THE ART OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

 is the president and CEO of BusinessTalk, Inc.. He has assembled a team of experienced, talented instructors to work with BusinessTalk’s clients in customized programs and in one-on-one coaching sessions.

Mr. Bannon has designed programs, facilitated workshops and coached attorneys at top law firms including Sullivan & Cromwell, Milbank Tweed, Skadden, Covington & Burling, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, and Shearman & Sterling (among others).   He has also worked extensively with senior executives at leading financial institutions including Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Moody’s Investment Services, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consulting.

Jeff has traveled around the world as a featured speaker for his clients.  His international experience includes programs in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Jakarta, and Singapore.

Jeff attended Phillips Exeter Academy and earned his B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.  Before joining the world of business communication skills training, Jeff enjoyed a successful career as an actor.   He performed on Broadway in “Showboat”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Les Miserable”, and appeared in several national television commercials.

Tara works as a coach with attorneys of all levels at BusinessTalk’s many law firm clients, including Skadden Arps, Milbank Tweed, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Alston & Bird, Perkins Coie, and Hinshaw.  In addition, she sometimes handles program design and client management with our top clients. Tara is based in Los Angeles, California, and works throughout the country.

Tara offers particular strengths working one-on-one with senior attorneys and in areas of Presentation Skills, Networking Skills, and Management Skills.  She also excels in working with non-profit groups that focus on women’s issues within the legal community, including HerJustice.  She received her degree in Psychology from New York University.

Prior to her position at BusinessTalk, Tara enjoyed over 15 years of experience in film and television. Getting an early start in the entertainment industry, Tara appeared in numerous commercials as a child. As an adult, she then went on to work on such television shows as “Pushing Daisies” and “Hot in Cleveland” while continuing her career in commercials.

Gilbert trained at The Juilliard School and worked as an actor for 9 years before returning to school for his PhD to become a psychoanalyst.  This combination of the study of performance and how people relate to one another in the clinical setting gives him unique skills for training clients for BusinessTalk.

Over the past several years, Gil has coached attorneys at many top firms, including Skadden Arps, Milbank Tweed, Shearman & Sterling, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Reed Smith, and Alston & Bird (among others).  He has been in private practice for 24 years, and has been a guest lecturer at the Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University.  He also works as an instructor at several psychoanalytic training institutes in New York City an elsewhere.

Gil is also an accomplished writer, publishing articles and a book in the field of psychoanalysis.  His first novel came out in March 2013.

Jeanne brings over 25 years of experience in business, education and theatre to her work as a communication consultant and executive coach. She has been on the Business Talk team for 12 years working with top law firms including Skadden Arps, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Milbank, Alston & Bird, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. 

After graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois, Jeanne went on to become a successful Broadway actress. During her prolific acting career, she transferred her performance skills to the business world, working extensively as a corporate spokesperson for industrial events, commercials and training films for major Fortune 500 companies. In addition, As an educator, she has served on faculties at the University of Northern Iowa and Dean College, and has lectured throughout the United States as a clinician. 

Jeanne brings a dynamic blend of business acumen and experience, humor, sensitivity, and energy to her coaching work. Over the course of her career, Jeanne has motivated literally thousands of executives to realize their full potential. Her areas of expertise include professional presence, presentation, management and networking skills.

Sylvia Roldán Dohi enjoys boosting the interpersonal skills of attorneys at top law firms around the country, including Alston + Bird, Milbank, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and Skadden.

By blending her years of coaching experience with her years on the stage, she finds it exciting to see Business Talk clients polish their skills and become more credible and confident right before her eyes.

Sylvia has offered trainings on a wide range of topics to clients around the world, in such sectors as Finance, Fashion, Medicine, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Not-For-Profits, Retail, Airlines and Entertainment. She is Certified as an Applied Positive Psychology Practitioner and is currently completing training to coach Positive Neuroplasticity.

Her distinguished acting career included national tours of CATS, WEST SIDE STORY and with Rock Star ALICE COOPER. She was in the first Spanish language cast of A CHORUS LINE in Spain, and was on Broadway for the entire 10 year run of MISS SAIGON. Completely bilingual, Sylvia has recorded audiobooks in both English and Spanish.

Jeff Reid has worked with BusinessTalk since 2007 as a coach plus office and tech support. Hailing from San Francisco, Jeff earned his B.A. in Social Ecology with a Legal Studies minor from the University of California, Irvine. For 15 years prior to BusinessTalk, Jeff taught continuing education in California, and owned a niche real estate firm with the help of 4 agents as their lead broker.

As one of BusinessTalk’s long term coaches, Jeff has worked with hundreds of associates from dozens of top firms including Skadden Arps, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Milbank, Alston & Bird, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. He also remotely coached many associate’s post program by viewing video of presentations, while offering up helpful advice to fine tune their delivery.

During downtime, he can be found creating video archival recordings of his talented New York friend’s performances at local venues and cabarets.