COMMUNICATION SKILLS COACHING

Corporate Presentations.  Interviews.  Difficult Conversations.

Event Speeches – weddings, funerals, family reunions, fundraisers, celebrations, charity events.

For  Business People, Teachers, Lecturers, Students, Interviewers and Interviewees, Entertainers, Singers.

My background as an actress has given me the ability to very quickly identify what physical and vocal habits are holding back someone’s ability to relax in front of an audience and communicate well. I’ll help you identify the habits that are serving you and the ones that aren’t and replace those with more helpful ones. I have a strong writing background and can help declutter scripts right down to the essentials.

For more information on my work as a communication skills coach, please visit OutLoud Speakers School or e-mail at nicky@outloudnow.com

“Nicky’s coaching style is frank, specific and personalized, all of which are essential for an individual to actually make a change. She brings her years of experience in working with people, both on stage and off, to every session which makes for a rich and rewarding experience, and her humour and warmth make it fun and engaging.” 
Martha Hirst

RBC

“Nicky Guadagni’s coaching was instrumental in significantly enhancing my communication skills & executive presence. Nicky stands out in her ability to synthesize her training material with the specific needs of an individual. In my case, she started with helping me identify my strengths & weaknesses and then develop a customized plan for helping me leverage more of my strengths and ameliorate my weak points.”
Amit Sadhu

RBC

VOICE COACHING & ACCENT MODIFICATION

Most people don’t realize that they can change their voice.  They’re not stuck with it.  In fact, they probably have several voices they use every day that they’re unaware of.   They may sound one way when they speak with their boss and an entirely different way when they’re speaking to their team.   I’ve known clients who speak commandingly to their dog but shyly to their colleagues and clients who have drained their voices entirely of colour and interest and know they’re boring their audiences to death but don’t know how to stop.

My approach to voice work is to make my clients aware of all their vocal talents and how to summon them at will.  Breathwork, projection, range, emphasis, pausing – these are all part of the work.

ACCENT MODIFICATION

Do you ever suspect that the way you speak is hindering your advancement?

Do you wish you could speak louder, clearer or with more expression?

Someone’s accent can get in the way of them clearly communicating but often it’s their habitual “way” of speaking (mumbling, running out of air, too quiet, too young, too dull, too ‘street’, too small town) that’s interfering with how effective they are with a particular audience. Come and learn about your voice in person OR send me a 3 minute audio file and a document of your script and I will assess which sounds needs tuning up. I’ll then send you back an audio file with me reading the text with suggestions for you.

For more information on my work with voice and accent modification, please visit OutLoud Speakers School or e-mail at nicky@outloudnow.com

“Nicky Guadagni and I have collaborated for a number of years, and her expertise and skills have become an invaluable part of the courses I offer at the University of Toronto. I teach scientific writing to graduate students, both native speakers and those for whom English is a second language. Each term, Nicky accomplishes the minor miracle of transforming introverts into extroverts, making it possible for the students to deliver the oral presentations required by their programs. No matter what their proficiency in English and despite any inhibitions, she trains them to present their work with authority and passion. She has the unique gift of helping second-language speakers overcome the difficulties involved in pronouncing English. Nicky’s approach is not formulaic, but specially tailored to the needs of each student. I never plan a course without checking her availability.”
Debby Repka

University of Toronto

“Nicky worked very hard to help me improve my Canadian English accent & delivery, something that involved helping me change some habits developed over a long time. Thanks to her constant coaching & feedback, I have become a much more effective leader and can closely connect with my own team as well as other senior Leaders at the Bank. Thanks for all your help, Nicky.”
Amit Sadhu

RBC