Short Bio
Gigi Rosenberg is a public speaking coach who teaches executives, nonprofit leaders and rising stars how to get standing ovations. Companies like Microsoft, Medical Teams International, the Seattle Symphony and Becker Capital Management know that firsthand. See her client list and a list of who she’s coached.
Gigi knows exactly how to elevate public speaking presence, energize delivery and help you tell a gripping story. She’s been a guest commentator on Oregon Public Radio and a theater performer in New York City at the United Solo Theatre Festival. Mix in her business savvy in corporate communications and video/film production and you know why people turn to Gigi when they need to command a room.
Her specialty is helping leaders and subject matter experts present, lead panels, give speeches, and nail their elevator pitch both on Zoom and on a public stage. And sometimes even ring the bell on NASDAQ.
She’s been called a “metaphor maven,” “presentation whisperer,” and “anti-anxiety medicine” for public speakers.
A published author in pubs like Psychology Today and Publishers Weekly, she’s the author of The Artist's Guide to Grant Writing, now in its sixth printing, and the former editor of the national business magazine Professional Artist.
Introverts and extroverts alike benefit from Gigi’s insight. Her specialty is turning fear on its head, so that both leaders and team members deliver presentations with authority, clarity and warmth. To schedule your free consult, email Gigi. Ask her about everything from one-on-one presentation coaching to public speaking coaching workshops for larger groups.
My first speech, in my 20s, when I was president of the Association of Multi-Image in Boston.
Back story
Born in New York City and raised there and in Boston, I grew up surrounded by artists, anthropologists, teachers and ambitious business people who knew how to gather people together and throw a great party.
I've been called a logjam dislodger, a brainstorming partner, a Diane Keaton-look-a-like, a problem solver, a bossy pants and the answer to a prayer. When people forget my name, they call me Judy, Gina or Mimi.
I have a soft spot for dachshunds, Super 8 filmmaking, the Singer Featherweight sewing machine, letterpress printing, Tuscany, real mail with commemorative stamps, first-person narrative and men named Josh.
As a public speaking coach, I draw upon my background in theater, psychology, visual art, storytelling and corporate communications.
As vice-president at Larry Miller Productions in Boston and as a freelance producer in Portland, Oregon, I produced TV commercials, corporate videos, films and print projects. In Paris, I once worked as a translator on an LU Cookies TV spot as dogs on the set stood paws up on the lunch table and licked our plates clean.
9th grade Talent Show, singing “Adelaide’s Lament” from “Guys & Dolls.” I still love lamenting.
At McGill University, I received a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology, but my real education happened in the McGill Daily newsroom where I worked as a reporter, reviewer and photographer. I also served as editor of the Weekly, the daily paper's arts supplement.
Since McGill, I've studied directing, acting, writing, spiritual traditions and fine arts at Parsons School of Design in Paris, Harvard University, Marylhurst University, New York City’s Barrow Group Theatre, Banff Centre for the Arts and Sundance Institute. I’ve been selected for artist residencies by the Jack Straw Writers Program in Seattle and by Caldera in Blue Lake, Oregon.
After winning funding from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Council and then serving as a grant reviewer, I was shocked by how few artists and entrepreneurs could pitch their creative projects in a way that would inspire a funder to write a check. Writing the The Artist's Guide to Grant Writing (published by Watson-Guptill, a division of Random House) grew out of my love of books, storytelling and professional development for all. It’s now in its sixth printing.
My work as a public speaking coach braids together the many strands of my experience and training in storytelling and performance. There’s nothing I love more than helping a leader stand tall at the front of the room as they inspire, educate and transform an audience. For details on public speaking coaching, email me. To be inspired right now, tune in to my podcast “Gigi Presents.”
Want more Gigi?
WATCH AN EXCERPT FROM GIGI’S SOLO PERFORMANCE, FIRSTBORN.
READ GIGI’S ARTICLES AND ESSAYS INCLUDING A 2-MINUTE MEMOIR.
Banner photo by Erica Berger