A series of workshop choices to assist business professionals in learning how to speak and communicate more effectively.
Email Etiquette. Speaking/Presentation Skills. Death By PowerPoint . People Skills. What’s So Funny? Funny Business. How To Think Fast On Your Feet. Making a Scene. Wit’s End. Write Away. Meeting Called to Order. Teambuilding.
Established in 1983, ExecuProv has been the training choice of many major companies and corporations as well as business professionals who have expressed interest in developing and refining their presentation and communication skills.
CHERIE KERR
Cherie Kerr founded ExecuProv in 1983, and has provided a variety of classes on presentation and communication skills to hundreds of business professionals from Fortune 500 companies. Her clients include BP (British Petroleum), Ericsson, Toyota, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ingram Micro, Bank One, Delta Dental, Experian, Foothill Capital, PacifiCare, Allergan, Universal Studios, Fluor Corporation, 3i Implant, ConAgra Foods, The Hilton Hotel and Marriott Hotel Corporations, California Trucking Association, Office Max/Boise, Office Depot and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, to name a few. She also has worked for a number of governmental agencies including the L.A. City Attorney's Office, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the County of Orange, the Orange County Bar Foundation and the Orange County Juvenile Drug Court Program. She is a Certified Provider for the Continuing Legal Education Program for the State Bar of California, and has served as that organization's official speaker-trainer for its Board of Governors.
A founding member of the world-famous L.A. Groundlings, in 1990, Kerr founded the Orange County Crazies, a sketch and improvisational comedy troupe in Santa Ana, California. She is the Executive Producer/Artistic Director and also has served as the groups head writer. She has received rave reviews for her work as a writer, performer and director.
Kerr has taught improvisational comedy to actors for the past 30 years, and teaches other classes as well, including a class on how to develop original characters and how to write sketch comedy. She has studied with some of the best improv and comedy teachers in the business, including Gary Austin, founder of the L.A. Groundlings and a former member of the highly acclaimed group, The Committee; Michael Gellman, a director and teacher for Second City, in Chicago; and Jeannie Berlin (an Academy Award nominee and Elaine May's daughter.) In her formative years, she studied at the Pasadena Academy of Drama with Eleanor Dopp.
A writer for more than 30 years, Kerr has owned an award-winning public relations firm and still works as a consultant in that field. She has written, produced and directed an original full-scale musical comedy, is a member of ASCAP, and has been honored as an award-winning journalist and publicist. Kerr was named, along with Disney's Michael Eisner, as one of the "Top Ten Most Sensational People in Orange County" by Orange Coast Magazine. She has been quoted and featured in many publications including the OC Register, the Los Angeles Times, the Harvard Review Communication Newsletter, Forbes, American Way magazine, the Sacramento Bee, USA Today, The New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily and The Associated Press, in addition to many others.
Kerr also starred in her own one-woman show, Out of Her Mind, which met with great success and which she single-handedly wrote. In it she played a number of original characters.
In addition to lecturing and teaching ExecuProv courses, both in classroom situations and in private, one-on-one coaching sessions, Kerr provides speechwriting services for many of her clients. Kerr also provides her creative services to large companies for corporate comedy industrials and also offers Public Relations consultant services through her award-winning PR firm, Kerr PR.
Kerr is frequently sought out as a keynote speaker addressing presentation and communication skills and humor in the workplace.
She is the author of ten books including: The Bliss or "Diss" Connection? Email Etiquette For The Business Professional; Funny Business: How To Make You Laugh On Your Job Every Day; How To Think Fast On Your Feet (Without Putting Them In Your Mouth); Death By PowerPoint: How To Avoid Killing Your Presentation and Sucking the Life Out of Your Audience; "When I Say This…," "Do You Mean That?", a book addressing one-on-one communication on the job; and a book on public speaking skills, "I've Asked Miller To Say A Few Words", as well as a book on how to get humor and good storytelling into speeches and presentations, "What's So Funny?" All of her books use improv comedy techniques as the basis for the lessons. She also has written a book on sketch comedy: Build to Laugh: How to Construct Sketch Comedy with the Fast and Funny Formula, Networking Skills That Will Get You the Job You Want and also penned her first major literary work, Charlie's Notes, A Memoir, the story of her father's life as a jazz musician. Many of her works have been translated in Italian, Spanish, Japanese, German and Arabic.
Cherie Kerr resides in Santa Ana, California. She is the mother of three and also has four grandchildren.
AILEEN BRAUN
Aileen Braun is one of the primary teachers for ExecuProv. For the last 4 years, Ms. Braun has employed her vast knowledge of presentation and comedic skills to facilitate several ExecuProv programs including Presentation Skills, People Skills and How To Think Fast On Your Feet (Without Putting Them in Your Mouth). In addition to the corporate programs, Ms. Braun has taught the evening comedy improve classes for the general public under the ExecuProv affiliate, The Orange County Crazies, and directed their live performing comedy improve troupe the "Mixed Nuts" for 3 years.
Her years of experience working with both large groups and in one-on-one coaching sessions combined with her educational use of comedy make her an excellent instructor who is known to bring out the best in her students.
Ms. Braun's education covers a wide array within the communications genre. She has studied with The Groundlings Improv Comedy School in Los Angeles, California, has been trained by professional speaker and communications expert Jack Canfield in Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprise's Peak Performance Seminar, and has completed the 3 level program offered by Masters in Transformational Training in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Braun has a degree in Film/TV Production from the University of Southern California and is the founder and director of The Stepfamily School, a certified training program teaching re-married couples the communication tools that resolve the challenges of blending in a "stepfamily."
BRIAN SPILLANE
As an instructor with ExecuProv, Brian has been teaching improv comedy skills to business executives as a tool for improving their speaking and communication skills since 1998. He has over 12 years experience performing stand-up, sketch and improv comedy at venues across the county that include the world famous Comedy Store and Improv in Hollywood. Brian has also appeared in national and international commercials for products including Dasani Water, E-trade, Renault Cars, Nick @ Night and Fox Sports.
In a business career that has spanned more than 20 years, Brian has sold over $100M in goods and services in industries ranging from printed circuit board manufacturing and aerospace to consumer electronics and law enforcement.
In 2001, Brian's first independent film, "The Salesman" won Best Documentary Short at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Written by and starring Brian, the film is drawn from his personal experiences and shines a humorous light on the trials and tribulations that can come with a career in sales.
Brian is the founder and president of Middle Kid Media, a company that produces custom training videos for corporations. Clients have included Fortune 500 companies like Hitachi, Ernst and Young, SmithKline and Parker Hannifin. Brian is currently a main company member of the ACME Comedy Theatre in Hollywood, California, where he can be seen performing sketch and improv comedy on a regular basis.
BRIAN D. GOODROW
Since 1997, Brian has worked for ExecuProv; applying its improv comedy techniques to teach public speaking, teamwork, PowerPoint presentations, and communication skills for the company. He also has the invaluable experience of applying those techniques in the corporate and military workplace. His work on PowerPoint was featured as a "how to" in Kerr's book, "Death by PowerPoint," and his teamwork and leadership prowess was featured for over five years as a "how to" in military aviation crisis and survival training. Most recently, Brian has served as the Vice President for Business Development with a New York-based Aviation Operator. His nine-year affiliation with ExecuProv includes teaching workshops with Allergan, Nissan, selected faculty and staff at the Naval Academy, and the Naval Academy's Brigade of Midshipmen.
A 1984 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Brian pursued a career in Naval Aviation. He was highly decorated for his leadership, aviation skills and heroism, and the Navy brought Brian back to the Naval Academy where he served as the Ethics Advisor to the Commandant and resurrected the Naval Academy's Public Speaking Program. Brian first called on ExecuProv to add a new dimension to his personal public speaking skills and to train the Brigade of Midshipmen and several officers.
DRAKE DOREMUS
Drake Doremus, a graduate of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA, is the youngest Fellow to have been accepted at the highly-lauded institution and the youngest to graduate from there from its director's program, since the institution's inception 35 years ago.
An instructor for ExecuProv since 2000, Doremus has assisted and taught every ExecuProv class from ExecuProv 1 to Teambuilding to People Skills and even the most advanced course, How To Think Fast On Your Feet.
In 2006, Doremus directed the short feature film, "The Shirt" which won first place at the Gen Arts Film Festival. More recently, he directed the independent feature film, "Spooner" starring Matthew Lillard and Nora Zehetner, due to be released in 2008. Drake has also directed a number of award winning short films, music videos and commercials; the latter most notably for ABC Family. In the scope of his work since graduating from AFI, Doremus has also directed Sally Field, Danny Devito, Johnny Knoxville, Jason Biggs and Jeff Garlin.
Doremus is also a working actor and has appeared in award- winning films, music videos and also several commercials for Del Taco.
Doremus' early entry into entertainment was at six years of age when he began performing as a sketch and improv comedy actor with the highly-lauded Orange County Crazies. He remained with the cast for 13 years and occasionally performs with the troupe as a guest host. Doremus has also performed with other troupes over the years and from 2001-2004, he wrote and directed for the OC Crazies' "farm team,"--an improv troupe he launched, The OC Crazie Beez. During his formative years, Doremus also directed, produced and appeared in several plays, all of which he wrote, produced and directed.
Doremus has been fortunate to have studied under ExecuProv founder, Cherie Kerr, who was a founding member of the Los Angeles Groundlings, and who also founded the Orange County Crazies. He has also studied with some of the other highly-regarded improvisational comedy teachers in the business including Gary Austin, founder of the L.A. Groundlings; and Michael Gellman, a long time director at The Second City, Chicago.
Doremus has received positive nods for his work over the years and, as such, has been featured in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, the Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Orange Coast Magazine, the Orange County Register and The New York Times, to name but a few.
Doremus is the founder of OneStopReelShop, a company that provides performance video reels to working actors to help them secure agents, managers and other talent representation.
KAREN GALLINGER
Karen Gallinger has been part of the ExecuProv teaching staff for the last 4 years. She joined the Orange County Crazies as an improv player and soon began assisting Cherie Kerr with classes. She has taught for ExecuProv, the OC Crazies and in the community with various OC Crazies outreach programs including both the Community Development Block Grant, and the "High Life" Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs. She loves being part of the ExecuProv team!
Long regarded one of Southern California's premiere vocalists, Karen Gallinger has a lifetime of experience as a performer. Her background as a musical performance artist gives her an unique approach to many aspects of presentation including effective vocal technique, public speaking, communication skills, timing, and confidence. She also assisted with the critical work needed for "What's So Funny?" which teaches speakers how to incorporate humor and good storytelling into their speeches and presentations where timing is such a critical element.
As a jazz recording artist Ms. Gallinger has 4 CD's in international distribution; "Live at the Jazz Bakery", "My Foolish Heart", "Remembering Bill Evans", and "Kinda Blues". She performs in the U.S., Europe and Asia garnering reviews such as: A voice of extraordinary range and quality."... L.A. Weekly," An original issue ... she's got it all." L.A. Jazz Scene "A voice that is nothing short of astonishing"... O.C. Register "An amazing ability to cover boisterous blues and quiet ballads ... gathers you into her head as well as her soul ..." Bill Kohlhaase-O.C. Weekly
A private voice and performance teacher for over 20 years, Gallinger has done clinics and master classes ranging from technique to performance skills. She teaches vocal workshops annually in Berlin, Germany and is a staff instructor at the Jupanesti Summer Jazz Camp in Romania. She has recently published her first book: The Zen of Singing (ExecuProv Press) which is available at various retail outlets including Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Amazon/Borders and Barnes & Noble. Besides her busy private coaching schedule, she is on staff at the award winning Orange County High School of the Arts since 2003, where she teaches jazz voice and theatre.
Professional Affiliations: International Association of Jazz Educators, Musician's Association Local 7
RICHARD FRATTALI
Richard Frattali has been a member of the teaching staff at ExecuProv almost from the beginning of the company's inception in 1983.
He has taught public speaking and communications skills courses for a number of ExecuProv clients including the Wine Institute of California, the Driver Employer Council of America, Toyota North America, and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Frattali continues his performance career primarily in the realm of voice-over work. Frattali enjoys the status of Senior Instructor with ExecuProv.
Along with ExecuProv's President and Founder, Cherie Kerr, Frattali is a founding member of the Los Angeles Groundlings, LA's premier improvisational comedy troupe currently in its thirty-first year and an organization that has become the entertainment industry's "go-to" source for budding and upcoming comedic talent. Richard Frattali performed in the Groundlings' shows for seven years working closely with such notable comedic personalities as Phil Hartman, Bill Steinkellner (creator of Emmy award-winning "Cheers"), Kathy Griffin, Edie McClurg, and many others.
During Frattali's stint with the Groundlings he appeared in numerous television commercials (Budweiser, Great Western, Folgers Coffee) as well as several television show including two Lili Tomlin specials; the daytime drama, "The Young and the Restless;" and "The Merv Griffin Show." He also has appeared in such films as "Cheech and Chongs Next Movie" and "Shoot Out". His work with the Groundlings was honored for the "Best of the 70's" during its Thirtieth Anniversary Gala held at the Henry Ford Theater in Hollywood where it saluted Frattali, Kerr and others who established the now legendary comedy organization.
JIM DOUGHAN
Early in 2008, Jim Doughan began teaching a new ExecuProv class in longform improvisation. Doughan teaches groups different techniques on how to perform spontaneous improvisational acting, an important skill for any public speaker. This class utilizes the audience’s suggestions to guide the performance into an array of comedic methods including games, songs, sketches, monologues and scene connections.
A former Senior Performing Member of the Los Angeles Groundings, Doughan studied improvisation and acting at the world-famous Dudley Riggs Brave New Institute, one of the leading schools for improvisation in the World. His extensive experience and acting talent in improv has reached both television and major motion pictures as he has been in many different genres of film including over 30 comedies. With over 50 movie titles under his filmography belt, including recent films and television shows Evan Almighty (2007) and The War at Home (2007), Doughan also takes his talent to the pages as a film writer.