Have you ever felt the need to hire a public speaking coach? Trust me, you are not the only one.
Imagine walking up the stage to deliver a speech. As you speak, the stage fear crawls in and takes control of your body. The stiff posture and shivering hands mess up your body language, and as the quavering voice starts messing up your speech delivery, you begin to fumble. With each embarrassing public speaking experience, your fear becomes so evident that you dread public speaking altogether.
But is it just you? NO! You’ll be shocked to know how common the fear of public speaking is amongst the world population.
People’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. This means if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.
Jerry Seinfield
Sometimes this fear inspires people to work on this skill, and sometimes it makes them dread public speaking.
While literature review and public speaking classes could be the easy ways to improve this skill, they might not be your best bet. Should I opt for public speaking classes or hire a public speaking coach? This is a common dilemma but not an unsolvable one. Weigh the pros and cons, and you will get to know how hiring a public speaking coach is an ineliminable requirement.
With the help of this article, you and I shall embark on a virtual journey of one-to-one public speaking coaching. From details on public speaking coaching sessions to how you can become a public speaking coach, this article is your one-stop destination for everything you need to know about one-to-one public speaking coaching.
For your better understanding, we have divided this article into the following sections-
- One-to-One Public Speaking Coaching: What is it, Benefits, Cost, and More
- Tips on Learning: How to get the most out of a public speaking coach?
- Best Public Speaking Coaches Out There!
- How to Become A Public Speaking Coach?
- 3 Tips to Give at your First Session as A Public Speaking Coach
One-to-One Public Speaking Coaching: What is it, Benefits, Cost, and More
A) Who Is A Public Speaking Coach?
A public speaking coach is someone who will assist you in improving your public speaking skills, be it for your personal or professional goals. This guiding light will hone your personality and you will be able to put across your thoughts in a clear and concise way.
When you bear this in mind, choosing the right public speaking coach can be a tiresome task.
5 Things Clients Look for When Hiring A Public Speaking Coach
To make the process easier for you, here’s a brief idea of who should you appoint as your coach-
1. Level of Experience
The first step is slightly obvious but an important one. Appoint someone who has had a fair share of experience in the field of public speaking so that you can benefit from that rich experience. Remember that public speaking is a dynamic discipline. So, the more experienced your coach, the more learnings and experiences he must have to share with you
2. Degree in Communications
A degree in communications always come in handy as effective communication skills is an essential pre-requisite in the field of public speaking. It shows in writing how well-versed you are with the art of communication.
3. Great Client Reviews
Word of mouth plays a huge role when it comes to hiring a public speaking coach. Having said that, just make sure that your coach has good reviews and recommendations. Clients’ learning experiences is the best way to assess your coach’s credibility and reputation.
4. Public Speaking Coach Certifications
Look for certification credentials from credible communication organizations. These credentials are a living testimony to your coach’s work experience. In this modern-mechanized world, there are carefully crafted courses for those who wish to establish themselves as public speaking coaches. If your coach has one, it’s an added bonus.
5. Teaching Methodology and Style
Have a talk with your coach, get acquainted with his teaching methodology and get a brief idea of what all learnings the coach has to offer you.
Most important of all, be aware of what you are looking for. If you wish to seek improvement in diction, stage performance, accent, or a speech disorder, research well to establish that your coach suffice those requirements
Yet you might think, ‘why should I bother learning it at all?’ To get rid of this confusion, let’s discuss why you should hire a public speaking coach.
B) Who will Benefit the Most Out of a Public Speaking Coach?
Many times, we have great things to talk about but we dread the very thought of presenting those ideas in public. So much so that we end up taking a step back every single time we are asked to speak in public and this experience is not just limited to you and me but everyone out there.
What Types of People Hire A Public Speaking Coach?
1. Students and Working Professionals
School and college students are the ones who find public speaking coaching extremely handy. These institutions have events spanned all over the year and most of these events require students to ace their public speaking skills.
Learning this skill gives you an edge over others in your professional career and help you to climb up that ladder of success in your work life.
2. Media Professionals
People who are associated with the media industry cannot afford to lose out on this skill. If you are creative with your ideation and creation process but cannot put those thoughts forward on the table, all of your work goes in vain.
So, a creative field like the media industry requires people to work on this skill so that they can become an asset. Being an introvert won’t necessarily be your best bet!
3. Job Aspirants
If you are looking forward to applying for an internship or job, this skill is extremely crucial. Imagine you have great ideas to convey in a work meeting but you are too anxious to speak and then, the other person speaks out the very same idea you had and gets praised. You will feel bad, won’t you?
4. People Launching Start-ups
Say, you started a start-up and wish to get investors on board. You will need to be persuasive enough to win those hearts. Here’s exactly where a personalized coach will come to your rescue by helping you to master the art of persuasive speaking.
As a bonus tip for all the start-up founders out there, we’ve written an article on how you can pitch perfectly to your investors.
To our surprise- public speaking is a skill that comes in handy to us in each and every stage of our lives. Whether it’s a school event, college presentation, work meeting, or an open mic, you just cannot avoid public speaking, it’s almost inevitable.
C) Why Having A Personalized Coach Matters?
When it comes to hiring a public speaking coach, it doesn’t matter where you start from as every course is personalized based on the strengths and weaknesses of the mentee.
Is your public speaking class too crowded? Instant feedback is one of the major perks of hiring a public speaking coach. A public speaking coach will help you open up about your public speaking experiences. After all, learning from your experiences is key to your growth.
Singular attention is an added bonus when it comes to hiring a personalized coach. It will motivate you to stay focused and put your best foot forward.
In a nutshell, hiring a public speaking coach serves as the best bet for everyone who’s looking forward to ace this skill. If you are still unsure, check out this article to weigh the pros and cons and make an informed choice!
D) How Much Do Public Speaking Coaches Charge?
Undoubtedly, hiring a public speaking coach is expensive.
On average, a public speaking coach will charge you anywhere between 200$ to 600$ per hour. Of course, the cost may vary depending upon your learning requirements, coach’s level of experience, and market forces of demand and supply.
But if you were to ask me, these one-on-one sessions are definitely worth your time and money! It’s most definitely the best way to learn public speaking.
E) What Does A Public Speaking Coach Do For You?
Realistic expectations undoubtedly make the training sessions better. Besides, it’s always good to know what you should expect from a session before you actually invest your precious time and money in it.
So, here’s an insight into a training session with a public speaking coach-
1. Personalized Learning
Each one of us is different! So, keeping this in view, your public speaking coach would begin with an interactive session to assess your personality. There’s nothing to be afraid of, the aim of this session is to get to know you better.
Based on this interactive session, your coach will assess your strengths, weaknesses and requirements. After this, a personalized curriculum will be designed for you to cater to those specific requirements. Amazing, isn’t it?
For an introvert, a public speaking class may not be the best way to break the ice as the overcrowded room may seem threatening. So, in such a case, a public speaking coach will help you break the ice in a phased manner.
I still remember the time when I hired a personalized course. During my very first interaction, I fumbled the words, ‘I’m sorry, I’m really nervous.’ Hearing this, my coach assured me that there was no reason to be so anxious. As the interaction session continued, he listened to me as I talked about my public speaking experiences and all those moments when stage fear didn’t let the best come out of me. Just by venting all this out, I felt at ease, became more comfortable and I was finally ready to beat this fear of public speaking.
2. Undivided Attention
What happens when you are asked a question in a classroom environment? Whether you know the answer or not, you remember the moment vividly. However, let’s face it- these moments are rare in a classroom environment. A mentor cannot possibly focus on each and every student.
But when it comes to a personalized session with your public speaking coach, you have that undivided attention. It’s just you and the coach!
This undivided attention pushes us to pay more attention and put in more efforts as you are constantly under a watch. Even if you make a mistake, the instant feedback by your mentor will correct you then and there.
3. Exercises to Help You Become A Persuasive Speaker
The training sessions won’t be boring, mark our words! The coach will curate fun games and exercises for you to perfect your pitch, posture, voice modulation, eye contact, and much more.
Since each one of us has a different lifestyle, these exercises will be designed keeping in view your routine and personality. Here, you can expect to see a few positive communication improvements in your lifestyle, just because of these exercises. For instance, you can learn to master small talks too!
4. Building Emotional Connect with the Audience
You can go through all the literature review available in this world to brush up on your content but only a mentor can guide you towards bringing out the emotional aspect of your speech.
Appeal to the sentiments of the audience if you wish to persuade them, so they say and we couldn’t agree more. Having had a fair share of experience in public speaking, your public speaking coach will share his learnings and experiences to help you understand what works and what does not.
Besides, it’s always good to have a neutral standpoint to analyze your content draft.
During my coaching sessions, I made it a point to get my coach’s feedback on every other speech I wrote. As we discussed the content of my speech out loud, it helped me to look into my speech from an audiences’ perspective. As a result of this, my speech writing skills improved tremendously with every feedback session.
5. Enhanced Practice Sessions
It’s always advisable to practice as much as you can. But are you have effective practice sessions?
Now, the basic aim here is to identify the flaws and improve the speech delivery so that you sound more confident.
While most of us follow the age-old hack of practicing our speeches in front of a mirror, others find it better to record themselves. However, what’s the point if we can’t identify our own flaws?
An experienced coach would draw from his stage experiences and help you work on your speech from a professional standpoint.
To know more about effective practice sessions, check out this article.
The practice sessions with my coach were enlightening. He would sit and listen to my speech. Once I was done delivering my speech, he would first highlight the good part of my speech and then, he went on highlighting the areas of improvement. Just by moving from the good part to the worst ones, he sustained my confidence level instead of shattering all my motivation by pinpointing just the flaws.
6. Value in Experience
Anyone can teach you the basics of writing a speech draft but the real value lies in how confidently you carry yourself while delivering a speech on stage.
We all have had our fair share of embarrassing experiences when it comes to public speaking but there’s always something to learn from those experiences and a mentor will guide you towards drawing essential takeaways from both your not-so-good and good stage performances.
In addition to this, we’ll advise you to listen to the experiences your mentor has to share with you. Start learning from the experiences, it’ll help you in long term!
7. The Theatrics
Do you recall the famous ‘Fun with Flags Series’ hosted by Sheldon Cooper? I’m sure you do! One time, when Penny comes as a guest on Sheldon’s show, she advises him to have open body language. She goes like, ‘You know when you are all hunched like that, you are shutting your audience out but when you are relaxed and open, you are inviting them in..’
Thus, public speaking is not just about writing the best content but also about how effectively you can deliver that particular content.
When you bear this in mind, one needs to focus upon the body language, pacing techniques, pitch, voice modulation, facial expressions and so much more. Your mentor will train you on this according to your personality. Essentially, you will learn how to play to your strengths!
Until such time that you hire a public speaking coach, refer to our A-Z Guide on body language and voice modulation to refine your speech delivery skills!
8. Flexible Learning Structure
Learn at your pace, ask doubts, and address your concerns! Public speaking coaches are quite flexible in the teaching structure they follow.
Feel free to interact and mold the sessions according to your learning pace because at the end of the day, all that matters is your progress.
Ask doubts no matter how silly it sounds in your head. Don’t let any barrier in communication hinder your learning experience. Make note of this!
Tips on Learning: How to get the most out of a public speaking coach?
After knowing what does a public speaking coach does, your immediate reflex would be, ‘Hold on, How do I make the most of these training sessions? Any tips?’ To save your time on google search, here are a few tips for you to get the most out of your sessions-
| 1. | Take out a pen and paper, and start making notes! Don’t shy away! |
| 2. | Open up! Speak out your concerns, experiences, and fears only then the coach can help you out in the truest sense |
| 3. | Set short-term and long-term goals to track your progress and discuss the same with your coach |
| 4. | Learn to say yes and grab most of the public speaking opportunities your coach and peers have to offer you |
| 5. | Practice your speech delivery in front of your coach to seek his constructive feedback and points on improvement |
| 6. | Read, read and read! Only then, you will be able to improve your vocabulary, ace grammar, and effective communication skills |
| 7. | Take inspiration from the famous TEDTalks and great speeches by drawing public speaking lessons from the same |
| 8. | After every stage performance, share your experience with your coach to derive essential learnings |
Best Public Speaking Coaches Out There!
1. The Genard Method
The Genard Method offers a range of public speaking coaching programs for you to master this art. It doesn’t matter where you live, distance won’t be a barrier as these sessions will take place virtually over zoom.
To know more details about their coaching sessions, click here.
2. The Mindful Presenter
Hone your public speaking skills from the comfort of your homes with The Mindful Presenter.
These one-to-one coaching sessions will take place through video-conferencing. To know more, click here.
3. Frantically Speaking
With Frantically Speaking, you can learn the nuances of public speaking with their personalized tailor-made packages.
You can book a free 20 minutes consultation with their expert coach and tell them what you are looking for during this free consultation session.
To know more about it, click here.
How to Become A Public Speaking Coach?
Imagine that you have familiarised yourself with all the learnings your coach had to offer you and with time, you have had a fair share of public speaking experiences.
Now, with this keen interest in the field of public speaking, you wish to establish yourself as a public speaking coach. But the question arises, ‘How do I go about establishing myself as a public speaking coach?’ Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
The process of becoming a public speaking coach involves three simple steps: the preparation stage, the marketing stage, and the review stage. Let us look at each of these steps in detail.
1. The Preparation Stage
Planning is an element that marks the success of your work. The more effectively you plan, the better the results would be.
You’ll find many people skipping this stage and jumping straight to the marketing stage in the hope of witnessing instant results. As a result, the outcome doesn’t turn out to be in their favor. Here’s a step-by-step preparation guide, just for you-
Public Speaking Coach Certifications
Do you remember seeing a certification every time you visit your doctor’s clinic? I’m sure you do! So, what exactly does it do for you? For one, it reaffirms the credibility of that doctor and makes sure that you trust his expertise.
Likewise, public speaking coach certifications are not a necessity but a guarantee of your expertise because let’s face it- just the word of mouth is not enough, we look for degrees and certifications to be extra sure while investing in a service.
Go over the internet and do extensive research based on your budget, time, and learning requirements. Then, pick the course that fits your personality the best!
To name a few certification programs-
- Certified World Class Public Speaking Coach
- Udemy’s Public Speaking Training and Facilitator Certification
- Own The Room
Moment of Introspection
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax while you take a moment to introspect your strengths. Have a look at your skillset and ask yourself, ‘what is my forte?’
This area of expertise may vary from person to person. For some, it may be speech writing and for others, it could be speech delivery. ‘Jack of all trades and master of one’ should be your go-to-motto in this case. With essential skills and one key expertise, you’ll be the perfect fit as a public speaking coach.
It’s essential because each personality looks for improvement in specific areas where they lack. Marking your area of expertise will help you climb up your client’s choice of preferences.
Demo Teaching Sessions
Teaching is a performance art in itself. Just because you ace at public speaking doesn’t mean that you would ace at teaching.
So, before you actually go on and teach one of your clients, try conducting a demo teaching session with one of your friends, family members or acquaintances.
Get to know if they are able to understand your concepts nicely and take points of feedback. Accordingly, improve your teaching style and you are good to go!
2. The Marketing Stage
Once you are through with the preparation stage, start crafting a business plan!
For starters, start and list your business in the online local directory. How do you do that? Simply go to ‘Google My Business’, provide google with the essential details and you are done. Now, every time someone will look for a public speaking coach, google search will make sure that you get listed there.
The second step would involve building your online presence. Create a website and provide the essential details about your coaching program, your credentials, and contact information. In addition to this, one can always increase their overall reach through social media presence on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, and Twitter.
Apart from this, keep the word of mouth going because most of the time, our happy clients get us more clients by sharing their respective experiences.
3. The Review Stage
If you have reached this stage, congrats! You’re almost there!
Business creation is just not good enough, one needs to sustain that business in order to disseminate the learnings and reap benefits out of the same. This sustenance would come from maintaining records of good reviews and recommendation letters from your happy clients.
Make your clients write a review sharing their experiences. Deck these reviews in a systematic manner and present it to your prospective clients along with your work resume.
3 Tips to Give at your First Session as A Public Speaking Coach
Gearing up for your first session as a public speaking coach? Provide your mentees an insight into these three tips to win their hearts-
1. It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
Know that it’s okay to make mistakes during this journey of public speaking. With each and every public speaking experience, your learning curve will improve provided that you choose to learn from those mistakes and refrain from repeating those mistakes.
2. Audience Members are just as Human as You
The thing that freaks out the speakers the most is those judgmental faces. The reality is that we often forget that the audience members are humans too and it’s human to err. So, for all you know, it’s just happy accepting faces sitting in the audience and not scary as you might think them to be.
Throw the thought of ‘What if I mess up and people start to make fun of me?’ away and you are good to go!
3. Reflect your True Personality
Sometimes, we get so involved in drawing inspiration from the great orators that we forget to embrace our true selves. Instead, we begin following their exact techniques as rules. In all fairness, it’s just guidelines.
When you walk up to that stage, be yourself by reflecting your true personality. It will make you all the more human and people will connect to you in a better way.
Final Thoughts
Personalized learning is not what is done to the learner or about tailoring the learning. It is about helping each learner to identify and develop the skills they need to support and enhance their own learning so that agency and self-advocacy can be realized.
Kathleen McClaskey
Need we say more? This quote aptly summarizes the essence of public speaking coaching. We hope that this article enlightened you about public speaking coaching and what all benefits it has to offer you!
In a nutshell, a public speaking coach is going to be an anchor to drive you out of the storm of anxiety and put you at ease by transforming you into a confident person.
