My late husband, Joseph Thomas Wingert, founding publisher of the Herald, liked to extol the virtues of salespersons (today’s publisher’s middle name is George).
“They help people solve problems,” he would say and he believed that a sales career was a calling. He believed that training as an actor prepared people for sales – including not just selling material products but selling ideas, selling beliefs and allegiance and processes. Training as an actor, Joe said, understanding body language, creates an awareness of the audience’s reactions. It is what’s done in business, speaking and responding in ways that motivate trust.
Once Joseph T. invited Keith Strunk, a founder of River Union State in Frenchtown, N.J., to spend time with the Herald staff to talk about the importance of communication skills. Strunk had studied acting at Rutgers and in addition to involvement with local theater, he was working at the time with corporations, training corporate leaders to be poised and aware communicators.
Strunk had also written and produced student films, worked as an actor in commercials and corporate film, and had written scripts for all kinds of presenters. And so he was a great success here in Lahaska, motivating all of us to communicate better.
In New Hope today, there’s a new business, also with theater training at its base. Michael Piperno, a former teacher, has founded the Comvia Group. He’s a communications expert hired by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, national corporations and nonprofits to fill in communication deficits and lack of soft-skill training in colleges and universities where they are needed.
Emerging leaders and their employees, Piperno says, can better understand and improve their communication styles. The training is especially helpful in remote work environments, where communication is more limited than in a casual office setting. In an office, the manager can reach out easily to employees and speak on the spur of the moment – no Twitter or text mail or Zoom arrangement necessary.
“As a young actor,” he says, “I was so nervous but I got over it. I know what it’s like to be paralyzed but you have to keep on rehearsing.”
A graduate of Montclair State University with a master’s degree from Perdue, Piperno has always been fascinated by the art and science of communication. Working first in financial services and later in medical communications, he lived in South Jersey but eventually found himself with a job in Horsham.
“I always loved New Hope,” he says and that was an opportunity to move to a place hi wanted to be. In 2004 he moved on to a branding business, Imbue Creative in Lambertville, N.J. He was working mostly health care and life sciences communications, bridging the gap between science and the public.
Piperno realized that he had a knack for helping people with workplace relationships throughout his career in brand and healthcare communications. “Today’s managers,” he says, “need to help people achieve their potential, to help them grow.”
Piperno moved on and started the Comvia Group is a team of hand-picked consultants who are senior executives, communication experts, educators, and entrepreneurs — all with deep communication expertise and a passion for helping others.
Piperno promises clients that every coach in the Comvia Group is a senior leader with a proven track record of helping professionals be better communicators. “Collectively, our team has helped hundreds of business leaders get their messages heard, convince stakeholders, become better presenters, improve interpersonal relationships, and inspire high-performing teams,” Piperno says on the Comvia website.
Comvia, a name Piperno formed, is a combination of the Latin preposition com, meaning with or together and the noun via, meaning road or path. Comvia, he says stays at a client’s side along career journeys.
The Comvia experts are available for individual coaching sessions and workshops are effective for individuals. “Many of our clients are in the creative or life sciences industries since these areas have been where I have spent the majority of my professional life,” he says, but the principles apply to most industries.
Piperno adds a human element to a business that may be totally oriented to technology.
Updated Nov. 2, 2021
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
