March 15, 2023
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10 min read
Speech coaches can help you overcome your fear of public speaking and improve your personal and professional outcomes. You could be in a speaking-heavy industry like business. Or maybe, you might just be trying to improve your own day-to-day speech. We took a close look at some of the best speech coaches in Canada and narrowed down our picks to the top 10.
Our expert list represents the best of the best: coaches with not only top reviews, but also actively working to improve speech.
Yoodli works with thousands of speech coaches around the world, ranging from TEDx trainers, speech-language-pathologists, executive coaches, to Toastmasters World Champions of public speaking. We picked the top coaches based on whether they met the following criteria:
Without further ado, check out the top 10 best speech coaches in Canada (in no particular order).
Yasir Khan is a public speaking coach and TEDx speaker. To date, he’s helped over 1,500 speakers become more confident. What’s more, Khan offers this 100% guarantee: speakers who work with him will start seeing results within 60 minutes.
As a TEDx speaker, he’s also worked with and trained plenty of other TEDx speakers. Khan is an eight-time Toastmasters speech contest winner and a two-time award winning public speech coach. He also has a master’s degree in education, with a concentration in social anxiety. On a personal note, Khan has been open about living with severe social anxiety while growing up. This only makes him that more suited to help people with their glossophobia, or fear of public speaking.
Khan is also active on social media, with over 200 thousand subscribers on YouTube.
You can see him talk about how he went from shy to confident during his 20s:
As a speaking coach and storyteller, Alexandre Matte is an expert at helping clients improve their effective communication. He’s also a member of two Toastmasters clubs based in Sudbury, Ontario. These clubs are only for French speakers. The two clubs are Voix du Nord and Mots du Midi. Voix du Nord is on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. EST and Mots du Midi is on Tuesdays at noon EST.
For the quickest way to speech improvement, Matte offers one-on-one coaching which ranges from $280 to $1,980.
If you’re on a budget, he also provides clients with the option of group coaching via the Standout app. This can include one-on-one coaching through weekly calls. These calls take place on Mondays at 10 a.m. and Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST. You’ll have to sign up to reserve your spot.
As a fun bonus, you can find Matte’s family recipe for his “world famous cake” directly on his site’s homepage.
Suzannah Baum is an executive speech coach, presentation skills specialist, speaker, and author who partners with industry professionals to improve their communication, confidence, as well as their leadership and presentation skills.
With over 12 years of experience, Baum does it all: workshops, online learning, virtual or in-person training programs, executive speech coaching, keynotes, and online learning. Through these tracks of work, she spreads both business communication tips and methods, as well as presentation advice to improve every client’s speaking opportunity.
She has a handful of speech coaching packages, including the:
Baum has worked with many top organizations, such as the National Film Board of Canada, Service Canada, Roche Pharmaceuticals, the International Civil Aviation Organization, BMO Capital Markets. In addition to that, she’s a member of the Global Speakers Federation and a past president of the Montreal chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.
She’s also been featured in the media in places like Breakfast TV Montreal, the Montreal Gazette, Elle Canada, CJAD Montreal radio, and Global TV News.
Reach out to her directly for a quote at suzannah@suzannahbaum.com.
Margaret Page is an expert in a plethora of areas, including business etiquette, entrepreneurship, as well as speech coaching and training. She’s not only a professional speaker, but also the former International President of Toastmasters (and a distinguished Toastmaster).
Her top three training courses are as follows:
“Step Up to the Plate” focuses on dining etiquette skills in both business and social settings. People who invest in this course will learn how to toast the host, navigate various cuisine styles, get comfortable with silverware etiquette, and successfully fulfill your duties as a host or guest of honor.
Page’s course, “Maximize Your Personal Impact,” hones in on clients’ speaking and compelling communication skills — both in social and professional settings. This course will instruct clients on how to use appropriate body language, start and carry engaging conversations, acclimate based on the group you’re interacting with, and even how to dress professionally.
Her other most popular course, “Executive Presence,” is for anyone who wants to improve their speaking skills, serve on a board, or advance their career as a manager. This course can help people become more confident and job interviews and give more engaging, successful presentations. In Page’s course, you’ll learn how to network, introduce yourself, make a good first impression, and even advance your digital communication skills.
Page offers both one-on-one and team training, too.
Since 1998, Ric Phillips has been sharing his expertise of communication skills with anyone who needs them. He’s studied communication for his entire life, as well as sociology and psychology.
Phillips recognizes the very real consequences of monotonic, boring communication and miscommunication and prioritizes effective, compelling communication above all else. His specialties are business communication skills, accent reduction, and body language.
In 2006, he became Canada’s first communication coach and designed what he calls the three Vs of communication: the Vocal, the Visual, and the Verbal. Phillips is a neuro-linguistic programming practitioner (NLP) and a certified coach and body language expert. He’s also a member of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA), TESL Ontario-Canada, and the International Coach Federation (ICF) in Toronto.
Because he’s considered a communication expert, Phillips is often quoted in the media and has published articles, ebooks, and blogs.
To start your speech coaching journey with Phillips, reach out to him directly at ric@communicationcoach.ca.
Steve Lowell has many accolades attached to his name. He’s a three-time No. 1 best-selling author, an award-winning international speaker, and the founder of the High-IMpact Speakers’ Studio. On top of that, Lowell has given over 3,000 keynote speeches, over 5,000 seminars, and has trained more than 5,000 people across the globe.
Lowell offers six online courses and workshops. These include:
1. “The 60-Second Miracle Positioning Script” for $197: This is a training program that helps folks understand the positioning script and the detail clients need to be persuaded to buy.
2. “The 1-Minute Story Template” for $197: Perfect for those who don’t have a strong elevator pitch yet, this course teaches you how to find your narrative and deliver it successfully, all in less than 60 seconds.
3. “The Sales Conversation Flow” for $197: You can learn the actual sales conversation process Lowell uses to close over 80% of prospects through a vetted template.
4. “The High Impact Keynote Template” for $297: This course is perfect for not only speakers, but also consultants, coaches, and authors. Lowell has taught this course across the globe to teach people how to “never have to memorize a talk again” while also learning about captivating your clients without the use of high-pressure, intense sales methods.
5. “Crafting Your Expert Insights” for $297: This program is actually two online courses with the other being “Your Repumeter.” You’ll learn about the “Deep Though Strategy” method to stand out from the crowd and develop your own “expert insights.”
6. “Signature Talk Mastery” for $2,497: As Lowell’s premium course, you’ll get access to in-depth online training that assists you in building a signature talk to transform into an engaging, compelling speaker both on screen and on stage.
He also has a number of books, including “Deep Thought Strategy,” “From Stage Fright to Spotlight,” and “EMERGE.”
A self-described “personal trainer for your career,” Luki Danukarjanto can transform anyone into a confident, career-focused speaker. As a speech coach, Danukarjanto has a specialty of career coaching.
He offers three main options through his business, Focused Inspired: Career Confidence Coaching (CCC), seminars, and corporate training.
The first, Career Confidence Coaching, involves leveraging career success guidance to improve and target a client’s motivation, discipline, and goals. This comes in two formats: “Standard Career Confidence Coaching” and “Skin-in-the-Game.” While the latter is targeted to job seekers, the former is best for those who want price stability through a four-period commitment.
Danukarjanto’s seminars are perfect for those transitioning from university to their first job. These seminars focus on helping clients learn how to:
For companies and corporations, he provides things like:
Maria Malik is a corporate speech coach who specializes in working with people who are introverted. As an introvert herself, Malik knows firsthand how important it is to learn how to speak up and advocate for yourself.
Malik has a 6-week “Speak with Confidence” program designed to get folks (especially introverts) to the confidence level necessary for effective speaking. This program includes:
In addition to that, Malik will keep working with clients until they’re 100% satisfied.
Jay Miller, a voice coach based in Toronto, does it all. He offers everything from voice lessons, to presentation skills, public speaking, and media training.
Described as one of Canada’s finest vocal coaches, Miller uses his background in performing arts and speech sciences to add to his experience of being an instructor and speaker for a plethora of clients. He’s had over a decade of experience and as such, has been a valuable tool for many Fortune 500 companies looking for public speaking training and voice lessons.
His top three offerings include:
Teri Kingston is not only a TEDx speaker coach, but also a certified world class speaking coach. Kingston is also a Distinguished Toastmaster who’s won multiple Toastmasters contests at the district level.
She coaches through her business — Real Impact Speaking — that helps people perfect their TEDx talk (or talks that are centered around one concept, like TED). Kingston assists her clients in not only improving their speech, but also identifying and designing their ideal talk or speech.
Kingston has three main workshops and programs:
Clients can connect to Kingston through her website for a quote. She has a plethora of options for those interested, including one-on-one executive coaching, custom-tailored packages, VIP one-day intensives, and small group coaching.
If you’re in the area, these top 10 best speech coaches in Canada can be great resources for improving your compelling communication, developing presentation skills, and even finding helpful media training resources. If you’re looking for more resources to improve your speech, check out a free tool like Yoodli. This AI communication coach can provide you with a plethora of analytics — from filler word usage to pacing and body language — by breaking down your speaking patterns and speech.
No matter where you are in your public speaking journey, you can get started today.
Getting better at speaking is getting easier. Record or upload a speech and let our AI Speech Coach analyze your speaking and give you feedback.