We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeannie Rapstad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jeannie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
Only 15% of high school students receive speech education. Most university students take only one speech class in a four-year curriculum. As a result, many people enter the workforce unable to communicate effectively in their jobs. 77% of American workers confess to suffering from speech anxiety. Due to their lack of communication skills, many of these workers are passed over for promotion, year after year, and just feel frustrated in their dead-end jobs. The number one soft skill set required by industry across the board is effective communication skills, yet we do not adequately prepare our young people for success. We should teach speaker skills to our young people starting in middle school so that they can communicate more effectively in their careers, which will lead to better pay and more job satisfaction. But having failed that, ongoing communication training would help workers of all ages communicate more effectively with their peers, their customers, and their management staff.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an award-winning speaker and writer. I am also a working actress and comedian. My company, Jeannie Rapstad Enterprises LLC, provides entertainment and speaker education products. My one-of-a-kind trademarked entertainment program, “Jeannie Rapstad Presents Comic Sketches,” is marketed to upscale senior residence communities and theatrical venues. My trademarked SpeechJeannie educational products are directed toward helping people improve their speaking and pitching skills. I provide private speaker coaching for business speakers and competitive speakers. I also provide private pitch coaching for entrepreneurs who are trying to raise capital for their start-up businesses. I offer humor workshops for business speakers and student speakers. I teach a pitch workshop at Purdue University Northwest’s Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center for entrepreneurs in our region. I am the creator of the SpeechJeannie Rehearsal Methodology Computer Application. I am in the process of funding the launch of the SpeechJeannie Learning Platform. Meanwhile, I posted eight short teaching videos on my Jeannie Rapstad YouTube channel as a freemium for anyone to use who would like to improve their speaker presentation delivery. A prepared speaker is a confident speaker. A confident speaker is noticed by co-workers and management alike. The SpeechJeannie rehearsal methodology has helped many people grow their careers and businesses.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
As the old saying goes, “Nothing succeeds like success.” Coaching competitive speakers, and entrepreneurs pitching in competitions is an aspect of my business that grew from my own success as a competitive speaker in Toastmasters International speech competitions. I was winning competitions, and over time, other Toastmasters asked me if I would coach them so that they could win. That was the start of my speaker coaching business. Over time, I was hired to help entrepreneurs who were pitching for prize money improve their presentation skills in pitch competitions. Some of my pitch clients won competitions and many thousands of dollars in prize money. Word spread that I could help competitors win. My clientele grew by word of mouth, and recognition of my specialized work in the economic ecosystem where I teach. I am currently the instructor for the PitchMasters Workshop at Purdue University Northwest’s Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center. In addition, my skills as an actress and comedian are in demand in the northwest Indiana and Chicagoland market. My show, “Jeannie Rapstad Presents Comic Sketches,” is in demand as an after-luncheon/dinner entertainment program. One success leads to the next booking.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
My start-up business is definitely a lean start up. As a result, I am currently looking for other sources of revenue to complete the SpeechJeannie Rehearsal Methodology Computer Application. I filed my corporation papers with the Indiana Secretary of State at the end of October, 2020. My business was capitalized with my own personal loan. I received a small matching grant from the Indiana Technology Assistance Program to produce my SpeechJeannie teaching videos. I entered into a SAFE Agreement with Purdue University Northwest’s Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center to help cover intellectual property filing and attorney fees. The first iteration of the SpeechJeannie Rehearsal Methodology Computer Application was built by Purdue University Northwest students in conjunction with a technology grant they received and kindly used for my project. I am now seeking additional funds to fine-tune the computer app so that I can launch the app to the public on my AWS learning platform as a SaaS business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jeannierapstad.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeannierapstad/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeechJeannie-100440138893769
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-rapstad-26851127?trk=hp-identity-name
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JRapstad219
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JeannieRapstad