Getting up in front of other people to share a story or an idea that's important to you is hard work. Your knees wobble, your voice shakes, maybe your palms get sweaty. You spend a lot of time wondering if people see how nervous you are. You definitely aren't there for the fun of it. But as long as you are there, and as long as we are listening, you might as well make the best of it. You might as well take pleasure in how you've crafted your story. You might as well find ways to calm your nervous system and steady your voice, so you can have a little fun while making an impact. 

If you believe in your story, you have to talk like you mean it. 

We've helped professionals from a broad range of disciplines find their public-speaking stride in a range of contexts. We can help you prepare to:

• Give a talk or presentation at a professional conference

• Pitch your startup concept to a funder or accelerator

• Interview a public figure, on a set or for a live audience

• Moderate sessions at a literary, arts or tech conference

• Lead effective team meetings on Zoom

• Give a great speech at a wedding. 

We won't try to package you to make you fit the cliché of the confident speaker.

We take the time to understand the professional context of your speaking engagement, from one-on-one interviews to multimedia presentations. We study your craft so that you can learn ours. We learn your story so we can help you tell it better. 

Here are some questions we'll help you answer.

• What are the three most important takeaways you want your audience to take away after your talk? What do you want them to learn? 

• Is there a call to action? Do you want your audience to do something after they hear you speak? 

• How do you want to make them feel in order to encourage them to reflect or behave in a new way?

We'll help you structure your story so that you highlight what's important, build towards a desired outcome and connect with your own passion for your subject. You will inspire your audience if you are inspired by the story you are telling. But it's not enough to just be inspired. You have to connect with your enthusiasm physically, so that your body and voice transmit your passion and expertise with energy and ease. 

We can help you with all the nuts and bolts to take your storytelling skills to the next level.

There are so details that go into compelling story, both in the structure and the execution. Once we’ve learned more about the impact you want to make and how you want to make it, we can coach you through every step of your preparation:

• Creating an outline

• Writing and fine tuning your script

• Highlighting key words and phrases

• Developing your audience- and stage-awareness

• Accent coaching

• Mastering your nerves.

You'll leave your first coaching session with these tools.

• A physical warmup that helps settle your nervous system and gets you out of your head and into your body.

• A vocal warmup that helps stretch and loosen your voice so that it serves you as an expressive instrument. 

• Articulation exercises to help make your delivery sharp and crisp.

• Exercises to infuse information with emotional intent, so that you're not just reciting facts, but connecting with your audience in a way that makes them receptive.

After we've established a deep understanding of your story and the context of your speaking engagement, and given you tools to help take the anxiety out of speaking and inject passion in its place, we'll start practicing. We'll set up a physical space that mimics the configuration of your venue. We'll create an imaginary audience and make sure you're connecting with them. We'll gradually amp up the stakes and throw you a curve ball or two, so that you practice maintaining your focus in a setting that might get a little unpredictable, like life itself. We'll prepare you to anticipate what it will feel like when you hit the stage, and to handle whatever comes your way with grace and steadiness.