Peggy Klaus by Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It
Book: Peggy Klaus by Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It
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space stations. My clients are on the ground, mostly in Fortune 500 companies around the country. They’re CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and all the other Os, throughout the company, who ask me to come in and coach them on everything from what I call podium skills—giving presentations to audiences of all sizes, including clients, shareholders, board members, industry and press conferences, even testifying in front of Congress—to interpersonal communication skills in areas like conflict management and leadership development. The groups I work with are as large as several hundred to a handful of people, and often just one on one. I also offer special programs about women and leadership, and teach at Wharton and at UC Berkeley’s Haas MBA programs.
Stranger: Sounds interesting. How did you get into all of that?
Me: I took a wrong turn out of Hollywood and ended up on Wall Street! It all started when I was still coaching actors for television and film, broadcast anchors and reporters. I began getting panicked calls from friends on Wall Street asking for help with their client and sales presentations. They, of course, were climbing the corporate ladder and socking it away in their 401 Ks. At the time I didn’t think I was doing anything of great artistic importance, so I figured why not see if the coaching I was doing with all these performers would translate to the world of Brooks Brothers suits. My years in the entertainment industry included time as an actor, classical singer, director, theater and music critic, producer, and arts administrator. So I really knew the art of performing. And fortunately my hunch was right—the same skills that make performances dynamic in Hollywood can be applied with equal success to business presentation and communication. My friends and their bosses were pleased with my work, and so I started getting calls from their friends and colleagues who had noticed dramatic improvements in them. I discovered that I really liked this new way of using my skills and experience, was good at it, and could actually make money. (What a concept!) And that’s how it all began.
Situation:
My first meeting with a television producer who has read the
Wall Street Journal
story about my bragging workshops. She asks me to tell her a bit more about my background. Knowing that she is extremely short on time, I jump in with this:
Actually, a friend of mine says I’ve reinvented myself more times than anyone she knows. And I’m never quite sure if it’s because I have the attention span of a gnat, or because I am really interested in so many things. I started off my career as an actor and classical singer and then became a director and producer. It may be hard to believe with my Philadelphia accent, but I actually have a licentiate in speech and drama from the Royal Academy of Music in London, signed by the Queen Mum. That all seems like a very long time ago, because for the last eight or so years I have taken all those skills I used in that performance arena and translated them into the business world, where I have been working with corporate professionals, from CEOs and CFOs and all those other Os, all the way down through the organization, in a wide cross section of industries from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and points in between. I’ve coached my clients in everything from presentation skills—which most people consider getting up behind a lectern, although it’s really about getting them out in front of one—to interpersonal development and leadership skills.
Situation:
A lunchtime speech to a group of lawyers. I open with the following:
My father was a successful Philadelphia attorney and I was sure that I was going to follow suit—and would have, except that one summer after my freshman year in college, I was working in my dad’s law firm, and the managing partner caught me doing an impression of him in the supply room. It was a really good one, too, but he didn’t appreciate the nuances I brought to
Stranger: Sounds interesting. How did you get into all of that?
Me: I took a wrong turn out of Hollywood and ended up on Wall Street! It all started when I was still coaching actors for television and film, broadcast anchors and reporters. I began getting panicked calls from friends on Wall Street asking for help with their client and sales presentations. They, of course, were climbing the corporate ladder and socking it away in their 401 Ks. At the time I didn’t think I was doing anything of great artistic importance, so I figured why not see if the coaching I was doing with all these performers would translate to the world of Brooks Brothers suits. My years in the entertainment industry included time as an actor, classical singer, director, theater and music critic, producer, and arts administrator. So I really knew the art of performing. And fortunately my hunch was right—the same skills that make performances dynamic in Hollywood can be applied with equal success to business presentation and communication. My friends and their bosses were pleased with my work, and so I started getting calls from their friends and colleagues who had noticed dramatic improvements in them. I discovered that I really liked this new way of using my skills and experience, was good at it, and could actually make money. (What a concept!) And that’s how it all began.
Situation:
My first meeting with a television producer who has read the
Wall Street Journal
story about my bragging workshops. She asks me to tell her a bit more about my background. Knowing that she is extremely short on time, I jump in with this:
Actually, a friend of mine says I’ve reinvented myself more times than anyone she knows. And I’m never quite sure if it’s because I have the attention span of a gnat, or because I am really interested in so many things. I started off my career as an actor and classical singer and then became a director and producer. It may be hard to believe with my Philadelphia accent, but I actually have a licentiate in speech and drama from the Royal Academy of Music in London, signed by the Queen Mum. That all seems like a very long time ago, because for the last eight or so years I have taken all those skills I used in that performance arena and translated them into the business world, where I have been working with corporate professionals, from CEOs and CFOs and all those other Os, all the way down through the organization, in a wide cross section of industries from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and points in between. I’ve coached my clients in everything from presentation skills—which most people consider getting up behind a lectern, although it’s really about getting them out in front of one—to interpersonal development and leadership skills.
Situation:
A lunchtime speech to a group of lawyers. I open with the following:
My father was a successful Philadelphia attorney and I was sure that I was going to follow suit—and would have, except that one summer after my freshman year in college, I was working in my dad’s law firm, and the managing partner caught me doing an impression of him in the supply room. It was a really good one, too, but he didn’t appreciate the nuances I brought to
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