Influens Helps Business Leaders Create Authentic Connections to Find Success

Fort Lauderdale, FL, September 20, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Every CEO wants successful employees. Successful employees result in a better bottom line. And for a salesperson, banker, or even an attorney, effective communication means the difference between closing the sale or winning the case. Effective communication directly impacts an employee’s ability to satisfy customers, resolve problems, and quickly adapt to changes and crises.

And to help employees maximize their performance, savvy executives are finding new and innovative training programs to assist their staffs in taking their communication skills to the next level. Many of them are turning to the South Florida-based firm Influens for help. Influens is an international training and coaching firm that develops resonant business leaders. Founder and President Achim Nowak helps individuals communicate with clarity, brilliance, and authenticity by using methods from the worlds of personal transformation and actor training.

With his innovative approach, Nowak goes where few public speaking coaches have ever attempted; he works with people on three distinct levels and helps his clients create a deep emotional connection with their audiences.

The first level Nowak explores is the surface, or first impression, which concentrates on the vital skills of a presenter; the use of voice, body movements, gestures, eye contact and personal energy. Without these basic skills, presenters will be functioning with a set of barriers, and the audience will focus on the barriers rather than the message being communicated.

Level two helps speakers create a deeper, more authentic relationship between themselves and the audience. By identifying clear intentions to help create the desired impact, along with stories, humor, and intensive listening, speakers are able to develop a true “dialogue mindset” that calls for probing questions and intensive listening.

By creating flow and intimacy, the third level, a deep, unspoken emotional connection is created. This third level forces speakers to take an honest look at how they come across and teaches them to break through any fears which may be stopping them from connecting with an audience. Clients feel connected and engaged when they feel they are part of an honest relationship. This simple yet often overlooked method of deep communication inevitably brings more business and success.

“Whether you are a CEO of a global corporation, a director of sales, a newly promoted manager, or an entrepreneur, you will succeed because of your ability to move others to action,” says Nowak. “Beyond strategy, beyond business expertise – what your business partners and staff ultimately respond to is 'you.' Your energy. Your vision. Your ability to move hearts and souls.”

Influens supports business executives, managers, sales representatives, and entrepreneurs with highly experiential training and coaching. The company’s transformational approach integrates actor training, group management and self-awareness techniques to develop leaders with authentic personal presence and the ability to deeply engage and inspire any person or group.

CEOs and executives are recognizing that in order to stay ahead of the competition, they must and continuously develop their employees with innovative and unexpected ways. And many of them agree that Influens is doing just that.

“The ability to take your team to the next level is an economic advantage in any industry. Achim Nowak’s talent, coaching and instruction has led my team to a new level of professionalism and delivery in the classroom, boardroom or anywhere they present,” said Brian S. Wallace, Senior Vice President, Director of Training for HSBC Bank in New York.

“When we decided to groom the next generation of Dover presidents, we knew we needed an exceptional teacher who could help unleash their hidden leadership presence. Achim Nowak’s masterful coaching has transformed our senior business professionals into more authentic, powerful and inspiring leaders,” said Bob Livingston, Vice President and President and Chief Executive Officer for Dover Companies in New York.

Nowak has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives from many of the world's Fortune 500 companies. Nowak's approach to the development of business leaders has been honed through years of training actors and non-actors alike.

He has coached performers including Isaiah Washington of Grey’s Anatomy and Tony-Award winner Stephen Spinella of Angels in America and has taught at institutions including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Actors Institute, and the OBIE-award winning Theatre for a New Audience.

His book, Power Speaking: The Art of the Exceptional Public Speaker, (Allworth Press) now in its second third edition, has become an essential speaker development tool for numerous Fortune 500 companies. His clients include Bayview Financial, The World Bank, The Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, The City of Miami Beach, Governo Law Firm, and Schlumberger.

When not coaching business leaders, he can be found leading conflict transformation initiatives in some of the chronic conflict regions of the world, for organizations such as UNESCO, Seeds of Peace, the National Coalition for Community and Justice, and the Peres Center for Peace.

Nowak holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology and International Relations from New York University and has been featured on “The Today Show,” 60 Minutes, and on National Public Radio (NPR) and is available for interviews. Contact Jennifer Cohen at JLC Consulting at 954-326-2067 or Achim Nowak at 786-623-3371 or info@influens.com, or visit www.influens.com.

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