NEW! Polishing Your Presentation 2-session coaching! Details below
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Do you have an important speech event coming up that has to go well?
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Polish Your Presentation: 2-session quick coaching
Are you an experienced speaker and want to improve your next presentation with just a little bit of coaching? Polish Your Presentation is our new 2-session coaching option! Go over your presentation and delivery the first session and get tips on writing, delivery, pronunciation and more . Practice it between sessions, and then deliver it in front of the coach the second session to fine-tune it. Both sessions with the same learner must be used within 30 days. Get the advantage you deserve!
What are clients saying?
"I learned a lot" from the sessions, reported a director.
FAQ's
Why is learning to speak better so important?
Past clients have reported connecting better with their audiences, winning speech-giving contests within their company and thus gaining notice for future opportunities and promotions. Others say their improved speeches have helped their company gain funding and professional designations.
I am an experienced speaker. Can you help me polish my upcoming presentation?
Yes, I can! You will get the greatest benefit if you have an outline of your presentation and have run through it a few times, and have at least 2 weeks to practice. (If you want to work on your pronunciation, starting earlier would be even better.)
Pitches to venture capitalists or angel investors are a special type of presentation. Learn how they differ from regular presentations and how you can make them more effective.
We can also work on making small talk, American style, as well as speech rate, stage fright, body language and communication skills for leaders. Your sessions are customized to your needs.
I have a strong foreign or regional accent. Can you help me with standard American pronunciation? Yes. We will start with a quick skills-gap assessment, to understand your areas of strength and weakness, and go from there. If you are combining this with giving an upcoming presentation, we will work on the words in your presentation first, and later we will work on other sounds and words.
I don't have a strong accent but want to learn to use my speech and voice more effectively.
We can work on your speech rate, diction, pausing and other verbal skills to make your speech more powerful.
I want to work on my communication skills for leadership or sales primarily. We can focus on listening and questioning skills, meeting management and leading powerful idea-generating group sessions, using a research-based protocol. You choose your topics of interest for our sessions!
I need to get emergency speech coaching for a presentation this week. Can you help? I offer a package of two sessions, of 1 hour for coaching and a half-hour for review before the presentation. A minimum of 96 hours (4 days) notice is required. Be aware that people will get better results with more extensive speech coaching done well before a presentation, but emergencies happen...
Can you work with people all over the US? As a certified, licensed speech-language pathologist, I cannot work with people in specific states where I am not licensed. That is why I will ask about your state. If I cannot work with you, I will try to refer you to someone licensed in that state. I am located in Durham, NC, but I work virtually.
Now offering last-minute speech coaching.. life happens!
Presentation Skills
Pronunciation Improvement
Pronunciation Improvement
Experienced speakers get an assessment of their current skills, as well as coaching on their choice of topics. These might include powerful introductions and conclusions, audience engagement techniques, speech rate, strong wording,
and more.
Public speaking can be combined with pronunciation improvement or communication for leadership, such as learning to run meetings.
Do you have a speech coming up in a week or so? We now offer last-minute speech coaching, with 96 hours notice and a minimal amount of 1.5 hours of coaching, Please note that results will be better with more extensive coaching done far in advance, but sometimes that is not possible.
Pronunciation Improvement
Pronunciation Improvement
Pronunciation Improvement
Coaching is available in pronunciation improvement for both non-native speakers and native speakers. All coaching starts with an assessment of current skills.
Non-native speakers learn to pronounce sounds not found in their native languages, such as our "th", sounds such as "ch" that may be spoken differently in various words based on etiology (ie cheese, chef, chaos), words with different syllabic emphases (often based on parts of speech), speech rate and intonation, and more.
This coaching is also appropriate for spokespersons or others talking to the broadcast media in American English. The goal, of course, is to get your important message understood as clearly as possible. In this often-stressful situation, it is much more effective to start the pronunciation improvement coaching several months in advance if possible.
American English speakers with strong regional accents may choose to learn Standard American English, especially if they interact with people from other regions of the country. Speech rate and intonation can also be a focus.
Residents of North Carolina may also choose to work on speech impairments, such as lisps and verbal apraxia.
Facilitating Idea-generation sessions
Conversational Skills: Small Talk, Starting, Continuing and Ending Conversations
Conversational Skills: Small Talk, Starting, Continuing and Ending Conversations
Conversational Skills: Small Talk, Starting, Continuing and Ending Conversations
Conversational Skills: Small Talk, Starting, Continuing and Ending Conversations
Conversational Skills: Small Talk, Starting, Continuing and Ending Conversations
Do you have difficulty making small talk when talking to strangers, new colleagues, or others? Do you want to start or prolong conversations or end them gracefully, or read others' body language more effectively? We offer coaching in these important conversational skills!