William Parkhurst
Parkhurst Communications president William Parkhurst began broadcasting in the 1960’s covering Presidential candidates in his home state of New Hampshire. Times being what they were, he also found himself in the middle of many campus demonstrations. “Holding a microphone while being stampeded into a line of snarling police dogs was a common experience for college radio people in those days,” he says, “and not something you easily forget. A German shepherd trained to subdue you with his teeth does not care if you have a press pass.”
After college and service aboard a Navy destroyer, Bill returned to radio and television news, covering presidential politics and general assignments for a variety of New England television and radio stations before he moved to New York to pursue a career in book publishing. At Simon and Schuster, the Putnam Publishing Group and Avon books, he produced radio and television commercials and directed hundreds of publicity campaigns as Director of Publicity before starting Parkhurst Communications in 1981. For seven years he hosted “Night Talk” on New York’s number one talk station, WOR, and was host of the nationally syndicated cable author interview program, “Book Break.”
He is the author of three books, How To Get Publicity, The Eloquent Executive and True Detectives, all published by Random House, as well as articles in many major magazines and newspapers. Mr. Parkhurst’s work has been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, “Good Morning America,” “Today” and “Oprah” as well as in articles in most major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Chicago Tribune.
Speech training clients include Time, American Banker, Esquire, Time Out New York, Spa Finder, People, New York Magazine, Goldman Sachs, Xerox Corporation, IBM, General Foods, Mennen, Kraft and the United Nations. In media training he has worked with over 1500 authors including four Nobel Laureates and over fifty Pulitzer Prize winners.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University.
Nanette DeWester
Nanette DeWester brings to Parkhurst Communications 10 years' experience coaching Media, and Presentations skills. She has prepared dozens of high profile clients for national television and radio appearances such as: “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The Daily Show,” and “Charlie Rose.”
Her clients include Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, real estate entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran, Curves CEO Gary Heavin, New York Times Economist Paul Krugman, and #1 bestselling author Sue Monk Kid. Additionally, She has also worked with leading communications skills consultancies both as trainer and as course developer.
Her clients range from Fortune 500 Senior Executives to non-profit support staff in companies such as Amgen, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Barclays Capital, Bank of America, Citigroup, The Federal Reserve, Campbells, Pearson Education, and UNICEF. Nanette's training strategy is to focus on an engaging style of communication that emphasizes the speakers' connection to their topic. This enables her clients to consistently deliver convincing messages that are heard.
Of special interest to Nanette is her current work with Storytelling and Leadership, and, how a skillfully told narrative creates a compelling reason to believe both the message and the mission.
Nanette began training after a career as a professional actor performing on stage and television, and as an improviser with such companies as Second City. She then worked with Mt. Sinai’s Morchand Center teaching communication skills to physicians and medical students. Afterward, she developed a unique training approach that’s well suited for all “improvised” public speaking formats. She continues her work in improv and creativity with her corporate clients by specializing in coursework that fosters innovative thinking and the use of creativity for developing new products, ideas, and solutions.
Nanette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University.
