Brendan's dynamic personality and NYSC's innovative and effective communication techniques have proven to be a winning formula for me. Over the past year, I have increased depth and tone, reduced filler words, learned how to breathe properly, gained confidence in my communication style and even improved body language. Highly recommend Brendan---not only will you make great progress in a short amount of time, but you'll also have fun along the way!

The ability to converse, communicate and connect to diverse audiences is critical both as a singer and media consultant. Interestingly, I was always much further along in confidence as a singer than as a speaker. I've presented many times over the course of my media career, but never felt fully natural doing it, the way I did with singing. As both a speech and vocal (singing) coach, Brendan had just the right skillset for me to close the confidence gap. Before working with him, I'd developed a vocal fry in my speech and often stumbled over my words, primarily due to my improper breathing and “urgency pulse” to speak before I was ready. Not only did it affect me as a performer but my presence as a speaker. With his fun and practical exercises and inspiring philosophies, I've grown tremendously as a communicator. Through better pacing, greater commitment to my words and a much-needed shift in perspective, I've moved closer and closer to my fully authentic self, one who can communicate not just through song, but in everyday life.

My sessions with Brendan have been the most impactful learning experiences of my career. Brendan understood exactly what I wanted to improve in my public speaking, and tailor-made lessons that fit both my needs and my learning style. My goal was to become a better and more calm public speaker; Brendan taught me not only that, but how to control my outward presence and how I’m perceived in any situation. Brendan has a contagious energy that stems from his genuine belief in the power of what he teaches; I always leave our sessions truly inspired.

I have felt insecure and embarrassed about my own voice for as long as I can remember, and I missed out on countless social and professional opportunities as a result. I was convinced I simply had a “bad voice”. Brendan Houdek at New York Speech Coaching made me realize that there was nothing wrong with my voice, I just wasn't using it effectively. He taught me simple, powerful techniques to speak more clearly, confidently, and authentically -- using my own voice to its fullest. The changes have been dramatic. At work, among friends, even when delivering speeches, I feel at ease and can focus completely on getting my message across and connecting with the listener. Brendan is a fantastic teacher. I only wish I had met him sooner!

There are not enough words to thank Joel for what he has given me. I simply cannot overpraise his thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and practical wisdom. My students and coworkers have all benefited from his fine observation, care -- and, in the words of Bellow, first-class noticing. I came to N.Y.S.C. with essentially no speaking experience whatsoever -- with, in short, only a deep love of my subject -- and, with his help, I have been able to share that reverence and endearment with others. Thank you, Joel.

I would highly recommend Joel Rainwater as an executive presence coach.I connected with Joel soon after landing a new job that required me to take on a leadership role with clients, internal stakeholders, and junior talent.  From our first phone conversation, I was impressed by how well he understood my specific goals and challenges. Joel demonstrated a professional and creative approach to our sessions.  He had an agenda for every session, although he was also flexible to change our focus depending on my work needs.  Joel engaged a wide variety of tools to help me craft my executive presence including visualization, breathing exercises, physical movements and real life situation simulations.  Joel was plugged into every minute of our session, he was always spot on his observations, his tactical advice and thoughts. Joel made a significant difference to my professional life.  I have been able to leverage our sessions into being a more impactful leader at work with clients, internal stakeholders, and junior talent.  While I still have a long journey ahead of me, I am genuinely excited and happy to continue working on my executive presence with Joel Rainwater.

I struggled for years with a lack of confidence in my ability to present and speak publicly. Upon receiving a promotion that required significant public speaking engagements, and a need to present to large groups, I reached out to Joel Rainwater at New York Speech Coaching. Working with Joel has been fun and enlightening. Joel’s guidance has significantly helped me with my confidence to speak and present. As we’ve worked together, I’ve learned to reduce anticipatory anxiety before speaking and to stay calm and focused during my presentations. Joel has also coached me on executive presence. This coaching has given me new tools to demonstrate my leadership when communicating with my teams. I highly recommend Joel and New York Speech Coaching to anyone seeking to improve the way they speak, communicate, or lead.

I'm an immigrant with speaking, listening and self-confidence issues. Yet, my job, personal life and career ambitions require me to interact with many people. Voice coaching classes with Joel have been one of the most transformative undertakings of my life. Joel helped me identify exact areas for improvement and we've been systematically addressing them through in person classes and occasional homework assignments. After each week, I have been noticing improvements: I have to repeat myself less, I get better rapport with people and public speaking has been less terrifying.

As a group fitness instructor, my voice is one of my biggest tools. Before coming to Eric, though, I was so uncomfortable using it. He helped me break down each piece--from what to say, when to say it and how to say it--in a way that was both manageable and fun. Most of all, our lessons empowered me to coach with confidence. Eric is knowledgeable, supportive, kind and wonderful to work with. I can't recommend him enough!

Working with Eric was a great experience. He is very approachable and welcoming. I liked that his approach was not about changing my voice or giving confusing pointers, it was about deconstructing how speaking and the voice actually work. From there I was able to not only understand how I was not effectively using my voice, but how to properly use it. I walked away feeling confident that I could gain control over my voice and use it the way I wanted when I wanted.

I strongly recommend NYSC. I took 20 speech sessions with Eric Van Tielen, who is a great coach! We coordinated the sessions according to what was important to me at the moment. For example, we worked on engaging audiences, speaking clearly and deliberately, and commanding the room through posture and demeanor while presenting data. We also worked on not letting emotion get in the way while communicating in a professional setting. I certainly made noticeable improvements. The lessons and tactics I learned are applicable in every situation at a personal and professional level. Definitely this was time and money well spent! Thank you!!

I’ve been a student at New York Speech Coaching for a few months so far and I am very pleased with my progress of increasing the clarity of my pronunciation. Eric is a great instructor and he listens carefully to my needs and approaches it from different angles. Eric pointed me to multiple pronunciation mistakes I’ve been making for years and nobody has ever corrected me before. I highly recommend New York Speech Coaching to anyone who wants to improve their communication skills and gain confidence

I highly recommend New York Speech Coaching. This place is built with a friendly and professional team. The guidance in my learning process was really helpful and thoughtful for my specific needs as a voice over artist. My coach Tricia Veldman was simply the best I could ask to coach me, with a very technical and human approach to the learning process. Don't think twice — take classes at NYSC. You will not regret it!

I’ve been a student of Tricia’s for almost 2 years now and am very pleased with my progress of significantly increasing the clarity of my pronunciation. More importantly, I have gained tremendous confidence in my ability to capture the attention of clients and peers (which have not gone unnoticed!). Given that it is key to success in my career and everyday life, I highly recommend New York Speech Coaching to anyone that wants to improve or sharpen their communication skills.

I have been taking lessons from Tricia for more than a year, both my colleagues and I noticed big improvement in my regular presentations. Before taking the lessons, I often find it difficult to bridge the gap between my goal and the feedback of my presentations. Sometimes, I blame it on the complexity of the subject matters. But after many lessons, notes and practices with Tricia, I learned not only better techniques to present confidently and effectively, but also important tips on how to prepare for a successful meeting. Whether English is your first or second language, the extra lesson time with NYSC is well worth it.

I consider myself an average public speaker and didn’t think I needed an introductory public speaking class but I learned so much from Tricia. I recommend working with Tricia whatever your public speaking skill and comfort level. I took away some important strategies that I had never considered. I am definitely speaking with more confidence after taking her class.

I took some classes of Accent Reduction with Caleb. My aim was to get rid of my Italian accent and I really wanted the course to be extremely specific. I didn't want to waste my time with general corrections that I could have found in a book. Therefore, at the very beginning I asked Caleb to hone in on my mistakes in the pronunciation and help me understand what I did wrong. Caleb was 100% compliant with my request. I got very customized classes and I appreciated Caleb's ways very much. He was knowledgeable and encouraging and fun to work with! He was Always very available to answer my questions and solve my doubts with lots of patience. I found all the teaching effective and purposeful. After only a few classes I became aware of my main mistakes and of the ways I can correct them. Of course, now I need to exercise a lot, but I'm sure I can make it thanks to Caleb and New York Speech Coaching!

I began taking lessons at NYSC to improve my speech patterns overall, but specifically to correct my lisp. In just a few sessions with Caleb, I have learned how to consistently make the proper “s” sound as well as how to address a number of other concerns that made me feel self-conscious while speaking in both professional settings and casual social interactions. Not only is Caleb a wealth of knowledge, but he's also extremely kind and supportive⁠—I can't recommend him enough. I'm looking forward to continuing to work with him to achieve a voice that I feel truly represents me and that I'm even happier with!

I’m not an English native speaker and was looking to work on my speaking self-confidence issues that were impeding me to achieve my professional goals. I wanted something more than just a second language class and public speaking courses sounded interesting, that’s when I met Caleb! I worked with Caleb over the course of a few months and can honestly say that our time together has improved my speech tremendously. Not only do I feel like I have control over my voice, but I also have a better understanding of how my body and breath work together to produce sound. Every lesson was perfectly tailored to what I wanted to work on and what he thought would help. If you’re hoping to learn in a warm environment and see real results, this is the place for you. He provided a safe space to practice and work on my anxiety triggers, identified some bad habits I have when speaking and gives me -very easy to follow- directions and exercises to do along the week. After 5 sessions I’m very happy with my progress. I feel way more confident and even received positive feedback at work! I’m very excited about the things I will accomplish after a few more sessions and the impact not only on my work but also on my social life.

I came to NYSC with the goal of improving my pronunciation. After just the first session, I started to become aware of how the tongue muscle should be used to produce different sounds. A few months later, with Caleb’s patient, persistent and scientific instructions and targeted exercises, I now speak “more clearly” (to quote a colleague giving me feedback). I can pronounce words I previously had trouble with. This makes me more confident in my job where I frequently need to moderate meetings and occasionally need to do presentations, as well as casual conversations with friends and coworkers.