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Who We've Helped
FEATURED CLIENTS
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FRANCOISE GIRARD
PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S HEALTH COALITION
“I’ve worked with Jane Praeger for over 15 years in three different positions. Her approach to communications is based on brain science, and so radically different from what most people do, that it feels almost counterintuitive. Jane really understands what makes people sit up and listen, retain information, and take action. She has completely transformed the way we think about and practice communications. Plus, she is a pleasure to work with.”
DAVID BITTLER
SVP CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, MTV NETWORKS: NICKELODEON KIDS AND FAMILY GROUP
“Ovid can take speakers of any skill level and turn them into successful, strategic presenters—whether they are speaking at a conference or being interviewed by the press. Our executives find working with Ovid to be a deeply gratifying and career-boosting experience.”
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ANTHONY CASALENA
CEO, SQUARESPACE
“Any time we have a communications challenge—whether it’s an All-Hands meeting, media interview, or keynote speech—we pull in Ovid. It helps us get out of our own echo chamber and get new clarity on what we want to say—and how best to say it.
I used to hate public speaking, but my sessions with Jane have given me the confidence to bring an authentic presence to a large audience.”
WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY
Corporations
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Jane’s presentation for our Employee Resource Group Summit was one of the highlights of our meeting. Our group found her workshop “phenomenal” “impactful" "inspiring” and “one of the best trainings they had ever attended.” I could not recommend her more highly!
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Any time we have a high-stakes event—where every presentation really matters—we call Jane. From her presentation Master Class to her individual coaching, she knows how to elicit people’s most interesting stories, bolster their confidence, and bring out their best.
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When I was at AT&T, we needed to train our marketing and account solution teams to sell our professional services offerings, such as cloud computing. Ovid showed us how to get out of the weeds of our own knowledge and speak to customers in a way that made sense of them. Instead of listing the feeds, speeds and product attributes of cloud computing, we learned to tell stories about how our solutions work for real people with real world needs.
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I worked with with Jane when I was an executive at Coach. Now I’m much more comfortable when I walk into a boardroom and more confident when I present to the CEO and C-suite. And I’m finding that my new comfort spills over into other settings as well.
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When I was at HBC (Lord & Taylor/Saks Fifth Avenue), Jane and Heather gave a one-day workshop that changed our team’s approach to designing slides and delivering presentations. Their training was comprehensive, refreshing and 100% relevant. They even used examples from presentations that our team had recently created. We really enjoyed it, learned a lot and walked away with very practical tools to enhance our content and delivery.
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While I was at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, we brought Jane in soon after completing the largest separation in corporate history. Jane helped our presenters prepare for Discover, the company's largest event, to tell their stories in a way that was more meaningful to them and their audience.
Tech Companies
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At first, people were hesitant to reserve a full day for media training, but afterwards, we all agreed it was worth it. The session was extremely well organized and and the prep materials they provided enabled us to jump right in. By the end of the day, we were able to shed a lot of industry jargon and speak in a way that is more meaningful to our different audiences.
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Jane is an expert at helping you shape your thoughts into a coherent, compelling story. I would recommend her to anyone, even people that might not believe they need communications training.
Foundations
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What impressed me most was Jane’s deeply intuitive sense of what each person needs to get past his or her personal challenges and become a confident public speaker. For the first time in Robin Hood’s history, all the speakers at our annual Heroes Breakfast got standing ovations.
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Her work with individuals to prepare for presentations at key meetings and international conferences has taught us how to stand out from the crowd and leave our audiences inspired.
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Jane is a brilliant. A gifted strategist, a superb listener, and a true thought partner who helps us think through our most complex challenges. Working with her, we’ve been able to refine our strategy, challenge our assumptions, and create solutions that align with our values and mission.
Non-Profits
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I have worked with Jane for many years, and have seen how she can transform an uncomfortable public speaker into a truly inspired and confident presenter. When it comes to teaching people how to communicate, I think Jane is simply the best there is.
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You helped me find the stories that my audience could connect to and tell them in the most compelling way—so that people still remember my story about the “girl from Cambodia who challenged the whole system and won.” As an advocate working for social justice, that’s tremendously important.
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Jane Praeger has an uncanny ability to not only help you identify the core message your audience really needs to hear, but also what inward work is needed to truly connect your message with your passion. As great as she is, I can’t possibly effectively communicate how valuable my work with her has been.
Creative Companies
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Ovid was so effective at "speaking our language" that two participants came up to me during the first break to ask if Jane and Heather were actually FutureBrand employees. The level of knowledge Jane and Heather have about our world enabled them to build near instant trust with our skeptical team, and left people wishing the day would not end.
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I had been expecting a presentation training that focused on the usual tips like eye contact and gestures. While Jane and Heather’s training provided some excellent tips on delivery, it also introduced a new strategic paradigm unlike anything I’d ever heard, that has changed the entire way that I give presentations.
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When we searched for a company, we did a fairly exhaustive search, considering everything from improv groups to a traditional new business training company. Heather and Jane brought something really new to the table. They had an impressive knowledge of the agency business—plus a real handle on the topic of storytelling in business.
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This workshop blew my mind! It introduced me to concepts that I’ve never heard before. I left motivated to put the ideas into practice right away.
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Pitch to Win scores 10 out of 10. Any team interested in increasing their win rates would benefit from this well thought out workshop.
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Over my career, I've attended literally hundreds of training sessions on sales, presentations, motivational behavior and the like. Ovid’s was one of the most profound, strategically-focused and relevant I've seen. Their insights into persuasion will help any company generate new business.
Individuals
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In a word, Jane Praeger is outstanding. I thought I had reasonably well-developed communication skills, but after several hours with her, I realized how much I had to learn and how much she could help me. She is an A+.
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Jane Praeger transformed a faltering and timid ‘I’m just a word person’ into a savvy, iconic, Kennedyesque, quip-ready, media machine. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but Jane is truly terrific. I recommend her to any author for whom the public arena is a vast unknown.
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Jane Praeger is a master, not only for her coaching but for her thinking. She is capable of finding the essence of your work, and then finding a way to communicate that complex core to any audience.
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The Today Show anxiety caused my confidence from decades of public speaking to dissolve. My publisher arranged several hours with a media coach, yet I arrived in New York feeling unprepared and vulnerable. Then I spent 90 minutes with Jane Praeger. By the time I walked out of her office, I was ready: confident, secure, looking forward to the challenge. When those lights came up and Ann Curry turned to me I was relaxed. Even more, I had fun! Thank you, Jane, for giving me the confidence to fearlessly face five million people...live!
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Having Jane’s eyes, ears and sharp sensibility to guide my speech-crafting process and reflect on my delivery style made preparing for my TEDMED talk an infinitely easier task, and a more productive and pleasant experience. Her expertise and insights is a valuable tool in the arsenal of any speaker.
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After struggling for months with my attendee talk at the annual TED Conference, my wife gave me the present of a session with Jane. In just two hours, we were able to transform my talk from a dry lecture to a personal tale about how I fell in love with barefoot running. For the three days at TED, people approached me to tell me how much I’d inspired them. Since then, I’ve used Jane’s story-based approach to engage all of my audiences.
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Heather is like our American Express card—we don't leave home without her! Before we depart on our world tour each year to give our "Webby Talks" on internet trends to over 200 companies in 15 countries, our first stop is always Heather. She intuitively knows how to shape the talk so that we build an instant rapport with our audience and receive a great response. Also, she is just lovely to work with!
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Jane Praeger is a dynamo: smart, incisive, knowledgeable, efficient, supportive, and fun to work with. I cannot recommend Jane Praeger more highly.
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Thank God for Jane Praeger! Not only did she soothe frayed nerves and give practical media advice (from posture to clothing), she also thought deeply about the best way to present my book to the world. She offered strategic approaches about how to handle tough questions and develop key messages, preparing me for on-camera interviews, on-stage conversations, as well as phone interviews with print journalists, podcasters and radio hosts. Equal parts coach, cheerleader, and teammate, Jane provided strategy, boosted confidence, and empowered me with tools and resources I could use long after our session was over.