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Paul Tomes captures his experience in business communication skills development on his business card simply with the title … "veteran". Over the past 20 years he has consulted with executives and leadership teams in almost all of South Africa's top 100 companies, strategising presentations and coaching presentation delivery..
Learn the secrets of strategising and structuring powerful presentations … Paul Tomes captures his experience in business communication skills development on his business card simply with the title … "veteran". Over the past 20 years he has consulted with executives and leadership teams in almost all of South Africa's top 100 companies, strategising presentations and coaching presentation delivery.. His keynote address "Life’s a pitch" provides the formula for anyone in business to sell themselves, sell their ideas and opinions and win commitment... Paul’s presentation style is interactive and highly entertaining. He hails originally from Northern Ireland, which explains his off-beat sense of humour. He reckons Ireland is the only country world where the birds wake you up in the morning with their coughing … which is why he now calls South Africa home! Paul is a natural salesman ... and proved his mettle by winning Firestone's salesman of the year competition at the age of 19 (the first 12 months of his employment). Firestone hired Paul as their only foot sales person with a territory from Yeoville to Newton in Johannesburg. He learnt what it means to "burn shoe leather" in pursuit of sales ... literally!
At 23 he started his own swimming pool company and in three months was selling and building over 20 pools a month. At 25 became one of the youngest publishers of trade and technical magazines with Thomson Publications. From there he was head hunted to start Ideadata, a subsidiary of the global advertising agency BBDO. Ideadata was South Africa's first computer graphics company, producing world class slides, transparencies and video footage.
His time at Ideadata identified the need for a skills company that specialised in presentation skills. Business Presentation Group was Paul's brainchild, along with business partner Peter Thomas, (now well known as a strategic facilitator using Participlan a visual mapping tool they jointly developed).
Paul is the creative driving force in the business, and has focused much of his time packaging a unique suite of business communication skills programmes, now offered both locally and internationally. He is regularly engaged by a top four firms in Central Europe and the United Kingdom, coaching them to pitch and win business. His diverse business education gives Paul a significant advantage when helping clients strategise presentations.
Throughout his career Paul has supplemented his hands on experience through extensive business reading. This has played a significant role in helping him develop training material and conference talks. He is a regular speaker at conferences with topics ranging from pure communication skills to more light hearted motivational talks. Paul is a great enter"t"rainer.
He qualified as a private pilot in 1987, has flown gliders for over 400 hours and continues to sail whenever and wherever he can ... including fitting out a 35 foot yacht just for the hell of it. He is married to Mary-Clare, has two beautiful teenage daughters and lives nestled into the valley in Hout Bay, Cape Town. |
