Innovation

Beth Rogers deftly points out that she doesn’t know how to cure cancer, but if you do, she can give you the necessary skills to get your ideas out of your head and into the heads of others who can use the information. There is unique twist which is unbeknownst to many. Rogers started out as an industrial engineer. Although she switched gears from writing computer algorithms for maximizing manufacturing plant efficiency to teaching public speaking skills, she never left behind the mode of thinking that is data driven.

Today she processes tons of research articles on effective communication and digests the findings. Then she distills the information into teachable points, and breaks it down into actionable items, something you can use. “I can teach you to teach others, I don’t have to do the research myself.”

She is the first to state that she is not trained in communications. Her education is in industrial engineering, operations management, and computer programming, Hers is a systems background. As an engineer she would go into a plant and figure out how to improve systems to yield a tighter band of performance. After doing this for a while, she was assigned the task of ushering in the computer age to the pharmaceutical sales force. She had found her people! She gravitated towards the energy of the sales team and soon joined their ranks. From pharmaceutical sales she moved to marketing where her quantitative and results driven background as an engineer once more proved a great combination.

The innovation is her remarkable ability to review published articles on the science of communication, evaluate then transform the information into a useable tidbit with the ultimate goal of giving people the ability to change their world by being better communicators. Her insight and passion for combining technical and analytical skills to teaching public speaking leads former clients let her know they have been able to make take learnings and “make this my own.”

Over the zoom camera she clenches a pencil horizontally between her teeth. She says, “We’ve all heard that research showing that the muscles we use to smile activate endorphins that make us fell happy. Did you know you can activate those muscles by biting on a pencil and it will cause the same elevation in mood?” This is the kind of information she unearths and applies at Point Taken.

Inspiration

“I got a card from a student in my Communications course at BU. She is an Asian woman entering the Hospitality industry: young, beautiful. I worry about these women the most because she comes from a society that traditionally does not value women and does not encourage women to speak up. In the card, she reveals that she would cry any time she had to give a presentation, but after my class her life is changed. She no longer experiences that angst. Now she has the skills to present her ideas effectively. She has a voice.”

Twenty years ago Beth Rogers established Point Taken, a company that teaches clients public speaking skills. Today she wears several hats. Not only as the founder and president of Point Taken but also on the faculty of Boston University school of management where she teaches undergraduates studying the hospitality business and MBA students the art of communication. She is passionate about teaching women communication because “often women’s ideas get overlooked”.

Overall impact

As a woman launching her career in the male dominated fields of engineering and business in the 1980’s, Rogers is by definition, a pioneer of women in the work force. It is not surprising that the website of Point Taken bears the logo of WBENC/WEconnect INTERNATIONAL Certified as a certified woman owned business. It is with unflinching positivity she aims to flourish and provide a challenging and nurturing place for women to work. Additionally, Beth Rogers utilizes scientific evidence to enable women to communicate more effectively. What could be more empowering than having a voice?

Business benefit

Beth Rogers, the founder of Point Taken has been a flourishing company for 20 years. She still works with original employees hired nearly at the start of the business. The market for teaching public speaking is served by many from an acting point of view, but rarely from science driven evidence based materials and methods developed by this company.

Because Point Taken has a unique approach to teaching communication it has served it's clients and employees for 2 decades. Because of the leaderships sensitivity to the need for women's ideas to be heard, many women have been impacted.

Social and environmental benefit

Any time the ideas of a new or under represented group are heard, society benefits. Effective, evidence based lessons in communication backed by an exhaustive review of published science on the subject is an innovative approach to teaching and developing materials for teaching. Every time a woman finds her voice and can express her good ideas, then society benefits.

Interview

Beth Rogers, Founder and President