CONFIDENCE. OPENHEARTEDNESS. PRESENCE.

I'm a Los Angeles-based voice and public speaking coach who works with professionals, performers, and people interested in personal development.

Services

Public Speaking Coaching

How I approach public speaking coaching.
Info on private coaching.
Info on public workshops and training for organizations.

Voice Coaching

How I approach voice coaching.
Info on private coaching.
Info on workshops.

Presence Coaching

How I approach presence coaching.
Info on private coaching.

A Video from Saul

My clients often come to me to communicate more effectively and to feel better while they’re doing it. So I made a video about a potentially surprising aspect of feeling better. (Don’t know if it’ll be relevant to you, but hopefully it will give you a sense of who I am.)
Uploaded October 2024

I’ll post a visual overview of my services soon. Until then, you can check out Services (in the nav bar, above) to see what I offer. You’ll get a sense of my perspective by reading my short articles about communication challenges and opportunities.

Clients

My clients include professionals—executives, founders, visual artists, writers, therapists, academics, politicians, clergy, athletes, lawyers, and a wide range of others—as well as performers and people looking for personal development. They typically share a passion for transformative learning as well as a desire to realize positive change in the world. I work with clients in Los Angeles and all over the world.

See Testimonials for a sample of my clients.

Bio

I graduated from Columbia University with an MA in Buddhist Studies. For several years I worked as a conflict resolution and organizational development consultant. During that time, I also did some acting. Because anxiety about speaking was holding me back in both areas, I took a class in Fitzmaurice Voicework®, and to my surprise I realized I was home. Its emphasis on being present, relaxed, and vibrant, and bringing that to communication, became the perfect bridge for my coaching practice which over time became more and more focused on voice and public speaking.

See my full bio for details.

Private Coaching in Voice, Public Speaking, Presence, & Breathing

Info on private coaching.

Workshops in Public Speaking and Voice

Next Public Speaking Workshop in Los Angeles

TBA, Spring 2025
Get info or apply for the next public speaking workshop.

Next Voice Workshop in Los Angeles

TBA, Spring 2025
Get info or apply for the next voice workshop.

Bespoke Public Speaking Workshops

For public speaking workshops customized to your needs, please contact me directly at info@voicecoachLA.com

Tips for Public Speaking, Voice, and Breathing

Rather than talking at people, you have the opportunity to talk with them. That difference really matters.

For more public speaking, voice, and breathing tips, see Tips.

Myths about Public Speaking

If I can just get rid of my anxiety, I'll be fine.
You might feel fine, but it's likely you'll also be flat. When you try to dull anxiety, this either makes it worse or it tends to dull all feelings. A presentation without feeling might as well just be a report on paper. The key is learning how to welcome and make use of the energy that you experience as anxiety. Here's an article which references good research on relating with performance anxiety.

Here's a good TED Talk that addresses the significance of how we view and deal with stress.

The realities of what leads to effective public speaking are more nuanced than in the study or TED Talk, but the principles are worth understanding. Here’s an article I wrote about one key aspect of intense public speaking or performance anxiety.

For more myths about public speaking, see Myths.

What I Do — with links to relevant sections of this website (updated November 2024)

VOICE COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
I’m a private voice coach for Los Angeles-based professionals, performers, and others seeking to develop or find their voice.

In addition to helping people become vibrantly expressive, and helping people find their voice, I work with clients whose voices tend to get hoarse or feel weak, and with people who lose their voice, or don't feel their voice is adequately conveying their experience. I help people whose voice is habitually tight, high, or soft. I also train people to become more resonant and gain a fuller, more vibrant voice. Literally and metaphorically.

I also work with people who experience anxiety around their voice. With people who may experience stage fright when they speak. With people who freeze. With people who mumble.

In addition, I have experience working with stuttering and conditions such as muscle tension dysphonia. Some of this work with stuttering and muscle tension dysphonia is done in conjunction with voice therapists or medical professionals.

Some of my clients are already receiving voice therapy when they begin working with me, or have undergone voice therapy and are looking to continue their development.

While I am a vocal coach for singers and singing teachers, I don’t teach singing. That said, I do teach singers how to find greater freedom and expressivity with less effort. I emphasize linking freedom and control in breathing to being vocally expressive in a healthy way—as well as embodied presence, connecting to the song, connecting with the audience, and working well with anxiety while singing.

For more information, see My Approach to Voice.

PUBLIC SPEAKING COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
I offer private lessons and group workshops in Public Speaking.

Private coaching in public speaking provides an opportunity to focus on what is important specifically for you. How to prepare your content and delivery, how to engage an audience (including developing presence), and how to approach your challenges in ways that work specifically for you.

Many people feel some variation of anxiety, nerves, stage fright, or fear when public speaking. Finding genuinely helpful ways to address this can be challenging, but it's deeply worthwhile. Private coaching can provide a good foundation in a safe context, and group coaching can be the added springboard that helps clients face their challenges in real time.

While some of my clients are already quite accomplished, most want to discover how they can become better speakers. This can be true for CEOs, presidents, board members… as well as for people interviewing for their first job.

For more information, see My Approach to Public Speaking.

PRESENCE COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
Presence manifests externally as a vibrancy with groundedness. All of us have a strong presence, innately, but in many of us it’s covered up. Sometimes the covering is constant and is primarily physical—or vocal, psychological, emotional, relational, or breath-related—and sometimes the covering of presence emerges only in certain contexts. Most of the time, it’s a combination, and the exploration to uncover inner and outer presence traverses through what is most necessary and available for exploration.

The work I do in this area is influenced by many different disciplines, including mind/body integration techniques, acting and performance techniques, Fitzmaurice Voicework, Somatic Experiencing and Castellino Blueprint work.

For more information, see My Approach to Presence.

BREATHING COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
Breathing is fundamentally linked to our experience, behavior, and effectiveness, and it's often unconscious. For many of us, the physiological processes of breathing have become encumbered to such an extent that our breathing inhibits our actions and reflects limitations rather than freedom. The good news is that it’s possible to relearn how to breathe in truly helpful ways.

Rather than teaching "correct" breathing, I can help you undo unhelpful breathing habits that you may have accumulated over the years. That process of undoing, supported by compassionate awareness, is itself a lesson in breathing. Then we can give attention to what your body wants to do when it feels more free. As a breathing coach, I find special satisfaction in helping people in person—I work in Los Angeles and generally, in-person coaching is more helpful—discover what is possible with their breathing. The work I do in this area is rooted in Fitzmaurice Voicework and is also influenced by Somatic Experiencing and Castellino Blueprint work.

For more information, see My Approach to Breathing.

ONLINE PUBLIC SPEAKING & VOICE COACHING
Before the pandemic, I did most of my work in my Los Angeles studio and at clients’ locations, but because of COVID-19 my coaching shifted for some time to remote coaching. Now I have a hybrid practice, and you can work in person or via Zoom or phone.

I offer online public speaking coaching for both individuals and groups. Since so many people attend and present at a lot of remote meetings, remote learning can be a deeply relevant and helpful format. Remote sessions also offer the opportunity to learn with the convenience and comfort of your own home or office. While I typically do remote coaching via Zoom and phone, I do also use other platforms such as Teams, Skype, and Hangouts.

I also offer online voice coaching for individuals.

Now, no matter where you are in the world, it’s possible to receiive voice and public speaking training.

For more details about remote coaching, see Private Coaching.

FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
Fitzmaurice Voicework includes specific adaptations of yoga, shiatsu, Reichian bodywork (from Wilhelm Reich) combined with classical theatre voice training techniques. Fitzmaurice Voicework was developed by Catherine Fitzmaurice over several decades of teaching, coaching, research, and personal exploration. Catherine adapted various disciplines -- such as hatha yoga and shiatsu -- to make them relevant to the voice. In many ways the specific genius of her work is the synthesis that she developed -- that she then asks the Fitzmaurice Voicework voice teachers she certifies to discover anew for themselves.

Catherine Fitzmaurice’s work was originally created to train theater professionals—Fitzmaurice Voicework is taught as a core class in many professional theater training programs along with acting technique, movement, etc.—but has since found wide-ranging application beyond theater.

Speech pathologists, for instance, have increasingly become interested in Fitzmaurice Voicework as an aid in treating people who chronically suffer from a lost or hoarse voice, as well as those who lose their voice often, have a weak voice or quiet voice, or have restricted breathing patterns which limit their expressivity, or other voice problems such as nodules or muscle tension dysphonia.

For more information, see My Influences and the Fitzmaurice Voicework website.

VOICE TEACHER CERTIFICATION:
I was a lead trainer for the Fitzmaurice Voicework Teacher Certification Program and am Director Emeritus of the Fitzmaurice Institute. If you’re interested in in-depth, holistic voice training and specifically want to be certified as a voice teacher, this program might be for you.

Here is some basic information on the Fitzmaurice Voicework voice teacher certification. For more information on voice teacher training, including application information, visit the Fitzmaurice Voicework site.

PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOPS IN LOS ANGELES
The public speaking workshops I offer are attended by a range of professionals: CEOs, mid level managers, other professionals, students, lawyers, artists, writers, therapists, influencers, clergy, etc. In these workshops, we explore how to develop more compelling content, as well as how to deliver that content in more compelling ways. Beyond the important technical learning, a lot of this boils down to presence. Whether you call it presence, executive presence, embodied presence, charisma—or being present—it is learnable! The public speaking training I offer in Los Angeles is a great way to develop your skills and your presence.

Most of my public speaking workshops are located in Los Angeles, but I also travel when needed.

See Public Speaking Workshops for more information.

VOICE WORKSHOPS IN LOS ANGELES
The voice workshops I offer are intended primarily for performers or teachers of performers (including voice teachers); however, some voice workshops are also open to everyone who wants voice training. Once or twice a year, I offer a two-day introductory voice workshop in Los Angeles for performers and teachers of performers. From time to time, I also teach five-day workshops that explore the whole arc of Fitzmaurice Voicework. In addition, I teach workshops of varying length that cover specific subjects.

The core of the voice workshops involves exploring breathing techniques in service of developing a free and easily managed breathing system — in order to support your speaking in a free, embodied, and connected way.

If you're an actor and you feel like your acting technique is solid but you know you can be more available but you don't know how, the introductory workshop is an ideal place to start. If you’re not a performer, please inquire about which workshops are right for you.

Most of the voice workshops are in Los Angeles, but I also teach internationally. If you’re wanting voice training in Los Angeles, or you’re looking to sponsor a workshop in your area, we could be a great fit.

See Voice Workshops for more information.

VOICE CLASSES IN LOS ANGELES
My voice classes are for performers and teachers of performers. They are ongoing and offered at a variety of times each week. My voice classes are used primarily by LA-based actors who employ a wide variety of acting techniques and have a wide variety of experience.

For some actors, attending voice class means having a place to develop and practice effective, healthy vocal technique; for some it's related to becoming more vocally expressive or developing certain aspects of the voice; for some it's overcoming phobias and facing their fear of revealing themselves in front of others in specific contexts; for some it's opening up the body and finding a deeper connection to oneself; for some it's about repatterning a habit of getting hoarse after being very expressive; for some it's having a place to play each week.

Often actors in Los Angeles don't consider voice to be a relevant part of their training. In most professional actor training programs in other parts of the world, however, voice class is considered an essential companion to acting technique. For examples of how voice training can specifically benefit actors in Los Angeles, see my article, To Breathe or Not to Breathe.

My Los Angeles based voice classes are appropriate for theater actors as well as television and film actors. Any actor who is serious about voice training can apply.

See Voice Classes for more information.

PRIVATE VOICE LESSONS
For some clients, private voice coaching is preferable to group coaching. For most people, this will either be because of a desire for a greater sense of safety or related to wanting the coaching to be more individualized. Whatever your reason, if you’re looking for private voice lessons—and you’re not looking for a traditional singing teacher training—we may be a great fit.

See Private Coaching for more information.

PRIVATE LESSONS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING
Private coaching in public speaking may seem like an oxymoron, but it's not. The value of private lessons for most students is really three-fold:

First, having a private coach allows you to focus very specifically on your own learning objectives and to do so in a way that fits your own style of learning. The work we do is catered explicitly to you.

Second, having a private teacher for public speaking allows many students the opportunity to face fears and concerns that they want some privacy about. This privacy can allow for a deeper, more constructive learning process to emerge.

Third, for some people, public speaking is at first too frightening to explore in a group setting. So having the opportunity to train in the fundamentals through relatively risk-free private coaching can be a crucial opportunity.

If you're looking for private coaching in public speaking in Los Angeles, I welcome your contacting me.

See Private Coaching for more information.

TED TALK COACHING IN LOS ANGELES
Doing a TED Talk? I have supported many clients with their TED Talks and TEDx Talks. If you want to help people—and get your voice heard—by doing a TED Talk, and you want support with content or delivery preparation, or with presence or nerves, I’m happy to support you. If you’re wanting in-person coaching, and want to work on your TED Talk or TEDx Talk in Los Angeles, please contact me.

For more information, see Private Coaching or Public Speaking Workshops.

TED TALK COACHING ONLINE
If you’re wanting coaching on a TED Talk or TEDx Talk, and you don’t live near a great coach to do in-person training, online coaching can be an excellent alternative. Most of the dynamics related to giving a TED Talk can be worked with on online. If you elect to do remote coaching, you may be surprised by how successful that coaching can be.

For more info, see Private Coaching.

ADDITIONAL INFO

LOCATION
My studio is in Los Angeles, and I also travel widely to teach and offer remote sessions online. I have clients from all over California, the United States, and the world.

I do most of my in-person voice coaching and public speaking coaching in these and other nearby Southern California cities: Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Century City, Culver City, Westwood, Studio City, Burbank, Venice, downtown L.A., Bel Air, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and many other areas.

REFERENCES
Actor and director David Schwimmer says of his experience with me a voice teacher: “Saul’s approach is invaluable for any actor working on camera and essential for working in the theatre.”

Singer and actor David Rasche says of his vocal training with me, “When I worked with Saul, things moved very quickly. I have been able to do things vocally that I would never have imagined possible.”

Catherine Fitzmaurice, the founder of Fitzmaurice Voicework, says, “Saul is the lead trainer in my teacher-training program because he teaches with a rare combination of clarity and compassion.”

See Testimonials for additional information about clients.

TOUCH
While it isn't a requirement, touch can play an important role in the work I do. Through touch, students can learn to become aware of what was previously unconscious and invite the breathing into those areas in subtle ways. Any touch is always done with consent, and sometimes consent itself is the most important aspect of touch to explore.

Ask about my Info Sheet for more on this and other details related to private coaching.

EMOTIONS
It's never the goal of my work to make someone emotional. Instead, the easy attention and awareness that is developed in this work can lead to people gradually opening their emotional experience, or learning to integrate emotional experience, in safe ways. I use aspects of Somatic Experiencing® and Castellino Foundation Training to make the work more easily digestible.

Ask about my Info Sheet for more on this and other details related to private coaching.