Public Speaking with Stage Presence

Project confidence.

Public Speaking & Creative Communications

I coach, but I also consult. I train, but I also educate.

Learn to enter a room with confidence and impact.

Actors don’t begin acting when they begin speaking. They are prepared and “in character” before they step on the stage.

Likewise, professionals must think of their presentation or speech as beginning before they enter the room

If you are already in the room with the people for whom you’re presenting, your presentation has already begun.

Now, it’s time to deliver that message with confidence.

Public Speaking Coaching & Consulting

  • Deliver messages with gravitas with 1-on-1 coaching in public speaking.

  • Train your team with professional development workshops on presentation and communication skills.

  • Make your investor or client pitch more powerful with a professional director.

cara gabriel public speaking coach

Empathy is my superpower

Empathy is my superpower. Besides being an expert in my field, empathy makes me a master teacher and a compassionate coach.

I am driven by my desire to understand and connect to people and create a kinder, gentler, more humane world.

There are a lot of people who offer public speaking coaching and who promise to make you a brilliant presenter. I can do that.

But I also promise to take the time and care to fully see every one of my clients to help confront your fears, tap into your humanity, and connect to your audience as your truest, bravest, most authentic self.

  1. Breath as life, breath as focus, breath as energy. Learn how to meditate, ground yourself, and focus on the task at hand through the mechanics of a single breath.

  2. Breath as speech, breath as projection.

  3. Relax your body and engage from the ground up, even if your audience can only see your face. Imbue your presentation with energy, confidence, and ease.

  4. Eye contact as a connection. Learn why and how to look people in the eye. What are you doing with your eye contact? When and where is it important? How do you connect with individuals when presenting to dozens of people?

  5. Learn how to organize a presentation into reasonable, bite-sized chunks so that each beat has an objective and a tactic to pull your audience in.

  6. Effective gestures are direct, specific, and engage the full body. Gestures have a beginning, middle, and end. They are repeatable and sustainable.

  7. Speak to connect, not to inform.

  8. Know your audience: your content is only effective if customized to your clientele. When you gain clarity regarding the identity of your audience, then you can tackle the questions of what you want from them and how you’ll get it.

You’ve got this.

Cara’s feedback on my first job talk still resonates as I prepare professional presentations two decades later. She is a natural coach who puts her clients at ease. She provides subtle interventions that go a long way and have a lasting impact. I cannot recommend her more highly—she is an excellent resource for any public speaking or audition preparation.

Sara Gregg, Associate Professor, Indiana University

Cara didn’t just make me a better public speaker—she gave me the confidence to trust and deliver my ideas in a way that resonated with my audience."

Tony Cohn, Former Chief of Staff, Common Group, & Director of Strategy at Morgridge Family Foundation