& Workshop Leader
You prepared the material.
Now let’s prepare you.
For teams and organizations · Toronto and the GTA
Your people know their material. They have done the work, checked the numbers, built the deck. Then they stand up and something else takes over. That is the part I am hired for.
The Problem
You don’t know what you don’t know
“Oh, they won’t notice.” They notice.
You have sat through it. The talk that took forty minutes to say one thing. The meeting that ended with “let’s pick this up next week.” The good idea that went nowhere, and nobody could tell you why.
Your people were ready. They knew the material cold. Standing up in front of people is a different skill, and almost nobody is ever taught it.
Teach them that, and everything they already know finally falls into place. Same people, same material, but now a room that actually hears it. Huge difference.
If You Need It In Writing
In one study, people were shown real pitch competitions and asked to pick the winners. Those given silent video guessed best — better than those given the audio, or the full transcript. Twelve studies, 1,855 people.
Tsay, “Visuals Dominate Investor Decisions about Entrepreneurial Pitches” — Academy of Management Discoveries 7(3), 2021, pp. 343–366
That was a pitch competition, because pitch competitions keep records. Your rooms are the same: the board meeting, the staff briefing, the conference stage, the class.
The Menu
Six things you can book
Engagements start at $1,800.
Why It Is Worth Booking
Two Yale researchers ran machine learning over full startup pitch videos and measured delivery separately from content. Warm, passionate delivery raised the odds of getting funded.
Hu and Ma, “Persuading Investors: A Video-Based Study” — Journal of Finance 80(5), 2025, pp. 2639–2688
One Talk
The Talk
For a whole room
A room, a few volunteers, and everyone leaves learning something new — including the people who came for the sandwiches.
Any audience size
Four Workshops
The Lab
For the ones who present
Whatever you’re working on, you each stand up. I coach you on the spot. A round of applause, and you find out you’re pretty good.
Up to 12
The Roundtable
For the weekly meeting
Too many meetings? The meeting to end all meetings. Clever presentations, questions clearly answered. Meeting to follow up meeting: cancelled.
Up to 12
The Pitch
For one shot
Five musicians play perfectly together in concert. A pitch team is no different — attuned, of one mind, looking and sounding like a well-oiled machine.
One team of up to 5
The Long Game
For building the habit
Nobody breaks a habit without replacing it. A residency with your team, long enough that presenting becomes the habit. A good one, for a change. Mix the formats across the run — a Talk to open, Labs in the middle, the Pitch for the day it counts.
A run of visits
“Before we worked with Carolyn, we knew how to play but didn’t know how to perform. She changed all of that. We went from good to great.”
Ken Goodwin, Partner · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Hired by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte to get their musicians stage-ready for the Big 4 Battle of the Bands.
One At A Time
One-on-one
Booked by you, for one of your people
Not a workshop — one person, one room. The board presentation, the conference stage, the person just promoted into visibility.
One person at a time
How It Runs
Two ways any of them can run
Intention
A closed room. Your people, your material, nobody else. This is where the work gets done — the thing you are preparing for, delivered, coached, adjusted and run again until it changes.
Immersion
The same work in the conditions it will actually face. Colleagues watching, questions you did not choose, the interruption you are dreading — or someone I bring to do the pushing. You improve in a safe room; you keep it in a real one.
Say which when you book. Both are complete, and plenty of good work never needs an audience.
How I Work
In the room
Nobody sits through slides about presenting.
Your people bring real material — the presentation they are giving next month, the introduction they have never liked, the thing they have been avoiding. They stand up. I coach them in front of the room.
In a talk, volunteers only. In a Lab or a Roundtable, everyone gets their turn, because that is what they came for.
The room learns as much watching as the person being coached does.
It is not about you, it is about the message. You have something important to say. Focus on that.
Why Standing Up Beats Sending The Deck
Recruiters and employers judged the same pitch, word for word. The ones who heard it rated the candidate more competent, more thoughtful and more intelligent than the ones who read it — and were more interested in hiring them.
Schroeder and Epley, “The Sound of Intellect” — Psychological Science 26(6), 2015, pp. 877–891
What Changes
Clients tell me they notice
Clarity
Their message lands with everyone in the room, not just the specialists.
Control
They slow down instead of racing through it, and the voice carries without being forced.
Composure
They can recover mid-sentence instead of unravelling, and hold position when they are questioned.
Impact
Their attention stays on what they’re saying, not on how they’re doing — and the room acts on it.
And It Can Be Taught
In a randomized trial, children given a twelve-unit speech course gave measurably better talks — clearer, better organized, stronger on the nonverbal side. Their nerves did not change. The skill did.
Herbein et al., “Fostering Elementary School Children’s Public Speaking Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial” — Learning and Instruction 55, 2018, pp. 158–168
“The sessions helped me control my delivery, clarify my message, and communicate more effectively under pressure.”
In Their Words
What clients say
“The kids are doing a great job with their production, and I have to thank you for your coaching. They’re working in a big space now, and BIG VOICES are showing up.”
Middlefield Collegiate Institute
“With just one session, not only have my speech skills improved but my perspective has also shifted as I look toward elevating my public speaking career. Carolyn creates a safe, encouraging, and courageous space to develop your voice.”
Coach & Culture Consultant
“I had the pleasure of attending one of Carol[yn]’s workshops through the Solo Mama program, and it was one of the most valuable sessions for me. She taught us how to use our voice with confidence, introduce ourselves effectively, and communicate in a way that feels authentic and impactful.”
Solo Mama program
“Carolyn is a great public speaking teacher. I am learning a lot of great skills I have been able to use in my speaking engagements.”
Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO)
Working with a nonprofit, school or community organization?
I take on a limited number of school, nonprofit and community engagements each year. If the work matters and the budget is real but modest, tell me what you’re working with — I’d rather have the conversation than have you rule it out.
Tell me about the work →About Carolyn
My background is the stage: a working vocalist for thirty-five years, and a TEDx speaker. Live rooms, where the attention is immediate and nothing can be edited afterwards.
That’s not a footnote on this work. It’s where it comes from. Standing in front of people, learning what holds and what falls apart, then doing it again the next night.
I’ve since coached more than 500 people: leadership teams, technical experts, founders, and people preparing for presentations that carry real weight.
The goal is straightforward. When the visibility goes up, your communication should hold.
On stage there is no second take. You learn to keep going, and to recover before anyone sees the slip. That’s what I bring to the boardroom.
“In just 45 minutes, not only did she give me tools for memorization that actually stuck in my brain, but she taught me skills I had never heard of before. Carolyn did that for me. I repeat, IN ONE SESSION.”
Watch
“Carolyn helped me strengthen my delivery, improve pacing, and communicate more effectively in high-visibility settings.”
Good to know
+What kind of organizations do you work with?
The rooms I work in most often:
- ▸Professional associations and business networks
- ▸Schools — public, private and Montessori
- ▸Teacher professional development days
- ▸Nonprofits and settlement services
- ▸Entrepreneurship and newcomer programs
- ▸Small professional firms — engineering, finance, accounting
- ▸Real estate brokerages and their agent training
- ▸Colleges and student groups
If yours is one of those, or something else entirely, tell me what you are walking into and I will scope it.
+How many people can you take?
The Talk has no cap. The Lab and the Roundtable stop at twelve, because above that people stop getting real time on their feet. Larger groups run as separate cohorts.
+Is what happens in the room confidential?
Confidential material is respected, and I am glad to sign an NDA before we begin.
+What do participants need to prepare?
Nothing invented for the day. Whatever is genuinely next on the calendar — the presentation, the pitch, the introduction. If it is confidential, that is fine: everything in the room stays in the room.
+How far ahead should we book?
Fall dates usually settle over the summer, and spring dates through the winter, so a season ahead is the honest answer. That said, if something’s coming up fast, ask anyway — short-notice work is sometimes possible, and often the most useful kind.
+What is included, and what do we need to provide?
I come to you. You set the date and bring the room; a door that closes, and chairs that can be moved for anything where people are on their feet. Every workshop includes a workbook for each participant, peer feedback sheets, an assistant alongside me for larger groups at no extra charge, and a group check-in a few weeks afterwards. Confidential material is respected and I am glad to sign your NDA.
+Do you work virtually?
Yes, and it works well — with one condition. Everyone on their own camera, standing where possible. A boardroom full of people huddled around one laptop is a lovely photograph and gives me nothing to coach.
+Where do you travel?
Based in Toronto, and I work across the GTA — the City of Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, East York and North York, with travel included. Further out is welcome too; longer trips may add a travel fee, and for overnight distances accommodation, which I will build into your quote.
+Do you have a police check?
Yes, a current police check.
+How do we secure a date?
A 50% deposit holds it. The balance is due on the day, or within 14 days of invoice where your procurement process needs that. I will send an agreement covering the scope, the terms and confidentiality before anything is paid.
+How does pricing work?
Engagements start at $1,800. A rate sheet goes out on request once I know the shape of it.
Let’s talk about what you’re preparing for
Every engagement is built around your date, your people and your budget. Based in Toronto and working across the GTA.
Call or text, send a WhatsApp message, or email — I’d rather have a real conversation. If your organization routes things through a form, there’s one below.
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