Jim Endicott

Experience

1. Owner President

   Distinction

   Apr 1998 — Present · Portland, OR, US

   One thing I’ve grown deeply aware of the past few decades is the relentless noise-level of those vying for the time and attention of our important audiences. When I started in the corporate communications business in the 80s, presentations seemed so much simpler. We churned out some slides that seemed ‘good enough’ and when the time came, we swallowed deeply and gave the best presentation we could…. mission accomplished. But the process seemed pretty hollow at time.After 8 years in the presentation graphics business, a stint running an entrepreneurial design & consulting team and years of writing a monthly column for Presentations magazine, my perspective began to change. Despite all the presentation software improvements… and an enormous amount of money spent on brighter projectors and faster laptops and a sea of online presentation resources – presenters themselves had evolved surprisingly little in 20 years.So I launched my company, Distinction Communication, in 1998 to make a difference.I started with creating better visuals for my clients but soon it was clear that the image on the wall behind them would mean nothing if the underlying storyline was weak or self-serving. So I added messaging help for my clients.With those bases covered - it was now obvious we also needed to address the flesh and blood messenger. They seemed to be potentially the greatest key in driving messages deep into the hearts and minds of their audiences in ways that would be remembered.Today, my team and I provide individual executive coaching and small group presentation skills workshops taking our clients from simply a “giving” focus to presenting to the more important art of ensuring their audiences actually “get” them.For nearly 20 years, Distinction has been very blessed to have clients ranging from elite Fortune 500 senior executives to small business start-ups around the country. For all of them, we make a tangible difference and I love what I do!