Anyone can read books about public speaking or watch hours of YouTube with experts sharing their…read moretips and tricks. The reason to sign up for a course like Mark's is to actually practice with a pro. But, it doesn't work unless that person creates a safe environment, and that's where Mark really excels. Our sessions were fun, focused, and productive. His feedback was always helpful, and the way he shared it always helped boost my confidence. Highly recommend!

Working with Mark Stanton has been a total game-changer for me. Mark broke down the art of public…read morespeaking into practical, actionable steps, and his supportive, insightful approach makes every session both productive and inspiring. Mark helped me refine my message, find my voice, and speak with clarity and impact. If you're looking to take your speaking skills to the next level, I couldn't recommend him more highly.

Joie is an incredibly coach. She is awesome. When you first meet with her, she has this brightness…read moreabout her. She immediately eases you. She has a great depth of knowledge and experience in what she does. She has great intuition. Her wisdom and clarity -she can zoom in what the issues are and works on them with you. She has so many tools and resources up her sleeve. My meetings with Joie were important in figuring out the root of my problems. Her experience with emotional intelligence, something I knew nothing about, is/was invaluable. Since I have met with her, I, still to this day, utilize the tools and insight she has given me. Thank you for always having a smile when we meet. Your kindness, your support and understanding - I appreciate you. You have made a difference in my path to healing.

She is a marvelous speech coach. She is my "go to" person when I have to prepare for a major…read morespeech, officiate a wedding or a funeral. She is soooo good at what she does. She has the ability to provide a stellar analysis of my speeches and offer of ways to improve them in remarkable ways. Her masterful advice and guidance calms me down which in turn enables me to make meaningful and powerful presentations. She even shows me how to modulate my breathing to make more impassioned and empowered speeches. A session with her is a gift that I give myself when I need to do a fabulous job!

Vivienne is fantastic. She is a genuine and caring person and also an experienced and highly…read moreskilled speech pathologist. The first time you talk with her you're left with this feeling that she is committed to your child's success, and this feeling never goes away.

From the owner: Vivienne (or "Ms. V" as her clients often call her) offers in-home and in-community speech and…read morelanguage services to children and their families in the California East Bay Area, and telehealth sessions for families located anywhere in California. With a background as a travel speech therapist, Vivienne has diverse experience providing speech therapy to children ages one through young adulthood in a variety of settings including schools, private clinics, homes, community, and via telehealth. Vivienne is trained in the Hanen It Takes Two to Talk early intervention program, DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing) for Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and Gestalt Language Processing via Meaningful Speech.

It was a gift to have a one on one with Julia. I was really inspired by her knowledge of the…read morespeaker's industry. And then she followed to her an update on my progress. I appreciate any business that takes the time to follow up. Julia is one of a kind.

While we talk every day, presenting to a group (be it a handful of people via Zoom or an in-person…read moregroup pre-COVID-19) is another skill set altogether. Julia has deep wisdom and knowledge on the topic/skill of public speaking. She knows how to help you structure your presentation to ensure the audience is able to follow what you're saying and that you have the impact you desire. Equally important, she will help you tune in to the subtle things you can do to connect with your audience. Are you speaking while looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights? What should you do with your hands (pre-COVID)? Are you remembering to smile? We all are familiar with the notion that a good portion of the population prefers death to public speaking. The good news here is that Julia, with her effervescent personality, warmth, and insight, will help you see that speaking up isn't so terrible after all. Like most things, it's a skill, it's learnable. I can't think of a better teacher.

What a great group. Supportive, fun, creative people who are all on the same journey to be better…read morecommunicators and public speakers. Super helpful not just with work but outside work too in terms of building relationships and making friends.

My first visit was around February of 2013. I was nervous. Nervous to be there and worried that I…read morewould have to speak. The group was warm and inviting. I did not have to speak on my first visit, other that to introduce myself. Over the following months, I got my courage up. I have completed many short speeches, and my nervousness has gone from a earth shaking roar to a manageable occasional rumble. And it is fun! Not only has my ability to speak in public improved dramatically, but I have learned to be a better listener, I have met new friends, and I have found a creative outlet for writing and storytelling, Meetings are in an art studio in Oakland's Warehouse District, know for its eclectic art studios and nightlife - Only blocks from downtown Oakland with plenty of free parking. I highly recommend that you visit Warehouse Toastmastes. You will be glad you did!

Great vibes. Open and kind. No stress no mess service. Can't imagine why anyone would be so upset…read moreabout this Oakland based, black owned biz being racist. That makes no sense.

I cannot recommend Speech360 enough. The communication has been wonderful from day 1. Katharina has…read morea passion that is undeniable and we feel that we are in the best of hands.

Our child was a late talker, so we did our research and found East Bay Child Development Center…read more(formerly PLTA). From intake to our final class, the staff made sure that the scheduling process was a breeze, and that visits did not fall short of expectations. They have an excellent staff dedicated to your child's development, and the office is pristine. Not just clean; very well kept. I noticed that there wasn't one tear on a book or broken toys. They put lots of effort into upkeep, knowing well that toys and books can take a beating with younger kids. East Bay Child Development Center has terrific speech therapists and therapists specialized in helping in all other types of child development, including but not limited to physical therapy, etc. We went through 2 different speech therapists and 1 or 2 therapy students which was a little harder for our son to grow accustomed to because it would take him awhile to warm up (which I've learned isn't unusual for any development therapy center), but each therapist tried their absolute best to ensure they were giving him the utmost care and attention.

They failed my son after 3 session. Excuses that he doesn't listen, he runs fast that worried about…read moreyounger children there. That speech is not a good fit for him, that his sister runs around the hallways exploring toys and opened doors of offices, about me get a phone call so they discharged him from services. This is racism and discrimination by the way ladies I want to give you suggestions, your office needs a new administration, organisation and functionality. Everybody there seems to go everywhere, I don't know if these people work here are they clients. The back door to the outside was open, this is called dysfunctional. The office receptionist was like his first day to work, confused and looked around like a lost boy. There four people by office were speaking loud and chatting. They failed my son years ago when he was younger because they said he was not ready for speech when I just changed my insurance to get accepted to come here. Now he's 12 years old saying he's not a good fit. Shame on you to say that to me. You can't discharge him that's illegal. My son is trying with his speech and he has rights in California to receive speech therapy any age. Discrimination by the ability, then age, what's next because his sister running around the office and also I was on the phone? For that lady who spoke with me today over the phone couldn't wait on me. And making me feel like I was being fired from the job, she sounded rude and said my daughter was running around the room and I was speaking loud on the phone so the excuse to fail my son. Then changed her words saying he's not a good fit and he runs fast and wants to push the kids. She needs to find more excuses for her to dismiss him. You don't know how hard and challenging to be a mother of autistic kid. I finally thought I have him his speech going and then you locked me up like shutting my mouth. Go see if your speech therapist is the one who has the problem. She too lazy to give speech therapy or has a lack of skills. This is Shameless and discrimination.

I have been taking lessons with Alex for a year now. It's mostly on and off, mostly off due to my…read morescheduling. The reason why I reached out to Alex was that I haven't been using my writing skills for years because I was in sales and it requires little to no professional writing at all. In the beginning, the cost was a bit higher than I had expected. I never had to pay for a tutor, so I don't know what the average price was. Nonetheless, I still scheduled a meeting with Alex. I wanted to see if $$$$ means quicker results. I have noticed that my writing skills have improved over the year. He was able to point out the mistakes I been overlooking and help me catch these mistakes. He is very patient and is willing to work with my crazy schedule. I can't say that my writing skills were improved overnight. It did require that I also do homework, and my willingness to improve as well. The bottom line, could I write a novel without any mistakes? No. Could I write professionally with little to no mistake? Sure.

I had a few months of class with Alex and I found them incredibly helpful. Alex was able to…read moresystematically identify the issues in my pronunciation and correct them. Due to COVID and transition, all our lessons happened on Zoom. I was a little bit suspicious at the beginning since I had another teacher before and it was a waste of time. But I still gave Alex a shot when we started and Alex's class turned out to be very effective even in Zoom, his notes and exercises are well prepared. I highly recommend Alex for someone who needs an accent reduction course!

The founder of Bay Language Academy, Essia Bouzamondo-Bernstein, is an incredible woman in my book!…read moreShe started this business as a way to help others since language is one of the most important ways we connect with one another. My youngest son has been taking Mandarin for about a year now and he just loves it, which amazes me since he's usually so particular, but he adores his teacher (even the new one) and the curriculum is both engaging and interactive, which has helped him retain what he has learned. Now my oldest is also taking the same class, and his review of his first day was "awesome!" This is a high quality program at a very reasonable rate. Your child will benefit so greatly from learning any of the many languages they offer (I know they offer French, Russian, Korean, Spanish, etc.), and even you and other adults would also greatly benefit to learn a new language or refresh an old one. Lastly, their location is just breath-taking as they're situated within the Harbor Bay Business Park that oversees the tranquil ocean and beautiful San Francisco skyline, which is just icing on the cake.

My daughter loves taking French classes there!read more