Ty Boyd to

lead seminar
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

Ty Boyd, former WBT and WBTV personality, wants to give people the skills and confidence to voice their goals and communicate their ideas.

Boyd will conduct a three-day workshop in September, sponsored by the Watauga County Economic Development Commission and the Watauga Committee of 100.

During the course, participants will deliver 15 to 18 videotaped presentations that Boyd and peers in the workshop will analyze to help each participant enhance and hone his/her communication skills.

Each participant will also receive individualized coaching from Boyd, and he said the class is participatory.

Not only will attendees learn the tools necessary for effective communication, but they will also learn the skills essential to teaching others.

“It’s my feeling that the number-one skill of a leader, manager, salesperson – or teacher, preacher, lover, lawyer – is the ability to communicate with their customers and I define everybody as a customer – family, community or people you’re doing business with,” Boyd said.

He said listening might be one of the hardest skills to develop, though many people are also shy about public speaking.

“We have nine times more requests for speaking skills than for listening skills,” Boyd said. “We think we are good listeners just because we hear. And we’re afraid to stand up and speak. But because of a built-in fear factor that everyone has, it’s not the place that most people would choose, but it’s the one that sets people apart more than any other.

Boyd thinks people turn down opportunities because they are afraid of speaking, communicating and developing relationships. Salespeople will miss closing the deal through a fear of being in the position of talking or opening up dialogue.

“We use the model of public speaking, but what we really teach is a far more pervasive set of skills, and they are relationship skills,” Boyd said.

“What we teach is that ‘whole-loop aspect.’ If you and I are talking and there is no feedback, I don’t know if it’s a monologue or dialogue. We teach the loop and the power of listening and respecting others, and we teach the confidence not to be crippled but to be effective in communication with customers.”

Boyd said a conscious decision must be made to face discomfort in order to get a bigger share of the world and be more effective, whether in personal or professional life. “It has to be a conscious decision, or otherwise we opt out to settling for less,” Boyd said.

Boyd said the principles of the three-day workshop could improve anyone’s effectiveness.

“The basics don’t change, but it’s the basics that make the President of the United States or the new person on the sales staff really take off,” Boyd said.

It’s the 28th year of “Excellence in Speaking” institutes, with international clients in major businesses and Fortune 500 companies, though individual entrepreneurs can also benefit, Boyd said.

He has delivered keynotes and conducted seminars on five continents to more than a million people. He is one of the few speakers worldwide to receive the speaking industry’s three highest honors, including the Cavett Award.

In 1980, with his wife and business partner, Pat, Boyd founded Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems to teach business executives the speaking skills he has honed over a lifetime. Boyd has been inducted into both the Broadcast Hall of Fame and Speakers Hall of Fame. He is also a member of Speakers Roundtable, considered the top 20 organizations for public speakers in the country.

The three-day workshop will be held Sept. 10 to 12 at the Appalachian Enterprise Center in Boone. The cost of the workshop is $2,000 per participant, and the fee includes all materials, breakfast and lunch. The training will start daily at 8 a.m. and finish by 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 and 11. On Sept. 12, the course will end by 2 p.m.
For more information, contact Don Wood at (828) 264-2732 or aecwatauga@bellsouth.net. The class is limited to 14 participants.