable material. Plus, each session is presented “live” to promote connection and learning!

Testimonials

"Over the last 20 years I have had many opportunities to observe sales trainers, motivational speakers, and various business communication experts and I must say, you rank up there with the very best I’ve ever seen. Your enthusiasm is contagious and your energy is invigorating. Moreover, your experience, confidence and credibility shine through. You dont just talk about selling, you actually do it! I experienced it first hand when you sold me and thats not such an easy thing to do. You do more than simply inform – you persuade!"

- Senior Vice President, PM Group

"While you dont necessarily view yourself as a motivational speaker, your presentation style and information that you share does in fact motivate! Our salespeople left excited about putting into practice what they learned. Thank you!"

- Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp

"You won’t find a more captivating, enthusiastic, humorous, and street savvy speaker than Terri Sjodin."

- Assistant Director, Northwestern Mutual

"You are truly an outstanding professional and thanks for energizing our audience. We value your unique presentation style and the time you take to customize your program to meet the needs of our group."

- Senior Vice President, Realogy Event Marketing

"The feedback I have received about your talk was fantastic. Everyone benefited from your message, and they identified very well with you."

- National Sales Director, Tap Pharmaceuticals

"They loved you and your message! Thank you for being part of our annual convention. Our dealers needed to hear that 99 percent of selling is dependent on your presentation."

- Publicity Director, Viking Sewing Machines, Inc

"Your programs contain powerful, straight-forward techniques and tools that our people are able to employ immediately. Thank you!"

- Divisional Vice President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

"Fantastic! Your presentation to the members of the House Republican Conference got rave reviews. I know there were a lot of members and staff who really appreciated your help. As we head into a key election cycle, so many of the tips you offered will be crucial. Thank you again for your time and all your efforts."

- Chairman, House Republican Conference

"The importance of strong communication skills cannot be overstated in todays business world. Terri shows us how to enhance our ability to reach even higher goals through more persuasive communication."

- President, Fidelity National Financial, Inc.

"Terri Sjodin delivers. While she came to us highly recommended, she definitely exceeded our expectations. Her presentation was the highlight of our event and comments heard from attendees included: “Terri’s presentation was excellent. Not only did she give me some great ideas to help me be a better presenter, but I found it very entertaining as well.” We would have Terri back again. Thanks for helping make our event a success."

- Regional Development Officer, Smith Barney