Watch Gilda's motivational speech at the National Speakers Association Convention in Phoenix, AZ on July 20, 2009.
Her speech, "How Will You Spend Your 28,000 Days?" recounted her experience in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and how it influenced her decision to quit her corporate job and follow her dream of starting her own speaking, training and coaching business.
The speech was part of the 20/20 Lightning Round session - the format was to deliver a
6-minute, 40-second speech with 20 slides that advanced automatically every 20 seconds. (video by Burleson Productions)
Other Topics:
Why should you hire Gilda to speak at your next event?
- Engaging and high-energy
- Thought-provoking and motivational
- Combines extensive real-world business experience with a background in improv comedy - one person described her as "a person with credentials and wisdom who is also funny"
- Has spoken to audiences throughout North America and in Europe, China and India
- Doesn't use boring PowerPoint® slides!
- Is a member of the National Speakers Association
- See below for what others have said about Gilda...
Email Gilda or call 203-406-0808 to find you how she can make your next event or meeting a success.
Find out about Gilda's Training & Workshops and Individual Coaching.
Testimonials
Educational and entertaining
"Congratulations on the excellent presentation given at the SNEC conference. Presentation skills are so basic to what a project manager does it continues to amaze me that there is so little emphasis on such a critical PM tool. Your presentation was very entertaining as well as educational - the best kind! Thank you for your excellent contribution to the conference attendees."
Dick Kennedy, Director of Corporate Sponsorship, PMI Central Mass
Smooth, professional, enlightening and entertaining
"I have attended Gilda's presentations for the past three years at the annual Southern New England Chapter of the Project Management Institute's conference. She is a polished speaker who always has an upbeat professional message to deliver.
This year's presentation, "Presenting with Power and Passion," was of particular importance and timing for me. We are currently training our newer Project Managers and technical staff to prepare and deliver presentations to Senior Management. I picked up some new tips from her presentation and also confirmed some of the things that I had been doing correctly. I was so impressed by her presentation that we invited her to speak at our company's next Project Manager's Forum. I highly recommend Gilda's presentations."
Eugene Kallaur, PE, PMP, Project Director, Transmission and Substation Projects, The United Illuminating Company
Effective and engaging, makes a real connection to the audience "Gilda is an effective and engaging speaker and trainer. She has presented several workshops for the Women's Business Development Center over the past three years, including Public Speaking: How to Talk to Strangers, Presenting Your Best Self: Communicating & Advocating for Success, and Grow Your Career With Networking Savvy. Gilda is well organized and prepared for every workshop. She does her homework on fine tuning her presentation for her audience. She is easy to work with and very supportive to participants.
Whether she is helping aspiring women entrepreneurs learn how to speak effectively about their businesses or teaching Hispanic business owners how to network with their colleagues, Gilda provides practical exercises and techniques that empower people to build self-confidence and develop bold communication skills. Gilda cares about her audiences and is able to make a real connection with them. I highly recommend her.
Marian Cicolello, State Director, Connecticut Women's Business Development Center (WBDC)
Engaging, entertaining and enlightening stories and exercises
"We had asked Gilda to provide an inspirational and motivational talk for our group of over 50 administrative associates on Administrative Associates Appreciation Day. Gilda did an outstanding job of engaging, entertaining, and enlightening the audience with stories and exercises regarding trust, fear, aspirations, and success stories. The audience was very appreciative of her talk and left feeling invigorated and motivated."
Jack A. Grebb, M.D., Vice President, Neuroscience Global Clinical Research Bristol-Myers Squibb Research & Development
Incredible ability to speak to, train and motivate a group
“The exercises were fun and interactive while still delivering a very important message. Thank you for your time and energy in, once again, delivering a top notch presentation. If there ever is a time I can recommend you and your incredible ability to speak to, train and motivate a group, please feel free to have your client contact me. ”
Nancy Margiano, Asst. Vice President, Director of Sales Training & Development, Family Security Plan; Instructor, Southern CT State University Communications Department
Gilda was engaging, effective and enjoyable
"Gilda, A most sincere thanks for presenting to our MCAICT group on March 26th. I thought you did a great job engaging the audience. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and get something out of it! I borrowed your half-life idea and presented it with credit to you at our Toastmaster meeting that Friday. They enjoyed it, too. You have a nice easy style of presenting that is effective, yet friendly. I'll certainly keep you in mind to refer to others."
Diane Ploch, Media Communications Association of CT
Universal message needed by senior corporate audiences
"Gilda did an outstanding job in presenting to our administrative assistant staff. She took on a potentially touchy subject, fear and empowerment in the workplace, with humor, energy and tact. She leveraged her experience as an administrative assistant optimally. I believe her messages are universal and would be welcome, and much needed, by other, more senior, audiences. Gilda is very entertaining and thought provoking."
Doug J. Manion, M.D., Vice President, Viral Diseases Global Clinical Research Bristol-Myers Squibb Research & Development
Read more testimonials