Doug Lawrence moved to Lawrence, KS (Douglas County--whoa!) in July of 2008. He loves it! He writes about his impressions of Lawrence on this blog.

Douglas Lawrence is part of that unusual group of people for whom one career simply isn’t enough. He served in the academic community at five institutions of higher learning, including Occidental College, Chapman College, and the University of Southern California.

He sang in the Hollywood studios for many years in dozens of movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and supplied singing voices for many of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In television he was involved in nearly 200 network programs over a 20- year span. He also conducted Brian Mann’s rich score for the film. The Theory of Everything in 2004.

Doug’s bass-baritone soloist concert career took him around the world several times singing with nearly every major orchestra in the world under the batons of conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Sir Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, Andrew Litton, Jesús López-Cobos, John Nelson, Raymond Leppard, Jorge Mester, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Helmuth Rilling, Wolfgang Goenenwein, Kurt Masur, Eugene Ormandy, Seiji Ozawa, James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Neville Marriner, Carlo Maria Giulini, Eduardo Mata, Hans Vonk, Akira Endo, Edo de Waart, Sir Simon Rattle, Herbert Blomstedt, Gerard Schwarz, Aaron Copland, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, James DePreist, Andrew Davis, and Robert Shaw, to name several.

For more than 40 years Doug’s influence was also felt as a conductor, visionary, and advisor to the churches of North America and parts of Asia and included major program enhancements at two of the largest Presbyterian churches in the world. He conducted hundreds of choir members in memorable concerts and services while also leading the famed San Francisco Bay Area’s Schola Cantorum through the celebration of their 25th anniversary.

More recently, Doug has become a trusted coach and advisor to business executives who rely on him to focus, clarify, and enhance their presentation skills. His clients include many major corporation CEOs who have come to respect his performance experience as an asset to the business community. In 2007 Doug founded and became the CEO of Speaking as a Performing Art.© His articles and speaking engagements are rich in humor and fascinating anecdotes from his career observations.

dlawrenceconsult@mac.com

[What executives say about Doug’s coaching on the next page.] ▼

“Doug made a huge difference in our presentation and my speech at our annual customer conference. I can't (and don't want to) imagine the results without his assistance. He has an outstanding knowledge of what an audience needs to be rivited to your speech and he has a way of getting it out of you. Doug helped with developing both my message and our delivery. We have used Doug as a coach for a variety of speeches and speakers. He would also be a great MC or facilitator.” February 25, 2008
Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Woody Hobbs, CEO, Phoenix Technologies
hired Doug as a Speaking and Presentation Coach in 2007, and hired Doug more than once

“Any presentation coach can give you tips for how to get an audience’s attention. Good ones can even show you how to command attention. Doug operates on a whole different level. He helps you deserve attention. His holistic but highly individualized approach, deep knowledge of his art, decades of real-world experience as a presenter, and genuine desire to help others combine to make him a true master. He’s also a flat-out wonderful human being and a real joy to be around. I came in uncertain of how this engagement was going to work out and, more specifically, whether it was going to pay off. After the first hour, my staff and I were completely engrossed. We each came away from the workshop Doug conducted for us with specific areas to focus on, and a much higher level of confidence about presenting. One of my team members who was petrified about public speaking previously is now chomping at the bit to get on stage. Doug – you’ve created a monster (or ten). Thank you.” February 8, 2008
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative
Lance Loveday, CEO, Closed Loop Marketing
hired Doug as a Presentation Coach in 2008