Consulting What Daena's clients have to say about her training programs
Babson College
    Daena has the experience and teaching mastery to use improvisation to unleash the creative ability in all of us. Improvisation requires a different mindset – an entrepreneurial mindset – and it takes practice. Commit and go for it with Daena. Your life will change.

    Heidi M. Neck, Ph.D.
    Jeffry A. Timmons, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies
    Babson College
    Entrepreneurship Division
MIT Sloan College of Management
    Daena Giardella has taught “IMPROVISATION AND INFLUENCE: AN EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP LAB” at the MIT Sloan School of Management since Fall of 2007 as part of the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP). Students have responded incredibly well to Daena’s approach and we have had extremely positive feedback from students in their course evaluations. One student said, “This is the best workshop I’ve taken as part of the Sloan Innovation Period. It was fun and stretching and very applicable to life.” Another said, “this was a very practical and experiential way to teach leadership which was much more valuable than in-class learning.” Daena offers the students to be self-reflective and an opportunity for them to learn and practice a critical leadership skill – the ability to think on your feet and adapt to the environment and people around you.

    Tracy Purinton
    Associate Director
    MIT Sloan Leadership Center
American Heart Association
    I hired Daena to do a one-woman stand-up lunchtime comedy skit for Women Heart Health fundraiser in February 2005; over 200 in attendance. She was dynamite! Captured the issues from the start, put creative thought into her delivery and had the audience laughing throughout. She's delightful to work with, very inspirational and just simply fun!

    Gwen Mayes
    Health Policy and Reimbursement Consultant at Mayes Consulting
Imagine Foods
    With excitement and uncertainty, all Imagine Foods employees attended your presentation. What came out of that experience is still talked about today. We learned to see each other as people with a shared goal, and to appreciate each other's professional and personal needs and struggles. We learned the importance of balance in one's life. We learned to communicate on an entirely new level.

    But most of all, we laughed. We laughed while you entertained us through our fears, our strengths, our successes and challenges. Your performance had us laughing so hard, many of us were in tears. And some of us were in tears because your presentation was so moving. All in all, an unforgettable experience.

    Robert Nissenbaum
    President
    IMAGINE FOODS

Lisa Vandenburgh Ltd.
    "We at Lisa Vandenburgh Ltd. would like to let you know how much we appreciated all the team building and confict resolution work you did with us both in Boston and in Washington, DC....Your skills were many, but we would like to note here the ones we found particularly useful:

    --- You created a safe environment for the whole group in which to
    tackle tough issues.

    ---You grasped clearly and quickly the essence of any situation we
    discussed.

    ---You helped us stay focused, even when we tried to shy away from a
    difficult topic.

    ...Thank you for all you have done for us

    Lisa S.Vandenburgh
    Lisa Vandenburgh Ltd. Interior Design
Bentley College

    “I just wanted to thank you again for a wonderful and actually very touching performance. Already, only one day after, reactions to your thoughts and actions are pouring into my office! I know that this whole creativity endeavor at Bentley is touching the students in a very profound way. So many times, I have looked into the haunted eyes of overworked and stressed out students and observed their “inner lions” slowly dying! You articulated that soul searching reach to fulfill the emptiness in our lives so well. Thank you.”

    Mary Wright-Singer
    Bentley College English Dept.

     

    “What a wonderful experience!!! Daena is really an amazing person, and she made us realize that business is always about people interacting, communicating, feeling. This creative workshop is also fun!

    Axel Marquez
    Bentley College

     

    “I think her message of creativity is an important one. To say “yes” when presented with challenges. To tame the self-critic, the lion , within. To put the “general” in his place. I think she brought up important points that I found myself pondering after the presentation. She was entertaining and a good teacher.

    Mark A. Milewski
    Bentley College

     

    “It was an excellent performance. I really liked the way of presentation Daena chose to introduce the topics of concern to almost every business grad student. It really helped to get some more of that drive and motivation that students usually lack before entering this complicated business world.”

    Agassi Chitchian
    Bentley College

     

    “With one word she was excellent and I wish we had more creativity workshops!!!!!!!!!!!!”

    Yiolanda
    Bentley College

     

    “It was the most awesome workshop I ever attended. I’m very interested in her creativity thoughts and I’m seriously considering attending her workshops in the summer.”

    Sridhar Bysani
    Bentley College

     
Larry Rosenberg - Ph.D., Psychologist

    “Daena is the rare teacher who is not only superb at her craft but is able to translate her talent into very clear and insightful instructions that allow the beginner to quickly grasp the fundamentals of improvisational acting. She creates a safe group environment for each of us to take risks with trying on characters with one another in short comedic or dramatic scenes. If we get self-conscious or stuck, Daena helps us identify our blocks and move forward with compassionate encouragement. Her boundless imagination and energy are infectious, making her classes tons of fun. (And great music for movement!) Daena's philosophy is that life is always offering us unexpected invitations; whether we accept or decline these offers, respond with curiosity and generosity. As a novice actor, I have grown in confidence, creativity, and courage through Daena's workshops and classes.”

     

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