How Do I Find a Public Speaking Coach?
Find a public speaking coach who addresses speaking anxiety, not just speaking skills. Learn what questions to ask, where to look, and how to identify coaches who teach empathetic presence and help you be more of yourself under pressure—not less.
You've decided you need help with public speaking. Maybe you have a high-stakes presentation coming up. Maybe you're tired of avoiding speaking opportunities. Maybe you're ready to stop letting fear hold you back from visibility.
So you're asking: How do I find a public speaking coach who will actually help?
Here's what you need to know.
Not All Public Speaking Coaches Address the Same Thing
When you search for a public speaking coach, you'll find people teaching very different things:
Some focus on presentation skills—slides, storytelling, stage presence. Others teach vocal technique—projection, pacing, articulation. Some specialize in conference speaking or TEDx talks. Others work on leadership communication or board presentations.
Before you look for a coach, get clear on what you actually need help with.
Are you comfortable with the content but anxious about delivery? Do you lose your voice around authority figures specifically? Do you need help structuring your ideas or managing the physical symptoms of anxiety?
Your specific challenge determines which public speaking coach will be right for you.
What to Look for in a Public Speaking Coach
Here's what matters when you're choosing a public speaking coach:
1. Do They Address Speaking Anxiety or Just Speaking Skills?
Many public speaking coaches focus solely on technique—how to structure a talk, how to use your voice, how to engage an audience.
That's useful if your challenge is purely technical. But if anxiety is part of your struggle—if your mind goes blank, your voice shakes, your breath gets short—you need a coach who addresses the nervous system piece.
You're confident when you're comfortable. The challenge isn't that you don't know how to speak. It's that status anxiety makes you lose access to what you know.
Look for coaches who explicitly mention:
Anxiety, nerves, or the physical experience of public speaking
Nervous system regulation tools
Grounding practices
Breathwork for staying present when anxiety spikes
They should have concrete tools—not just "take a deep breath" but actual practices for getting out of your head (where anxiety lives) and into your body (where confidence lives).
2. Do They Understand That Public Speaking Challenges Are Often Situational?
You might be fine presenting to your team but panic in front of executives. Or comfortable with prepared remarks but freeze when answering questions.
Good public speaking coaches understand that the struggle is situational. They help you identify when your confidence disappears and develop specific tools for those contexts.
If a coach treats all speaking anxiety the same way, they're missing the nuance of status anxiety—how you defer to authority even though you have the expertise.
3. Do They Teach Empathetic Presence or Executive Presence?
This distinction matters.
Executive presence coaching teaches you to adopt a certain style. To gesture a certain way. To modulate your voice for impact. To command the stage with dominant energy.
Empathetic presence coaching teaches you to work with your natural style. To be more of yourself on stage, not less. To use your empathy as intelligence instead of treating it like a liability.
Traditional public speaking coaching often teaches you to perform confidence. But when you try to speak like someone else, you lose access to your authentic presence. And authentic presence is what makes speaking compelling.
Look for coaches who:
Talk about working with your natural style, not changing it
Emphasize presence over performance
Help you leverage your empathy as a focusing tool
Understand that you don't need to be commanding to be influential
4. Do They Provide Opportunities to Practice?
You can't learn public speaking without actually speaking. If a coach only offers consulting or feedback on prepared remarks, you're missing the crucial practice component.
Look for coaches who create supported spaces to practice—whether that's in individual sessions where you rehearse with them, group practice sessions, or opportunities to speak in lower-stakes settings.
Practice builds the muscle. Each time you speak—even imperfectly—you're creating evidence that you can handle it. That evidence matters more than any amount of theory.
Where to Find a Public Speaking Coach
1. Referrals
Ask colleagues, especially those who've improved their speaking noticeably. Who did they work with? What made that coach effective?
Personal referrals are valuable because you get specific information about someone's experience and results.
2. Online searches
Search for "public speaking coach [your city]" or "public speaking coach online." Look at their websites. Read their bios. Watch any videos they've posted to get a sense of their approach and style.
Pay attention to their language. Do they talk about executive presence or empathetic presence? Performance or presence? Commanding the stage or being yourself?
3. LinkedIn
Many public speaking coaches are active on LinkedIn. You can see their background, read their posts, and get a sense of their philosophy before reaching out.
4. Professional organizations
Organizations like the National Speakers Association have directories of coaches. Though being listed doesn't guarantee quality—you still need to vet them individually.
5. Social media
Look for coaches who share valuable content about public speaking. Their posts and videos give you insight into their approach. Do they focus on performance or presence? Do they acknowledge anxiety?
Questions to Ask a Potential Public Speaking Coach
During your initial consultation, ask:
"What's your approach to public speaking coaching?"
Listen for whether they focus on technique alone or also address the psychological and physiological aspects. Listen for whether they acknowledge that challenges are often situational.
"How do you work with speaking anxiety?"
If they don't have concrete tools for managing the physical experience of anxiety, they can't help with that piece. Look for mention of:
Grounding practices
Breathwork techniques
Nervous system regulation
Physical anchoring
"Do you teach empathetic presence or executive presence?"
This gets to the heart of their philosophy. Listen for whether they want you to adopt a dominant style or develop your natural authority.
"What kinds of speakers do you typically work with?"
Make sure they have experience with speakers at your level, in your context. Someone who coaches professional speakers has different expertise than someone who coaches executives presenting to their boards.
"What would our work together look like?"
Understand the structure. How many sessions? What happens in each? Do you practice in sessions? What preparation do you do between sessions?
"Can you help me with [your specific challenge]?"
Be explicit about what you're struggling with. If you freeze when answering questions, say that. If your voice shakes, say that. See if they have specific strategies for your actual challenge.
"What results can I expect?"
They shouldn't promise to eliminate your anxiety completely or make you a perfect speaker in a set timeframe. But they should articulate realistic outcomes.
For example: "94.3% of my clients report improved speaking confidence" is more specific than vague promises.
Red Flags When Looking for a Public Speaking Coach
Watch out for:
Coaches who promise to eliminate your fear completely. Fear is information. The goal is to work with it, not eliminate it.
Heavy emphasis on "stage presence" or performing. This usually means they'll teach you to act like a speaker instead of speaking as yourself.
One-size-fits-all programs. If they're not asking about your specific challenges before proposing a solution, their approach probably isn't personalized.
Focus only on technique without addressing anxiety. If they don't mention nervous system work, they can't help with the physical symptoms.
Overly corporate or jargon-heavy language. Good coaches can explain their approach clearly and directly.
Group Programs vs. Private Coaching
Private coaching makes sense if:
You have a specific high-stakes speaking opportunity coming up
Your challenges are unique to your situation
You want intensive, personalized work
You learn better one-on-one
Group programs work well if:
You want to learn from others' challenges and questions
You benefit from seeing different speaking styles
You want community and ongoing support
Budget is a consideration
Some coaches offer hybrid models—combining group practice sessions with individual coaching. This can be especially effective for public speaking because you get both personalized attention and opportunities to practice with an audience.
Online vs. In-Person Public Speaking Coaching
Both can be effective. Here's what to consider:
Online coaching:
More accessible and convenient
Often more affordable
Easier to record and review sessions
Good for virtual presentations and video communication
In-person coaching:
Valuable if you need to work on physical presence and stage movement
Better for in-person conference presentations
Some people feel more comfortable practicing in person
The quality of the coach matters more than the format. Many excellent public speaking coaches work exclusively online now.
How Much Should You Invest?
Public speaking coaching varies widely in price. You should consider:
What's the cost of not addressing this? Missed opportunities? Stalled career progression?
What's at stake in your upcoming speaking situations?
What would it be worth to speak with confidence?
The right investment depends on your situation. A high-stakes conference presentation might warrant intensive private coaching. General public speaking anxiety might be well-served by a group program.
The First Session Tells You a Lot
Most public speaking coaches offer an initial consultation. This session is crucial.
Pay attention to:
Do they listen well and ask good questions?
Do you feel safe being honest about your challenges?
Does their communication style resonate with you?
Do they have concrete strategies for your specific struggles?
Do you leave the call feeling more capable or more overwhelmed?
Do they talk about empathetic presence or executive presence?
Trust your instincts. If something feels off, even if you can't articulate why, that's important information.
What Good Public Speaking Coaching Looks Like
Effective public speaking coaches help you:
Understand what triggers your specific challenges
Develop tools for nervous system regulation
Practice in supported, lower-stakes environments
Build on your natural strengths instead of adopting a foreign style
Prepare efficiently without over-preparing (scaffolding vs. scripting)
Trust yourself to handle unexpected moments
They don't promise to transform you into a perfect speaker. They give you tools to speak as yourself, even when it's hard.
How to Know If the Coaching Is Working
After a few sessions, you should notice:
Less dread before speaking opportunities
Ability to recover when you stumble instead of completely derailing
Clearer thinking in the moment
Reduced preparation time
Greater trust in your ability to handle questions or unexpected situations
If you're not seeing any progress after several sessions, something isn't working. Good coaches will address this directly with you.
You Don't Need to Be a Natural
Here's what I see in people looking for a public speaking coach: You think you need to become a "natural" speaker. Someone who's comfortable on stage, commands attention effortlessly, never gets nervous.
But that's not how this works.
Public speaking is a skill. You build it through practice with the right tools. And those tools aren't about performing confidence you don't feel—they're about staying present with discomfort.
You're confident when you're comfortable. The challenge is learning to access that confidence even in uncomfortable situations. That's what the right public speaking coach gives you.
The right coach understands that. They help you develop your own authentic speaking style. They give you tools to manage anxiety when it shows up. They create opportunities to practice imperfectly in safe spaces.
That's how you get better at public speaking. Not by becoming someone else, but by learning to speak as yourself even in situations that trigger anxiety.
What to Do Next
Get clear on your specific challenge. When does your public speaking anxiety or struggle show up? What contexts make it worse? What would success look like?
Research 2-3 public speaking coaches who seem to address your specific needs and teach empathetic presence. Look at their websites, read their content, watch their videos.
Book consultations with the ones who resonate. Ask the questions outlined above. Pay attention to how you feel talking with them.
Then choose the coach who feels right—not necessarily the one with the most impressive credentials, but the one whose approach makes sense for your specific situation and who you trust to guide you through this work.
You're not looking for a public speaking coach because something is wrong with you. You're looking because you have expertise worth sharing, and you want to be able to share it clearly and confidently.
That's worth finding the right support for.
This work isn't about perfecting your speaking. It's about liberating your voice.
Practice, not perfection. Presence, not performance.
Ready to Stop Performing and Start Speaking?
If you're tired of over-preparing, second-guessing yourself, and losing your voice when it matters most—there's a better way.
I've spent over a decade helping empathetic leaders develop what I call Empathetic Presence: the ability to access your natural confidence even when status anxiety shows up.
It's built on three pillars:
EMBODY Your Confidence → Get out of your head and into your body
LEVERAGE Your Empathy → Use empathy as a focusing tool, not a distraction
OWN Your Expertise → Articulate your unique perspective clearly
This isn't about perfecting your voice. It's about liberating it.
Because the work isn't about becoming someone else. It's about being more fully yourself.
Practice, not perfection. Presence, not performance.
