To become an exceptional public speaker, for both beginners and professionals, it is important to constantly seek improvement and track your progress. The best way to do this is to enroll in training and engage the help of coaches. This helps you to know areas where you may be lacking and how you could improve on such areas. Also having the guidance of people who have the appropriate certifications backed up with experience is always an added benefit.

Who is a Public Speaking Coach and what do they do? 

A public speaking coach is an individual who helps people improve their skills in communication and presentations; these could be either for professional or personal reasons. While they may not be professional public speakers themselves, they become public speakers by reason of their job requirements. They are often educators who are passionate about coaching and mentoring. An example of this is Life Coaches. 

When choosing a public speaking coach, there are things and points to look out for and criteria that you should try to match up. Some of these notables are: 

1. Preferred coach – it is important to know the type of coach you would like to learn from, especially if they are in the same niche as you.
2. Type of classes – you will need to determine whether you’d prefer physical or online classes and if your preferred coach offers your class of choice.
3. Paid or Free – you should consider the affordability of the class and how much you are able to spend on the training. It is important to keep an eye out for academies and institutions that offer free courses. 
4. Courses offered by the coach – certifications are a major reason for taking courses; however, while they may be important it is equally as important to check the courses offered by the coach and be sure that they are able to improve you in areas that you are lacking. Here is how to obtain a Life Coach certification.  
5. Coaching style – some coaches offer one-on-one coaching style or group coaching classes. Be sure to know which you would prefer and check the style adopted for the course you’re interested in taking.

PUBLIC SPEAKING COACHES AND COURSES. 

Some of the Public Speaking academies and institutes to look out for are;

• THE MOXIE INSTITUTE 

Moxie Institute offers one-on-one speech coaching both in-person and virtually for people who are interested in improving their public speaking skills, especially in the corporate setting. Moxie courses are taken by industry experts who cover all areas of public speaking training.

The courses offered include Presentation Skills Training and Public Speaking Skills Coaching amongst others. Outside of registered courses, there are also books available for sale by the Moxie Institute team like Speak with Moxie to aid courses. To start a course at the Moxie Institute all you need to do is schedule a consultation. Moxie does not offer free courses. 

• COURSERA 

Coursera is one of the leading platforms that provide courses and training on different topics, and public speaking happens to be one of such topics. Coursera is famous for providing courses online for certifications. One of such courses offered on Coursera is Finding Your Professional Voice: Confidence & Impact, this is a free beginner-friendly course that takes just 9 hours to complete.

Other courses offered include, Good with Word: Speaking and Presenting, Storytelling and Influencing: Communicate with impact, Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills.

• MAGNETIC SPEAKING 

Magnetic coaching offers 1 – on – 1 virtual coaching on communication, presentations, panels, and even interviews. They teach you to make different types of presentations that may be necessary for whatever situation you need. They have coaches for Professional Speakers, Startup Founders, and also Leadership Executives.

You can schedule a consultation with the academy to get advice on whatever you may need help with. The coaching process here gives options for single or multiple coaching sessions. On average, trainees get their expected results within 5 to 10 sessions. There are no free courses/ trainings with Magnetic speaking.

• GIGI ROSENBERG 

Unlike the other Institutes, Gigi Rosenberg is a public speaking coach who handles the sessions personally. She offers one-on-one coaching and also hosts group trainings and workshops. You can schedule a free 30-minute consultation with Gigi by filling out this questionnaire.

She also has books available for sale, such as “7 Best Online Presentation Tips” which can be purchased in PDF format. 

• ALISON 

Alison is a popular online certification course platform where people can take courses in almost any area. One of the CPD Accredited public speaking courses offered by Alison is How to Speak Effectively. Courses on Alison are completely virtual classes.

Some courses are done in conjunction with other Academies like the Public Speaking 101 course that is taken in partnership with the Workforce Advantage Academy.  

• UDEMY 

Udemy, offers both paid and free certified courses online on public speaking. The average price for a Public Speaking course on Udemy is $30. However, they often offer discounts and courses can be bought at a much cheaper rate.

PUBLIC SPEAKING COACHES TO FOLLOW. 

Other than taking courses, there are some popular coaches who are active on social media. They give public speaking advice on their pages in a more personal everyday life manner. Some individual coaches to follow are; 

• Jose Ucar 
• Fana Taylor 
• Andy Harrington 
• Tricia Brouk 
• Simone Heng 
• Mike Ganino 

CONCLUSION 

Effective communication is instrumental when it comes to success, therefore, investing in a public speaking coach is invaluable. Regardless of whether you may be a seasoned professional speaker or a novice in public speaking and engagements, the guidance and aid of a public speaking coach can help in boosting your confidence and help you achieve tremendous results as an effective and compelling communicator. Employing the services of a public speaking coach is essential if you intend to take your public speaking skills to a new level.

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