In February, Weatherford International annually gathers more than 300 of the multinational oilfield services provider’s top sales managers and up-and-coming leaders from 80 countries for Weatherford LIVE, a two-day sales event in Houston. The 2020 event was the second year that Paul Quinn partnered with Brian Vandenbroucke, founder and sr. creative director, Articulate Creative Services, to provide content development and presenter support for LIVE.

Theme & Scope

Weatherford created a sales conference agenda featuring 108 presenters in more than 40 unique presentations, from ballroom keynotes and breakouts to role plays and software demonstrations. The Weatherford LIVE 2020 event theme, The Power of Us, was chosen to communicate the company’s focus on collaboration between product lines and promote the selling of integrated solutions across the enterprise

Preparation

Three months before the event, Paul and Brian met online with each presentation team and its respective marketing manager to discover their initial presentation concepts, clarify the messaging, and discuss ways to deepen audience engagement. Based on these discussions, the teams developed their presentations in preparation for rehearsals the following month.

Onsite

For six weeks, the two-man coaching team resided in Houston scheduling and conducting between 4-6 rehearsal hours cumulatively for each presentation segment. Paul also wrote the keynote speech for Weatherford’s vice president of business development, which gave the coaches a comprehensive understanding of Weatherford’s sales objectives.

Insight

The breadth of their understanding of Weatherford’s strategy further expanded in coaching/rehearsals with senior executives. With their rapidly acquired knowledge of Weatherford’s leadership perspectives and the content of all 40+ presentations, the coaching team was able to disseminate these learnings to the presentation teams to ensure the richness and continuity of the messaging.

Event

Paul and Brian continued the rehearsals onsite at the Marriott Woodlands, helping the presenters adjust their presentations for the mainstage and breakout environments, providing techniques for reducing “stage fright,” and helping presenters make critical last-minute changes to session content. They also joined senior marketing managers in selecting honorees for the best presentations in various categories, who were given awards at the close of each conference day.

Results

Weatherford gave Paul Quinn and Brian Vandenbroucke credit for their vital role in helping to clarify and shape the event messaging, ensure content strength and continuity, and create a supportive and productive atmosphere for presenters at all levels of the organization to make LIVE 2020 Weatherford’s most successful event yet.

To get started, email me to schedule a 15-minute discovery call. Please include the topic and date of your scheduled presentation.

COACHING TESTIMONIALS

I’ve coached clients who give presentations in industries ranging from banking and law to philanthropy, technology, and the Arts. A sampling:

“Paul has provided coaching support during the several years that I have MC’d large conferences for Opportunity International. I have never had so much fun working on presentations or been better prepared to present.” — Wendy Cox, Board of Governors Vice-Chair, Opportunity International 

“It is obvious Paul believes and lives what he teaches. I thought all my people benefited tremendously. I am seeing immediate results.” — Bill Heather, Staff Director, Purchasing, McDonald’s Corp.

“I worked with Paul Quinn several years in a row to help coach and shape engineers and executives to offer compelling presentations to win over their audiences for investors and sales. Paul managed to wrap his mind around some dense technology and make it engaging through a storytelling technique that was winning every time. Paul swept in and performed miracles on our presenters, bringing out their authentic voices and giving them confidence to be successful.” — Donna Collum, Sr. Marketing Manager, Weatherford International

“In preparing me for a keynote speech for a major international conference in Mexico City, Paul Quinn coached me in crafting an excellent outline, boosting my presentation skills, and providing the audience with concrete takeaways. His ability to deliver honest feedback and be truly supportive—with humor at just the right moments–was invaluable and made it a delight to work with him.” (See Case study) — Lynn Fisher, Director, Frontera Arts LLC

“Thank you for the assistance you gave me in preparing for my presentation. The feedback I got was great. More importantly though, the message I was attempting to convey rang crystal clear.” — Robert C. Marshall, Director, Equipment Purchasing, McDonald’s Corporation

“Our members most appreciated your substantive discussion on nonverbal cues and the verbal critiques given to our participants.” — Stephanie L. Matthews, Immediate Past Chair, The Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association

“Thank you for making another year of our international Directors-elect Media Training a success. Every one of the evaluations rated your coaching impact as strong or very strong.” — Jane F. Lewicki, Media Relations Specialist, Rotary International

“It was very obvious who had participated in your coaching session and who had not.” — Michero Washington, Chairperson, Minority Economic Resource Council

“Thank you for the outstanding coaching session. I received very high ratings for my presentation. You are a talented and personable instructor, and I look forward to working with you on future projects.” — Tanya Bowley, Sr. Marketing Specialist, FedEx Services Corporation

To get started, send an email to schedule a 15-minute discovery call. Please include the topic and date of your scheduled presentation.