PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Jill Schiefelbein is an impromptu guru

A lot  of people would rather die than speak in front of an audience. Jill Schiefelbein can help them overcome that feeling.

In fact, a year ago the Pittsburg native, who now lives in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Ariz., opened Impromptu Guru, a communication consulting business. In June it received the Rookie of the Year Award from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.

The award honors a business that meets its first-year goals and provides a unique service or product.

Schiefelbein, now in Pittsburg visiting family, said that she was very honored to receive the award.

“The first year has been a whirlwind of excitement and terror,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and its gone better than I could have imagined in its first year.”

Some of the services offered by Impromptu Guru include public speaking coaching, presentation skills, online course design, technical training, communication training, webinar design, e-communication strategies and technology-mediated speaking.

For thousands of years, human communication has been face-to-face, but technology has been changing that, with telephones, radio, television and now computers.

“Many companies are going to online training, webinars in place of face-to-face workshops and video memos,” Schiefelbein said. “With the use of communication technology the human touch can be left out.”

She strives to help her clients maintain or reclaim that human touch by successfully navigating the differences between speaking in public and speaking online in a mediated environment.

The daughter of Claudia and Paul Schiefelbein, she said that she became interested in public speaking while in 4-H as a child. A 2000 Pittsburg High School graduate, she served as sports editor for the Booster and was active in Key Club.

“I was Key Club president for the state of Kansas and led workshops in motivation, leadership and community service,” Schiefelbein said. “Seeing how words cam move people to action, that’s why I decided to study communication in the first place.”

She left Pittsburg after graduation went to Arizona State University as a student in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, named for the longtime broadcaster, news anchor and TV host.

She earned a bachelor of science, a certificate in international business and a master’s degree, all from the school. Then Schiefelbein was invited to join the full-time faculty at Arizona State, which led to some interesting opportunities.

“I have interviewed Hugh Downs,” she said. “I got to interview him in front of my students and in 2011 I did an interview with him that is used in a lot of  Arizona State communication classes. He’s a great guy, very down to earth and loves to have a good conversation.”

Schiefelbein is now in her eighth year of teaching there, but in May 2011 quite her full-time position to open Impromptu Guru.

“I only teach a class at a time there now,” she said.

However, she teaches outside the classroom, and her students/clients range from sole proprietors of businesses to large corporations.

Schiefelbein played basketball from elementary to high school, and is delighted to be working now with the Phoenix Mercury, a professional women’s basketball team based in Phoenix.

“I work with their sales staff and with the players in how to give a good interview with the media and how to interact with the crowd,” Schiefelbein said. “Being able to work with female athletes is a treat. I think everybody who grows up in Pittsburg loves sports.”

Still athletic, she has participated in an Ironman triathlon, but said she’s toned down a bit and now concentrates on cycling.

“I rode a bike out to PHS this morning to check it out,” Schiefelbein said. “I feel so fortunate to have had the upbringing I had here. My parents gave me the room to be myself and allowed me to go to college and find my passion. They support me in it now and that’s great.”

Her plans call for Impromptu Guru to grow, and she’s thinking about expanding it into southern California.

“Cox Communication has a massive studio in Phoenix and I rented for a day and taped a whole slew of ‘60-Second Gurus’ which will be available free later on,” she said.
Schiefelbein doesn’t totally rule out the possibility that she might spend more time in front of a camera in the future.

“I’ve always been behind the cameras, but I won’t lie,” she said. “Being in front is kind of fun.”

Whatever Schiefelbein does, it will be geared toward improving human communication.

“I always wanted to be in a field where I helped others in some capacity, and learning to communicate can transform a person’s life,” she said.