Tom Kouvel

Tom Kouvel

The night before his first 10-minute feature presentation, Tom Kouvel sweat—a lot. He didn’t sleep—at all. The three-year member of BNI’s Liberty Chapter recalls feeling panicky.

“I didn’t like public speaking at all,” Kouvel said. “I avoided it at all costs. Even in college I never took a class that involved public speaking.”

They say one of the only sure things in life is change, and even Kouvel realized that he needed to change at some point.

“In insurance, I was knocking on doors trying to get customers, which is not an easy way to do business,” he related. “I knew I needed help with marketing, and had heard great things about BNI, so I joined.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” he continued. “I’ve gotten great referrals, and have met a lot of terrific people. And I don’t have to do as much knocking on doors now!”

About Kouvel’s fear of public speaking? While it’s not completely gone, he’s gotten much better, he said. So much so that he now comes up with a weekly rhyme to use in his Weekly Presentation. Here’s a recent example:

“If your Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush burns down your dwelling,
You’ll want one of the policies I’m selling!”

See Tom's member profile here.

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